Training Through Injury by Coach Dave
The brain is an awesome weapon to have when it comes to fitness. It has the ability to calm us down before a workout or a heavy lift and jack us up once the clock starts. However, it is also our worst enemy when it comes to training; especially when we are injured. In this sport or any sport, we have to battle nagging injuries and soreness, or even more severe injuries. They are annoying, they are inconvenient, but hell, it is going to happen and it happens to us all.
When we battle these injuries one of two things happen:
We tell ourselves we are fine, the pain will go away, continue to lift heavy, and/or RX a METCON, which could result in the making the injury worse.
We get in our own heads and tell ourselves that we cannot workout and stay away from the box for however long it takes us to recover.
I am guilty of the first scenario more often than I’d like to admit, but we are all battling one of these, if not both at some time in our training.
The most important element of training through any injury is mindset. You have two options:
Wallow in self pity and allow yourself to regress while you slowly recover to your new, lower baseline.
See the injury as an opportunity and challenge to correct weaknesses and recover as quickly as possible. (more in link below)
So what can we do about this? Well, you have an amazing staff of coaches on hand all the time, pick our brains, and let us know what injury is nagging you. We will help you scale workouts appropriately, create different rep schemes, or even focus on working out another area of the body.
I want to get into the head aspect when it comes to a more severe injury, i.e. break or tear (looking at you Sunday basketball crew). These type of injuries will set you back, and that is when your ego begins to creep in. It sucks, progress made is now gone, and we have to climb that hill again. However, it does not have to be that way. If you have a lower leg injury, most likely squats, deadlifts, running, or rope work are not going to happen. However, there are several alternatives. You can work on your core and posterior chain with accessory movements, or my favorite right now…Jacked July (follow Coach Bobby on Instagram). Again, we can work the upper body to keep your strength and keep you moving. The METCON's may be a lower intensity than what is programmed, but we can modify it for you. This way, when you are fully recovered and ready to lift again, you will be in a much better position and remain closer to your previous weights before your injury.
I want to leave you with this and reference one of my previous articles, CHECK YOUR EGO. It applies to both weights and injuries. Only you know what your body is going through, communicate with the coaches and let us know, we are here to help. Keep a positive mindset! Setbacks happen, and it happens to the best.
Great article to read if you want to go more in depth, 500 words doesn’t give this topic justice.
Coach Dave