Bouncing Back from an Injury

Performing some electrotherapy and ultrasound on myself 

For some (me included), missing a scheduled workout is just unacceptable. It is viewed as a pivotal part of the day which is no different from drinking water or teeth brushing. So imagine how detrimental it must feel to get an injury while your training is progressing. It is such a nightmare to get a serious injury (or any injury for that matter) which will set you so far back in your training. You sit there and hear the doctor prescribe tonnes of bed rest and rehab, and you wonder if your body will ever remember what it’s like to deadlift 3 plates. Well that was me.  During a game of basketball, I slipped and hyperextended my knee, long story short, I was out for a longer time than I needed to be. However, with my pride set aside, I took things back to basics and I will share some of them with you.

MEDICAL OPINION

Ok, it has been a week since your injury, you have never felt this pain before, you can’t sleep, and you can barely put your socks on—it’s simple, seek medical advice. It will take you less time to recover if you just know exactly what you are dealing with as opposed to playing the painful guessing game for months. Google is not a certified medical professional who is able to diagnose you and/ or treat you. After the nagging pain wouldn’t go away for me, I finally went to my doctor’s office for an MRI and after that I was on the highway to recovery with my first stop at my Physiotherapists office.

TRAIN

Don’t let your ego keep you from training. Many times, I see people just sit back and not train anymore because they are so wrapped up in their egos. Here is the harsh reality: if you don’t start from the ground up, you will never just “get back”. I had to change my definition of “training”. Training no longer meant 300lbs; training gradually elevated from towel stretches to resistance bands to body weight etc.  When you start from the ground up, you start to learn to identify flaws and imbalances in those particular parts of your body.  The irony for me was that my injury allowed me to improve my form in certain exercises. I was able to improve my mobility and strengthen my agility. However, if all I did was listen to my ego by laying off the training completely and waited for the day I could just go back to lifting heavy weights- I would still be weak, sore, and stuck in a vicious cycle of re-injury

EAT RIGHT

Malnutrition sets a lot of people back from a speedy recovery. Don’t ignore your diet. Just because you are not training hard does not mean that you should neglect an adequate food intake. Fast food is usually high in salt, fat and sugar which tend to poorly metabolize when you are healthy so what more when you’re not?  During recovery, your body desperately needs phytochemicals and micronutrients which are scarce in fast food. Phytochemicals are “biologically active compounds found in plants”. Keep in mind that shakes generally lack phytochemicals as well so do not turn to them for sole meal supplementation. Eat generous amounts of fruits and vegetables so that you get your vitamins and minerals which tend to be missing from processed foods. Calcium, Vitamins (A, B, C, & D), iron, copper, magnesium, zinc etc. are key in helping your body with repair and recovery mechanisms. While in recovery mode, your body benefits from the intake of higher quality protein as it promotes growth and healing so pick these adequately. As well, processed/fast foods tend to contain saturated and trans-fats which tend to exacerbate any inflammation. That said, eat foods with healthy fats such as Omega 3 eggs which contain monounsaturated fat which is known to aid in alleviating inflammation. Multivitamins have an added benefit too if you just can’t get the nutrients from food.

SLEEP RIGHT

Last but certainly not least—SLEEP. Your body needs sleep. Lying down on the couch all day watching TV is not the same thing as sleep. You need to get adequate hours of “shut eye”. When you are sleeping, your brain typically signals for the natural release of the human Growth Hormone (hGH). Science has proven that hGH promotes tissue repair as well as bone and muscle growth. Therefore it goes without say that if you lack sleep, you are depriving your body of its natural ability to release hormones which help you recover faster. Additionally, sleep helps to boost your body’s protein synthesis mechanisms. Adequate sleep also allows for the optimal function/boost of your immune system. Now you can see why doctors are sometimes very quick to prescribe bed rest with the hope that you will just fall asleep. So do not neglect sleep— your body does so many things naturally but you need to just do your part and let nature take its course.


SolutionsByCoachNeemz