No one likes dealing with physical injury. It can be especially taxing on someone who enjoys working out because based on the severity of the damage, it can be weeks or even months before they can get back to their regular workout regimen. However, this doesn’t mean that they have to kiss all of their exercise routines “goodbye”. There are some things that a person can do to stay in shape even when they are injured.
Workout the areas that aren’t injured. Unless you’re in a body cast, it’s rare that you can’t work out at least some parts of your body while recovering from an injury. If you broke your ankle, use free weights for your arms and chest. If you’re suffering from an elbow sprain, consider doing some walking in the evenings for about 20-minutes or so. The focus here is not to exercise as if nothing is wrong, but to build up the other parts of your body that are not damaged while you’re in the midst of recuperating. Along with that, things like a prowaist waist trainer can significantly reduce the chances of injury during your workout sessions.
Eat well. If you ask a lot of nutritionists and trainers, they will tell you that while it is a good idea to exercise so that you can strengthen your muscles while keeping your body toned, when it comes to keeping the calories under control, a lot of that has to do with what (and how and when) you eat. Especially when you’re injured, you need all of the vitamins and minerals that you can get from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and nuts. Look at it as a way to heal your body tissue while keeping the pounds down.
Get plenty of rest. Even as adults, we still need about 6-8 hours of sleep every night. That’s because while we’re resting, our bodies are given time to rejuvenate themselves from the previous day’s activities. So, it’s probably understandable why it would be even more important to get as much sleep as you can when you’re physically hurt. Depending on the kind of injury you have, that will determine what sleep positions are best for you, so make sure that you consult your physician or health care provider on how to sleep in a way that’s most beneficial.
Get some physical therapy. Oftentimes, unless the injury is severe, people will not think about hiring a physical therapist. The truth of the matter is that they are helpful when it comes to many kinds of physical discomfort that you may have. Because they are professionally trained in teaching people the kinds of things that need to be done in order to heal their bodies, they are highly effective when it comes to offering customized stretching and strengthening programs. (If you live in the Washington area, Issaquah physical therapy is one that comes with great referrals.)
Build up with low-impact exercises. Time heals all wounds they say and the good news about that is that injuries won’t last forever. Make sure that you don’t attempt to do anything without your doctor’s knowledge and permission, but as time progresses, check to see what you can slowly add back into your workout routine. After the body has had a certain period of time to recover from the physical damage that the injury has caused, there’s actually a great chance that you’ll be encouraged to do some low-impact exercises. They are proven to work in a positive way to help you in getting back to your old self again. Sometimes, even better than how you were before!
