How to Workout Around Injuries
Science-based tips and tricks for exercising around an injury
Link to the Original Blog
Most sports-related injuries are not severe. For instance, a recent study on powerlifters — a very intense and often portrayed as a dangerous sport — showed that most injuries that they sustained were quite minor and concluded that major injuries in this sport are quite rare (1). Despite the lack of severity of most sports injuries, what tends to happen when we become injured falls into two categories: we either stop our training altogether or push through the pain and increase the severity of our injury. Given that the aforementioned study concluded that “most injuries do not prevent powerlifters from training and competing, but they may change the content of training sessions” (1), this principle should be applied to all athletic endeavors. Here are a few ways you can work out around your injury:
Focus On Other Body Parts Or Movements:
One of the primary principles of not increasing the severity of an already existing injury is staying away from movements that aggravate the pain-site of the injury. For example, if you have sustained a shoulder injury and bench pressing aggravates the pain of this injury, you avoid bench pressing until your doctor gives you the clear to begin bench pressing again. When this happens, a good option is to see what doesn’t aggravate the pain. Does incline bench press aggravate it? Does dumbbell bench press aggravate it? This takes trial and error. If none of the alternatives work, you can shift your focus to another body part. To run with the bench press example, if you cannot bench press, you can focus on squats or deadlifts. Likewise, if you are a sprinter or a runner, you can focus on upper body forms of cardio, such as kettlebell swings. This is often a good time to work on weak points in your training. When I sustained a pectoral injury, I focused on strengthening my shoulders which I perceived as a weak point. The main takeaway is if it hurts, don’t do it. (2)
Restrict Range-of-Motion:
A full range-of-motion exercise may be contributing to the aggravation of an injury. For instance, the bottom of a deep squat might aggravate an injury rather than the entirety of the squat. A way to combat this is by finding a restricted range-of-motion variation of a movement you are already performing, which aggravates your injury. Some examples include a box squat replacing a full squat, a floor press replacing a bench press, rack pulls replacing deadlifts, and pin presses replacing full range-of-motion shoulder presses. Trying out these variations might help keep you in the gym while you are recovering from your injury. (2,3)
Decrease Volume, Intensity, and/or Frequency (Deload-Week):
Often it is the case that an injury is aggravated by working out at full capacity. It might be that when you are running, lifting, or sprinting at your fullest effort, that is when the injury becomes aggravated. What this would warrant is a deload-week. A deload week is essentially a week where the volume and intensity of your training are lowered to reduce overall stress/fatigue levels on the body and the mind to be conducive towards recovery. This is how fatigue is managed. If fatigue exceeds fitness, our performance will decline, leaving us more injury prone and unable to recover adequately. This is what many might call a “light week.” Deloads are a great tool for decreasing fatigue and allowing healing while maintaining fitness levels. A way you can deload is by reducing the intensity of your exercise by 5–10% and by reducing the volume of your workouts by reducing sets and reps by 2–3. For instance, if you normally lift 100 lbs for 3 sets of 5 reps, a deload week would entail lifting 90 lbs for 1–2 sets of 2–3 reps. If you are a more cardiovascularly oriented athlete, you can deload by reducing training volume in half. For example, if you run 6 miles every day, a deload week would entail running 3 miles 3 days out of the week. A good measure of when you should deload is when you are dreading your workouts, your sleep is worse than normal, your performance is mysteriously decreasing, you are more stressed-out than normal, and your aches & pains are worse than normal. In the long run, this will help you train around injuries and prevent them from occurring in the first place. (4, 5, 6, 7)
When we become injured, what is crucial is that we do not despair. There are ways of continuing your sport while recovering from your injury. If the worst possible scenario occurs and you are too severely injured for these alternatives, holding the recovery process as equally valuable as the sport you were playing will become the new priority. However, luckily, most injuries will not be of this sort. Try out some of these strategies so you can keep on moving!
Citations:
Strömbäck, Edit et al. “Prevalence and Consequences of Injuries in Powerlifting: A Cross-sectional Study.” Orthopedic Journal of sports medicinevol. 6,5 2325967118771016. 14 May. 2018, doi:10.1177/2325967118771016
Baker, P. How To Train The Big Three Around Your Injury. Biolayne, 8 Dec. 2016, https://www.biolayne.com/articles/training/train-big-three-around-injury/. Accessed 18 June 2019.
Vargus, A. How to Train Through an Injury. Biolayne, 12 Dec, 2019, https://www.biolayne.com/articles/training/how-to-train-through-an-injury/. Accessed 18 June 2019.
Pistilli, E.E., et al., Incorporating one week of planned overreaching into the training program of weightlifters. Strength Cond J, 2008. 30 (6): pp.39–44.
Pritchard, H., et al., Effects and Mechanisms of Tapering in Maximizing Muscular Strength. Strength Cond J, 2015. 37(2): pp.72–83.
Tsoukos, A., et al., Delayed Effects of a Low-Volume, Power-Type Resistance Exercise Session on Explosive Performance. J Strength Cond Res, 2018. 32(3): p. 643–50.
Helms, E. Ph.D. The Muscle & Strength Pyramid: Training. (Published by Eric Helms [3DMJ] 2018).
