Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays. Now this week, we are talking to those of you who are experiencing some kind of injury. You have been cleared by your doctor for regular exercise, and you would like to get back to exercising, but you are still dealing with this nagging ache or pain. What are some things you should be considering when you workout to make sure things don’t get worse?
1) Do Resistance Training For Your Non-Injured Areas
Our first exercise tip if you have an injury is to make sure you are still doing resistance training for your non-injured areas. We often hear about people not wanting to exercise at all once they get injured. The problem that a mindset like that creates is the injured area loses support from the other areas of your body that aren’t injured because they become weaker. In addition, your overall health will decline if you stop exercising completely due to an injury.
Action Step: With your doctor’s blessing, engage in resistance training at least twice per week for all of the areas of your body that are not injured. There is a TON that can be done in the gym to challenge the healthy parts of your body, so don’t lose out on the opportunity to do so just because one area is not up to par.
2) Find Ways To Get Your Heart Rate Up
Our second exercise tip if you have an injury is to find ways to get your heart rate up on a consistent basis and keep your overall conditioning up as best you can. Often, when people take time off from exercising because of an injury, they become deconditioned during their down period. This makes it more difficult to get back into the swing of things with your regular exercise once you are starting to feel up to it.
Action Step: Take 10 minutes to plan out some activities that you can do that don’t stress your injured area that will help you get your heart rate up. Feet, knees, and hips bothersome? Consider swimming. Low back not doing great? Try out recumbent biking. Shoulder or elbows flaring up? Try cycling. There is a lot you can do to keep your conditioning levels up even as you heal from an injury.
3) Find A Certified MAT® Specialist
Our third exercise tip if you have an injury is to find a certified Muscle Activation Techniques® (MAT®) specialist in your area. MAT® is designed to be the bridge between post injury/rehab and fully exercising on your own. We often see that people improve with rehab and physical therapy, but they may not be 100% ready to exercise on their own when they are discharged. If you find that to be the case for you, connect with your local MAT® specialist to set up a time to get your muscles tuned up so you can get back to exercising consistently.
Action Step: Find a certified MAT® specialist in your area here! Local to Chicago or Schaumburg? Schedule a consultation with us here! And if you’d like to learn more about MAT®, download our free eBook here.
