Don't Let an Injury Completely Halt Progress

I had an injury during my sand doubles tournament this past weekend. I did a few things that I shouldn’t have.

1. I continued to play through it even though I was in excruciating pain.
2. I didn’t listen to my body.

Even as a trainer and athlete I make mistakes. The results?… A pulled muscle, inflammation in the sacroiliac joint area, or possible herniated disc… The final diagnosis...Sacroiliitis.  (Inflamation in one or both sacroiliac joints). It was ridiculous. The sciatic pain I was experiencing was incredible. i couldn't lay down or even walk the first night. The nerve pain went through my entire leg. I decided to take a couple days and rest and after two days.. If I was in action moving around, it wasn't so bad. It was sleeping that would really get it going. I knew though that I am not wired to sit and rest for weeks on end.

So what did I not do? Sit on my arse and do nothing every day.

What did I do... Stayed active in methods that would not increase injury or create new issues. Used E-stim (Electrical stimulation), Applied heat to the injured areas, used a little cold therapy but more heat, added movement, and stretching and exercises that would strengthen the pelvis area. (I will do a post on what exercises helped in a later post and link it to here. If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch!

I have many clients come through that have been told by "professionals" to stay away from all activities when injured. This blows my mind. Not only does this create an environment for slower recovery, it also can leave people helpless. The feeling can be detrimental emotionally.

There are plenty of things that we can still do that will help recover quicker and will not interfere with the injury.

Here is a list of exercises I was still able to do:

-All upper body exercises such as Bench, Oh Press, Curls. Rows etc. 

-Lower body exercises like Leg Press, Single Leg RDL (Light and slow form work), Deadlifts (Slow Form Work), Split Squats.

-Core work like Deadbug, Quadruped Reach, Palloff Series etc.

-Pelvic Strengthening Exercises like Body weight Bridges, Straight Leg Abductor Raises, Banded Clams, Low Cobra.

-Slow and Fast Paced Walking.

Here are things I stayed away from:

Squats

Sprints

Jumping

Flexion of Spine (Crunching etc.)

Weighted rotations of any kind

My point is this…

Listen to your body and what it is communicating before injury even has a chance to happen.

Action will trump inaction with most injuries. It’s how you use your knowledge and the knowledge of others in order to speed up recovery that is more important.

Be weary if someone gives you the advice to halt all activity.