Staying injury free & how to progress your training optimally - Part two

Category 2 - Injured 

Now all of the previous blog could go out of the window when it comes to load management for individuals who are currently injured. 

Again this is massively context dependent and varies hugely depending on what stage the individual is at with their injury and the severity of the injury.  

Below, I am going to give an example of someone carrying an injury which is restricting what they can do in one area of their body.  

Example 

A person with a rotator cuff injury in their shoulder that is stopping them from pressing.  

Firstly, we could target specific improvement in the areas that aren't affected by the injury. In this example we could focus on improving strength of the lower body and the core.  

You could therefore use the 10% rule as a guide here but with the context that progress might be slower because you might not want to push as hard as someone who is uninjured.  

Coaches Pro Tip 

When an injury is healing, your body is using significant resources to rebuild and strengthen the injured site. It is therefore not advised to use ultra high intensity and go 'all in' on the body parts that aren't injured. 

Think the tortoise, not the hare.  

Therefore, the most important point for an individual who is currently injured is to look for gradual progression in the areas that aren't affected by the injury and to make extremely slow and steady improvements on the injured area.  

We want to ensure with the injury that there is limited or minimal flare ups and therefore it might be advised to start from ground zero and build up from there.  

• This could look like removing all exercises causing pain and very gradually building this up again week by week. The individual overtime could look to: Add in exercises around the area which doesn't cause pain and gradually progress them (volume increases are great here i.e. slowing adding reps each week).  
• In the case of the person with the injured rotator cuff, can they add in row variations and arm strengthening exercises that don't exacerbate their shoulder?  
• Reduce tempo and slow down each repetition to keep control. Add in pauses and focus on slow and steady improvement. 
• Micro-dose intensity and be very careful about increasing your weight week by week. Never jump the gun in weight increases.  

It is important to respect the timeframe for injury healing and work with a qualified Physiotherapist and Personal Trainer to gradually adapt your training as the pain decreases and as the injury heals overtime.  

We would love to work with you and your physiotherapist if you are struggling with any ongoing injuries. 

Contact us for more information about how we can get you back to full strength with our small group personal training.

- Coach Alex