“I’m going to work through it”. This is a common saying, especially when we have injuries, or something isn’t right while we are at the gym. Use these tips to help determine when are we “working through” and when are we making things worse.
1. Determine what is going on.
Like most of us, when life presents me with unknown challenges google is my next stop. However as many of you may have experienced, this isn’t the best place for medical advice. First, we can scare ourselves much more than necessary. If you are dealing with anything that alters your ability to go through your normal everyday activities, including what you do in the gym, get a professional’s opinion. It’s important to determine if it’s time to strengthen, make modifications to working out, or rest the area. Often modifications or rehab exercises can be prescribed to put you in charge of your recovery.
2. “It’s overuse”.
Our bodies are built to last when they are nourished properly. Look at overuse as repetitively stressing a tissue incorrectly. Having correct posture optimizes our blood and nerve supply. This allows tissues to repair correctly from our day to day stresses. Small injuries, decreased range of motion and poor posture all create compensations in our body. The more compensatory patterns the greater chance for serious injury. Formulate a plan with a trainer to achieve your goals and get the proper coaching on technique and form in the gym. Exercises with great benefits shift to dangerous without the right form.
3. When do I push through?
Once we know what is going on and we have corrected form and posture, there will be a period that we “push through”. Our tissues are now repairing and have enough strength to withstand some resistance. When we return to the gym give yourself time to ease back to workouts. One of the most common mistakes is picking up where you left off and making the injury worse than before. When you are performing and exercise you feel a discomfort that is a 1-2 out of 10 and is NOT increasing it is okay to continue. It’s normal to feel some slight discomfort, like when you first started working out.
In Summary we want to
1. Determine what is going on
2. Correct posture and form to avoid injury.
3. Slight discomfort that doesn’t increase is ok when we return to the gym.
