You Might Be Down But You Are Not Out

Anybody that's been a training professional for longer than a couple weeks has experienced a client going down because of an injury for one reason or another. The best trainers experience a client getting hurt some how and some way even when they are coached to perfection clients get hurt, mostly on their own time. It's not because they suck or their dumb, most of the time it just happens. I've injured myself training and I know what the heck I'm doing, so odds on someone that has a lesser clue is certainly going to have some sort of injury, hopefully minor.

Dealing with athletic injuries and dealing with general population injuries can be quite different for the most part, but there's one thing in common with most injuries on either side, you can train through them. Per example I got a pretty nasty gash on myself last week that left me out of competition for the better part of 10 days (picture below). Granted this is not a limb injury which can make working out 10 times harder, but at the same time I don't stop training, pulling 445 was a fun way to keep that going.

The basic advice I have for those that are hurt out there is simple, if it's a lower body injury, train the upper body as much as you can and do everything you can to avoid the problems that usually stem from being out with a lower body injury. Example is glute activation, there are a kajillion glute activation exercises and I'm sure that you, or your coach/trainer can figure out one that works for you, also any sort of core and mobility exercise you can do safely without pain, DO IT! These things won't keep you completely from having issues once your injury has healed, but they will cut down on the time it takes to get you back into the fold.

Upper body injuries much of the same applies, probably want to work on keeping the mobility in the shoulders and T-Spine as much as you can. Again like the glute activation there are plenty of drills for this that you can do safely, just ask. There will be cross over from injury training for upper and lower body, simply put, if it doesn't hurt and you can do it safely, it'll probably be OK and will be better than nothing.

Have a good day everyone and get after it...even if you are hurt!