The Struggle: Training Through Injury

Hello, my lovelies! I hope everyone is well...

If you follow me on IG, FB, YouTube, I'm sure you've heard me mention or hashtag "TheStruggle" or something similar. Well, I'm going to briefly touch on part of that struggle; training while dealing with an injury.

The harder we train, the more likely it is that at some point, we WILL get injured. Minor or major; injuries come with the territory. I've been training (at various intensities) for almost 20 years... That's a very long time and I've spent some of that time injured. you may ask, "well, if you're injured, how are you training??" Good question. I'm going to discuss my two most recent injuries and how I dealt with and am dealing with them.

Two years ago, I suffered a strain to my VMO muscle in the right leg. VMO =  vastus medialis obliquu, or the muscle of the quadriceps group that forms that lovely "tear drop" shape above your knee (My legs aren't THAT lean yet, so no photos :-) ). It affected EVERYTHING, causing pain in the knee area and thigh. I was unable to squat, press, lunge, etc. Anything that involved a quad movement was painful. But..  I didn't want to lose my gains; I like to think of my legs as my "show piece". I avoided those movements that hurt, and concentrated on what I COULD do: stiff leg dead lifts, abduction and adduction (inner/outer thigh), leg curls, leg lifts, etc.

I went through a few weeks of physical therapy, when the PT noticed that my VMO wasn't getting better as soon as he'd expected. In fact, it had weakened. He warned that if I avoided activity involving that muscle, it would atrophy. Explained that, yes, it will hurt; but I need to keep the joint/muscle active, warm and stimulated. No need to get crazy and squat 3 plates or rack the leg extension machine; just keep it moving. I went back to doing light leg work, with extension, body weight squats, in depth warm ups and cool downs, stretching (active and static) and guess what? My muscle began to finally heal! I learned a great lesson on the importance of proper warm ups and muscle maintenance.

Currently, I'm in the early stages of a Prep Cycle and I have a shoulder impingement; which is a form of inflammation. Actually, it's an impingement, weak rotator cuff and weak postural muscles (I sit at a desk all day :-( ).  I don't know how it started, why or what I did, but it hampers every movement. I'm in therapy for it, doing my exercises, stretching, etc. I also have to avoid certain movements, such as overhead presses for shoulders and squats (I can no longer hold the bar because of the angle; it irritates my shoulder). So.. How do I train for prep??

I'm training AROUND the injury. I work within an acceptable level of pain. I can't do certain pec flyes, so I switch to a machine that is easier on the joint and I concentrate on stimulating the muscle, instead of trying to set personal bests. It's not that serious. My main goal is to stay healthy and able to train while I'm healing and rebuilding. I've moved more to machine work (cables, hammers, etc) for my training, instead of movements that put strain on the shoulder.

Two lessons to take away:
1. Take care of your body. Always remember: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. If it takes 10-15 minutes more to warm up properly, do it. It's certainly better than months of recuperation. It took me almost a year to get back to regular leg routines and motions. It's been about a month and I'm slowly getting my ROM back in the shoulder and starting to move without pain. Certain sleeping positions still hurt, but I'm getting better.

2. Heal the injury, but don't completely stop working. Keep active, keep moving. Get treatment for a sport injury and ask what movements you can do to maintain those gains and progress. There are many ways to work around an injury, without making it worse or slowing down the healing. Even though I can't hold a bar to squat, I still squat with a machine; can do dumbbell lunges; and can leg press (my  power movements). I also still work shoulders, but I'm careful of which movements to do; I can do raises, and rows, but no presses. I'm lucky to have a good base of muscle at the moment, so my main concern is maintenance.

Being injured is tough for anyone, especially those of us who are serious about training. It's hard on the body and the mind. I have a hard time dealing with the fact that I can't do everything I want to and it saddens me. But I get past it, do my exercises and keep the training going and moving forward.

Take care, y'all and stay healthy!