Wednesday, February 11, 2015

30 Day Workout Challenge: Day 11 - Injured. Now what?

Some days I feel like I have the most injury prone set of ankles and knees on this planet. This issue is not anything new. I have been banging my knees up since high school and turning my ankles since college. So, when I start going full tilt during workout sessions, I am always concerned about injuries.


My first mode of action is trying to prevent injury at all costs. I wear supportive shoes as much as possible. And not just during exercise, but in my every day comings and goings as well. I have invested in decent braces and wraps over the years. So if anything does feel a bit out of sorts, I just brace it or wrap it up for a few hours and take it easy. Most importantly, I rest what is hurting. Sometimes pain is a sign that you need to slow down a bit and recuperate. But what do you do if you have already injured yourself? 


This used to be the death card for my exercise regimen. I would get into a good exercise routine and then suddenly everything would come to screeching halt because I hurt my ankle or my knee. I would tell myself: "Hey, no problem. I just sit out a week and then get right back up on that horse once I feel better." But that would never happen. For some reason, that much time out of my exercise routine would end everything. I kept saying, "I'll go back to the gym tomorrow" and tomorrow never came.

So instead, the better idea is to change up exercises. Instead of doing normal cardio workouts, I should have switched to something that would let me workout without putting any weight on my injured joint. There have been no injuries for me as of yet (Thank God), but I have noticed my ankle ache once already. Instead of sitting out, I came up with something else to do. I traded in my Zumba for an ab intensive workout. This way I didn't fall out of routine.


Minor injuries doesn't mean that you are forced to quit altogether. It just means that you need to be creative with how to workout in the safest way possible.

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