Training with an injury

The key to coming back from an injury should not be a passive approach (sit around and hope for it to get better). Although that being said there are definitely moments where passive modalities can help ease symptoms but if we don’t incorporate the active components then we are missing the overall big picture of returning from injury.

As you can see in the picture the base of the pyramid is load and volume management. Is there a certain intensity or volume you can perform without flaring up you’re symptoms? If you can do this then you can also incorporate everything else above this level.

If you can not find a load or volume that keeps your symptoms at bay try to manipulate the tempo work or time under tension (tut). Incorporating tempo work can help load issues with lighter intensity. Using something like isometric contractions as well has been shown to provide pain relief while increasing capacity.

Next we can look at training as a whole. If the previous step did not work, we can temporarily change the biomechanics to change where the demands are placed and find a variation that can be trained without discomfort.

If your injury is acute and sensitive then we can train around that body part. If it’s a knee injury then work on hips, feet and core etc. You can do this with almost any body part and strengthening the surrounding muscles can help increase performance through irradiation.

However if you really can’t even train close to that body part the train energy systems. For example, if you’re unable to bear weight on your legs then train your upper body. You can still incorporate assault bikes with just arms, using battle ropes etc. The work:rest ratios can be manipulated in order to train different energy systems (aerobic/anaerobic etc) this can give you a bigger base to build from as we respect tissue healing time frames.

At last... there is rest! Rest is always an option but remember everything above where you can work on the pyramid can be incorporated as well. This is just a diagram and framework, if you have a injury make sure you consult with Coaches Mel and Alan so that we can appropriately decide the best course of action whether that be scaling, or swapping to 121 sessions while your injury is moving through the stages of the pyramid system.

Got an injury your worried about, let the coaches know and see how we can help you.

How we can help you with an injury