MY INJURY & CONFIDENCE
So you got injured, now what?
The idea of bettering yourself by going to the gym has proven its countless health benefits, particularly after a rough breakup, scars from a bullied past and much more. However, sometimes gym results can bolster our confidence so much that we often forget to humble ourselves. From my personal experience, having this consistent “alpha mentally” has hindered me and I often neglected to remind myself to do other things outside of heavy lifting, including adding mobility work, having proper hydration and getting enough sleep each night. It was until one day at the gym, my “ego lifting” upon building my upper body strength with horizontal press experiences like bench press and incline dumbbell press with not just heavyweights but going beyond range of motion that left me with a nagging injury that took me a few months to recover back into working out normally.
All of the sudden, I felt that the gains I made in the gym were in vain. Not to mention, I was riddled with depressing thoughts as my body became mostly inactive. There has to be a way to get something in until full recovery is met. So now that I am injured, now what? From my experience as a trainer, my ego of not taking the time to take care of my sleep, mobility and hydration had caused multiple problems to not only recover but to grow muscles, increase overall strength, etc. If you find yourself of being injured in the gym, it’s not the end of the world! Here is a list of several things you can do to help you treat gym injuries.
RICE Method
One of the most effective methods in injury rehabilitation is the called the RICE method, which consists of:
R: Rest the injury
I: Ice the injury to reduce swelling of the impacted area
C: Compress the injury with a bandage
E: Elevate the injury to reduce inflammation
Don’t workout (on that specific area)
Unless you are fully healed, do not activities around the impacted area. Recovery may prolong further if you don’t allow your body to rest. You can still be active in many areas such as hiking and yoga (if possible). According to WebMD, “Staying active may help you heal quicker than if you take to the couch. Try a new workout while your injury heals. For example, if you sprain your ankle, exercise your arms instead. If you hurt your shoulder, work out your legs by walking.”
(Note: For those who are seeking more body alignment for imbalances, check out this NYC studio called STRETCH’D, which we wrote an article which can be seen here:
Don’t Skimp on Sleep
Whether the injury is going to put you out for weeks and/or much longer, there is no better way to recover better enough sleep. It is a time when your body works really hard to repair overall damage from several factors. As most gym injuries comprise of inflammation, sleep helps reduces inflammation. As your “cells produce more protein while you are sleeping, these protein molecules form the building blocks for cells, which allows them to repair the damage.”
Lastly, seek out friends and family members to help you cope with your injuries. From my personal experience injuring my ankle from track and field, haven’t if I sought out my friends to help me with school, I would have been a lot lonely and frustrated.
Here is to a speedy recovery, fellow fitness friends.
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