Each and every year, millions of people end up getting hurt while training or working out.
Thankfully, for most, these injuries are pretty minor – at least in the grand scheme of things.
A pulled muscle here, a sprained ankle there, nothing to really write home about. At the same time, things can be a lot worse. Sometimes you’ll lose an anterior cruciate ligament or a medial collateral ligament, and sometimes your ligaments in other parts of your body will give out completely. A pectoral tear is an absolute nightmare situation, and there are all kinds of horrible things that can happen to your back involving a lot of pain.
This is why you need to make sure that you’re lifting weights the right way in the first place. You need to train smart, you need to train safe, and you need to make sure that you aren’t ever being reckless with more weight or intensity than you can reasonably manage.
Sure, you’re going to want to push your own boundaries. But if you want to avoid a diet of painkillers, you’re should avoid the compromising situations in the first place.
If you have been dealt a training injury or accident, or if you are looking to rehab an old injury that just won’t quick, we’ve outlined a couple of easy things you’re going to be able to do all on your own to get back on top of your game. Make sure you pay attention to the insider information below and you should be just fine!
Recognize what you did wrong so that you NEVER do it again
The very first thing you’ll want to do (aside from getting emergency medical treatments if necessary) is to look back at the training that you were doing to find out where, when and how the injury happened in the first place.
Without knowing EXCATLY what you did wrong in the first place, you’ll never be able to know what you need to do to avoid that situation the next time it comes around.
Take the time to really break down what went wrong and why, and you’ll have a game plan to follow so that things don’t become trouble in the future. Share this information with the people helping you with your rehab and they’ll be able to help you design a more targeted rehab program going forward.
Fall in love with RICE
- Rest
- Ice
- Compression
- Elevation
These are absolute necessities when it comes time to rehab your injuries, and it’s going to be absolutely critical to your getting back into the game faster than you would have been able to otherwise.
Though it seems really simple and straightforward, this approach is usually all that’s necessary to treat everything but the most severe injuries you’ll come across while working out. Obviously, though, if this approach isn’t working, you’ll want to make sure you visit a trusted medical professional to help you speed up the process without ever compromising the injury or making it worse. This can often mean the short term use of prescription painkillers such as codeine to get you through the day while the natural healing processes are underway.
