A fitness journey is personal and the goal of many people. For others, staying fit is a way of life. There is no denying that an active lifestyle is essential for keeping your body healthy, so it’s no wonder that exercise becomes a cornerstone.
But the risk of working out often is that there is a risk of injury. Whether you run a mile or lift weights, there’s always a chance that a workout can lead to your body suffering some damage. In this case, the healing process is crucial for getting back on your feet.
Once you can work out again, how do you safely start to do so? You don’t want to reinjure yourself, or else your recovery will be much longer. These five tips will help you get back to fitness and an active lifestyle after suffering an injury.
1. The Right Exercises Are Key
If you’re used to a heavy workout, it can be hard to reduce your exercise, but it’s necessary for a proper recovery. You can’t just jump right back into your normal workout routine, or you risk further exacerbating your injury.
It’s best to choose a less challenging exercise while you’re in injury recovering. This means making the intensity lower, limiting the amount of weight you use, or reducing your range of motion. This allows your body to heal while remaining active.
A knee injury may require you to work back up to running by walking first. Shoulder injuries may require you to use smaller weights or do a bodyweight exercise instead. You have to work yourself back up to your pre-injury level slowly.
2. Know Good Pain versus Bad Pain
Nobody wants to be in pain, but in this case, pain can be a good tool. Pain lets your body know that something you’re doing is wrong. While you’re in recovery, it’s essential to listen to your pain and know how to interpret it.
When you’re engaging in your workout, you should probably stop that exercise if your place of injury hurts. Pushing yourself through bad pain can lead to a re-injury and lengthening the healing process.
It’s essential to know the difference between good pain and bad pain. Good pain is a sign your muscles are working; you may feel tired, but it builds up throughout the workout and is easy to tolerate.
Bad pain is sudden and may feel like a pull in your muscles, or there may be a pop around joints. Bad pain is localized and uneven, meaning one shoulder hurts while the other feels fine. Numbness or shooting pain calls for immediate medical attention.
Before you workout, you should not take painkillers as it can make identifying your pain harder, leading to possibly more injury.
3. Consider Regenerative Medicine
If you’re serious about getting back on your feet and returning to your lifestyle physical activity, you may want to consider regenerative medicine. This is a regenerative therapy that uses the body’s natural ability to heal as an advantage.
Healthy regenerative cells in the body help to accelerate the natural healing process. They can repair tissue damage from an injury and can reduce pain during the recovery process.
In some cases, regenerative medicine is an alternative to surgery that can help you get back to your active lifestyle much quicker. Regenerative medicine has treatment benefits for acute and chronic pain as well as pain from overuse.
There are a few types of regenerative medicine, but one that’s common is PRP or Platelet-Rich Plasma. This procedure uses the patient’s blood that’s been processed to create a concentration of platelets and plasma.
This is where the body’s natural healing properties are. The concentration of platelets and plasma is injected or applies to the injured area to facilitate healing and repairing the injury.
4. Incorporate Active Recovery
After a workout, it’s essential to incorporate active recovery into your routine. This involves a low-intensity workout to reduce soreness and improve the muscle-rebuilding process.
Active recovery has more benefits than inactivity, so it’s necessary to come back after an injury and maintain your active lifestyle fitness. What active recovery you engage in is different for every person and depends on your post-injury needs.
Common activities include walking, doing yoga, or swimming to aid your muscles. You can also use a foam roller and give yourself a deep-tissue massage around the injury. Take time to stretch more, focusing on deep stretches you hold for at least 60 seconds.
Staying hydrating and eating well will always aid your recovery. And don’t underestimate the power of ice to help relax your muscles.
5. Stay Motivated Through Recovery
What is considered an active lifestyle is different for everyone. For some, it means getting back to the gym every day, and for others, it’s just about being able to do their daily activities without pain.
However, you stay active; being set back after an injury can feel demoralizing. You may feel like you’ve lost progress or like you may never get back to the level you were at. This is why recovery is not just physical but mental as well.
After your injury, you need to stay motivated and develop mental strength. It may sound like a struggle, and it won’t be easy in every case. But remaining motivated will do wonders for your recovery process.
Your New Active Lifestyle
An injury can put a damper on someone with a once active lifestyle. However, taking a step back from fitness and taking care of yourself is crucial if you want to return to working out and the lifestyle you’re used to.
Recovering from an injury is a long road. But if you’re not careful or push yourself too far, you can make that road much longer than it should be. Whether fitness is a way of life or just keeps you moving every day, the right recovery from an injury is essential.
Ready to beat your pain and get back to your active lifestyle? Allow us to help you find a treatment that heals your pain and rejuvenates your health.