The Fitness Adviser

If you read How To Get Through a Bad Injury Part I, you know about the need to be motivated and mentally determined to get through a bad injury. So now you’re motivated, you’re doing the physical therapy you need to be doing, maybe you tried some prolotherapy and you’re slowly but surely getting better. But what about the interim? Your injury is healing, but it will take months, and in the meantime your body is falling a part and overall you feel weaker than ever. Luckily, you have come to the right place. Here are 3 easy ways to stay strong while your injury heals.

[I've never been into snowboarding, but I love hiking and sailing and my desire to do them again helps motivate me to keep doing physical therapy and stay in shape. What motivates you?]

Use the Bicycle

If your particular injury allows you to bend your knees while you’re injured, the bike is a great exercise tool. It doesn’t put much pressure on the legs and ensures your legs get a great quad workout. It’s an essential tool for strengthening the legs without putting pressure on them and is present in every physical therapy center for that reason.

Try Isometric Exercises

Some injuries don’t allow for bending the knees. Luckily, isometric exercises are a great way to keep up your mind to muscle connection and keep the muscles from atrophying. Isometric exercises are simply exercises where you stay still. Try lifting the leg and just holding it in position while flexing the muscles. NOTE: Check with your physician or health professional to make sure that exercising your injury in any way is acceptable.

Go Out and Swim

Swimming is God’s gift to man when it comes to staying in shape while injured. There are almost no injuries that don’t allow you to jump in the pool and at the very least, just walk around. Since there are so many different movements and swimming techniques possible in the pool, there’s almost always some kind of stroke that you’ll be able to do. Personally, before I was injured I never used to swim, but now that I was forced to start swimming because of my injury I can’t get enough. I highly advise this activity as it’s the single most effective tool in keeping the overall body strong while getting through an injury.

Remember, while healing from an injury is a difficult experience, if you can keep motivated and consistently stick to getting better, you can do anything.

-Rafi

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Injuries by Rafi