Our bodies are capable of doing some pretty amazing things and withstanding a lot. It is my prayer that all of you will maintain impeccable health and never incur a severe injury. However, over time most of us will suffer some type of injury. When this happens it can be very tempting and easy to write off going to the gym. I would implore you to resist this temptation and continue to come in and train with us. We can get pretty creative and modify WODs to suit your needs. There are numerous benefits of continuing to train during an injury, which I will explain further below.
First off, I am in no way suggesting you come in and try to push through the pain and continue to train as if you are not injured. CrossFit is great because of the variety and adaptability that lies at its core. Get with one of the coaches and explain your injury and limitations. We want you in the gym, we want you to be healthy, and we want to help in your recovery process in any way possible.
Now, some of the benefits of continuing to train while recovering from an injury are as follows:
- Exercising and lifting weights promotes increased growth hormone, insulin growth factors, and testosterone. All of these will be of benefit during your recovery process and will aid in healing.
- There has been some research done concerning the Crossover Training Effect (CTE), which has shown that continuing to train the non-injured side of the body will have a carry over effect to the injured side of the body. So, for example, if your right arm is injured, continuing to train your left arm will have transference to the right arm.
- Continuing to train will also help maintain your mobility, posture, and other biomechanical habits.
- Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, utilize us as a support system as you recover. As I mentioned in the beginning, it can be easy to withdraw, become depressed about your injury, and possibly develop something called Injury Isolation Syndrome. Please don’t allow this to happen. Keep coming into the gym. You need to be around your friends and engage in the camaraderie fostered by barbells and bumper plates. You need to sweat, be challenged, and believe you can still progress and make gains.
Being injured sucks, but I can’t emphasize enough how important continuing to walk through the doors of CFABQ will be. We care about you as a whole, not just your physical training. So, don’t be shy and let us know what we can do to help get you back to 100 percent.
