How to Workout with an Injury (SWEAT app)
Injury is an unfortunate thing that can happen to anyone doing physical activity at any point in time. Professional and well trained athletes can get injuries despite their best precautions, and someone just starting to exercise by walking around the block can be injured.
It is a big deal and a big set back.
In some cases you can lose all of your muscle progress or start eating terribly because you are so depressed about your injury.
In the past I have definitely been through the emotions that undo all of my training. But, now I am fighting against the easy path and forging forward despite my set-backs.
**This post contains Amazon affiliate links and WW affiliate links. If you choose to purchase through one of these links, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thanks for your support!
My Injuries
I started BBG in April and after a full month of it, my hip began to have unbearable pain. I eventually went to the doctor and was told one of my hips was a solid inch lower than the other hip. This is normal for women who carry kids on their hips, it just wasn’t a great combo with all the jumping and lunging that goes with BBG.
I was told not to do asymmetrical exercises (such as lunges), jumping (jump squats, jumping jacks) or run for a month. After that I would need to judge it on a week by week basis before returning to my regular routine. That was my first experience with being injured.
Then 4-5 months after I recovered from my hip injury, I was hit with an ankle injury. It hurt so bad I couldn’t even put pressure on it in the morning. I crawled, hopped, and cried my way around the house knowing that all of my hard work was about to come to an end, certain I would be out of commission for months (it ended up being better after a month).
However these two injuries, that cost me a total of 3 months of by-the-book training, could have set me back. I could have lost all my gains if I hadn’t done these five things.
Here is my advice to you for how to get through an injury and keep going forward.
(This should be obvious, but I am not a doctor. Please get advice from your doctor about what you should and shouldn’t be doing while being injured, before taking this advice)
1. Take the time to process that you have been injured.
Mourn, be frustrated, lament, but then…then GET OVER IT. There are only two options
1. Go forward in the best way you can or
2. Go backwards.
You can’t stay the same because you have an injury. If you don’t do something, you will lose all your gains.
Accept that you have an injury and don’t have a bad attitude.
So much of getting through an injury is your mental game. I used to be a defeatist and be like, “If I can’t go full throttle, what’s the point?” The point is that if you back off and let yourself heal, while keeping yourself as fit as possible, you will return stronger than ever eventually.
If you stop completely or keep going at full speed, you will set yourself back much further than if you had listened to your body.
You must change your thinking and be thankful for the exercises you can do.
This is a good time to work on your mental strength, as well. I recommend these three books, to get you started.
I felt like there were two roads: to quit or not to quit. Instead of quitting, I focused on all the things I could do. By modifying exercises, I didn’t lose all my gains. And when I got the OK to go forward, I was physically ready to begin the 12 week program. Even better than that, though, I felt like I was still strong.
2. The intensity of your program will change and that’s okay.
First off, when I had the hip injury I was already in the beginner program of BBG where the first two weeks have hardly any jumping. The last two weeks have jumping, so right away I decided I would keep repeating the first two weeks until I got better.
If you are injured and trying to take it easy, I suggest going back to the beginner version of whatever program you are doing (here is how to get there in case you don’t know). This will seriously help you figure out how to modify your moves. It will be less overwhelming, and you will be less likely to quit because you will see moves you can do.
I looked through all three days on BBG beginner and then I wrote down the moves I could do on a piece of paper. When I ran out of moves or started to get bored, then I’d go further in the program and see which moves I could do to switch things up.
Then I made my own circuits on a note-card. I’d hit start in the program and use the program as my timer but do the moves on my note-card. This made me feel like I was still part of the program and the community.
3. Think of what major muscles you would be working and then figure out how to work those muscles so as not to exasperate your injury.
Since I wasn’t allowed to do asymmetrical moves or jumps with my hip, I ended up doing a lot of squats. For Example:
Jump Squats became regular squats.
Jump rope was calf raises
Walking lunges changed to sumo squats
Knee ups became squat and press
I was honestly doing about 300 squats each workout! When I couldn’t physically do anymore squats, I then used the time to focus on my upper body and core. I did a lot of plank, sit-ups, commandos, leg raise, and jack knives.
Also, since I was able to walk, I tried to increase my walking. Instead of doing LISS 3-4 days a week, I’d try to do LISS 5-6 times a week and walk faster with more hills.
I had to fight my nature of quitting, getting overwhelmed, and disappointed to keep going forward. It was especially hard mentally because I had just gained 7 pounds on a trip with friends.
This was a critical point in my life for exercise and diet. I could have thrown in the towel, or I could fight my way back and further.
There is always some sort of exercise you can do. So often people use an injury as an excuse to take time off, and then they never get back with the program.
I knew that taking even a week off from BBG can make it that much harder to working out (because I took a week off once and it was brutal returning), and I never wanted the experience of starting with weak muscles again.
4. Make sure your diet is on point.
I didn’t have a cheat day, I logged everything, I weighed my food, I didn’t have bites of things and not track it while I was injured. Mentally, it would have been that much harder to keep going with my workouts if I were gaining weight.
You must have control over the things you can while you are injured, such as diet. Your diet is 95% of your weight loss. Even if you are losing some muscle gain, you absolutely do not have to gain fat. Don’t start to spiral and lose all the progress you have made. Just don’t do that to yourself.
Maybe use this time to try to drop weight (if need be). You don’t need exercise to lose weight. My friend just lost 80 lbs two years ago using WW and all she did was walk her driveway!
5. You Might Need to Join a Gym
When I had an ankle injury and was hopping around, I decided it was time to join a gym, or there would be no hope in me staying in any kind of shape. My home gym has very limited equipment (jump box, step, 10 lb weights, treadmill) but a gym has all kind of machines. I could use the machines that work your inner and outer thighs at the very least.
There was also an arm bike I could use for cardio (even if I looked ridiculous doing it and my friends took videos of it for their amusement). I planned to use this time to strengthen my arms and abs.
The gym had all kinds of machines I could use to strengthen my arms while sitting down with a hurt ankle. I wasn’t happy about spending the extra money, but I knew it was better than losing all of my muscle.
The ankle injury is when I switched from BBG to PWR. The reason I did this was because after reviewing the programs, I realized that Kayla has a lot of jumping and Kelsey uses a lot of machines.
In the beginning of PWR two of the three workouts are arms with only one day being a leg workout. I made the switch and modified the moves that required my legs, but with having access to a gym, it was very easy to come up with an altered move.
To Sum Things Up
If you are injured you have two choices to make.
1. Give yourself an excuse to stop exercising
2. Be creative and find a way to make it work.
The key is to focus on the things you can do and then do those things with 110% effort. An injury will set you back, but it doesn’t have to have the power to reset your progress.
You can do this. Power through!
If you are reading this, I am so sorry that you have been injured. I hope you find encouragement in learning that since starting BBG in April of 2018, I have been injured twice (not from BBG, from running) for a total of about 3 months and I am in the best shape I have ever been in.
I didn’t lose major ground, I kept my diet in check, and I gained strength in other places. When the time came for me to train again, I took it slow and easily surpassed where I left off.
Don’t get out of the habit of working out!
In the last nine months I have missed only a handful of workouts and I am PROUD. Do not lose hope. Keep going. You can and will do this!
Let me know what injury you are dealing with, how you are handling it, and if I can help in any way in the comments below! I’d love to help support you as you reach your goals.
