Exercising through pain and injury

Scott Schwab
All of us have been to that point in our lives where we just overdue it a little or actually even hurt ourselves and exercise is potentially put on hold. I have seen to many people who once they have a set back, they don't get back going. A couple of suggestions from someone who is currently feeling some pain. As some of you know I have spent the last couple of weeks doing enough manual labor for a life time. It really has not been that fun, but I feel like I have been getting double workouts. It was all good and fine until we poured concrete on Saturday. For some reason I am now feeling like a broke my wrist. Seriously, the pain is crazy and reminds me of when I actually did break it. I have still been going to the gym, primarily because I am trying to keep the schedule. Honestly this is the best thing that we can all do. Schedule is our life and we seem to do better with important things when they are based on a schedule. Pain is the same thing, but at least you can work through it. I have been trying to do little things, but now I am finding that I cannot shot a basketball and have very little motion. I think I will give it a break the rest of the week and then if still hurting will hit the Doctor on Monday. The important thing to remember is not to be Heman or Sherra. Admit you have something and let your body judge on how hard to work. Soreness and minor pain is good to work through and you can feel good that you are doing great and working that area effectively. However, advanced pain and injury is not good. We never know when an injury can turn into chronic pain, or something that will always hurt. It is good to keep going to the gym and I have a couple of suggestions. Depending on the area hurt, take a couple of days and work other areas of the body. This will help with keeping your schedule and consistency. Do light things until you know how your body will respond. Many times you will not feel how bad something is until after your workout. I personally will be focusing on cardio and not worry about the weights. In this way I can let my body heal and return stronger. Do not let your mind tell you, that it is OK to miss sometime and you will get back to it in a week. The mind is the biggest challenge at times. Turn off the defeating thoughts and go and make something happen.