Nov
14
A few days ago, I dropped a box of cottage cheese on my toe and broke it. It’s ironic, with all the physical activity I do I would expect my injuries to come from falling down a hill while hiking or perhaps some biking incident. But no, I break my toes by dropping groceries on them in the kitchen. So I hobbled my way through work yesterday and then went to the gym. At the gym I saw one of my coworkers who asked me “should you really be working out right now?”
First, The Usual Warning
Please remember, I am not your doctor. I don’t know you or the specifics of your body and injuries. Talk to you doctor if you’re hurt and make sure they’re ok with whatever it is you want to do.
Yes, You Can Work Out, But Carefully
Most injuries do not have to keep you out of the gym, they should simply make you more careful while working out. For example, there’s no way I’m going to run with a broken toe. The repeated impacts would be painful and damaging. However, why would a broken toe stop me from doing curls, crunches or deadlifts? These exercises in no way put stress on my toes.
At The Same Time, Don’t Overdo It
Of course, you should be careful. Even for those minor injuries that you don’t see a doctor about, you should still be aware and try not to make things worse. Remember the difference between a pain and an ache? Well, even a minor pain can develop into a major one if you’re not careful. My injured foot turned into a major stress fracture because I kept working out. I was stupid. I know my foot was injured and yet I kept running.
Don’t Use Your Injury As An Excuse
Don’t stop working out just because of a minor injury. Too often I see people skipping workouts just because they have a minor injury. I had a coworker who stopped working out when they scraped up their knee. Sure, it was a pretty bad scrape and they should probably rest that knee but is that any reason not to do other forms of exercise? There are plenty of other things you can that will not stress the knee in any way.
Summary
As with most things, injuries and workouts are all about balance. Don’t use your injury as an excuse, but do be careful not to make injuries worse than they are. When in doubt, see a doctor. When in pain, stop what you’re doing. Two simple rules that will allow you to keep working out even with a band aid or two.
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