Getting injured as an active person is incredibly frustrating. Depending on the injury, you could be off your favorite activity for days, weeks, or even months while you allow your body to heal. But just because you are recovering does not mean you need to be stationary. In fact, in many cases, keeping your body moving will help with the healing process.
Keep in mind, however, that some of these suggestions will depend greatly on the type of injury you are experiencing and it is important to ask your doctor before beginning any kind of exercise or diet regime to ensure you are staying healthy and safe.
When your body is healing, the best thing you can start with is making sure you are eating a balanced and healthy diet. It can be easy to neglect your diet when you are not feeling one hundred percent, but it is extremely important to make sure that you are getting all of the vitamins and minerals that your body needs as well as drinking plenty of water. With the right nutrition, you are going to help your body heal faster.
Swimming or walking in water is an excellent way to keep yourself in shape and moving while allowing injuries to heal. The resistance of the water makes you work harder to move around, but you are not experiencing any kind of impaction so you should not be putting pressure on tender injuries. If you are a runner who has found yourself in peril, running in deep water is really the way to keep running while recovering.
If you have injured your leg, you can still get an adequate workout using only your arms and your core. If it is your arms or back that is injured, find some leg strengthening exercises that you can do that will not do further damage to yourself. You can let the one part of your body heal while working on the strength of other parts of your body. Be careful, however. If you have a running injury, for example, doing other forms of cardio like cycling or the elliptical is still not a good idea and could exacerbate the injury.
If you are concerned that you have an injury, you should check with your doctor first to confirm. If the injury is mild or you are just experiencing muscular pain, you may be able to continue your active lifestyle with a modified structure. It is a good time to go for lighter weights and higher repetitions if you are a weightlifter. If you are a hiker, go for flatter and less complicated terrain. Remember that being active while healing is important as well because you’re encouraging oxygen and blood flow to the damaged area.
It is frustrating to have to cut back on your regular exercise routine, regardless of whether you are a gym enthusiast or an avid hiker. But you can also see there is a positive to having some downtime. You may be worried that your times will suffer or you won’t be able to do as many reps as before, but this is also a good time to let your body have a break. Taking a break does not mean that you will get out of shape, but will let other parts of your body heal as well. You can give every part of you a chance to repair and recover then get back out there as soon as you can.
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