Dealing With A Fitness Injury

When you're focused on getting fitter, stronger, faster, or just leaner, injuries do happen. Chances are that you'll experience one at some point on your fitness journey. There's always the pulled muscle, or maybe a nice sprain that will put you out of action for a little bit. Being a runner, I'm used to simply jogging through the pain and it all goes away before you know it. But recently I've been dealing with a more serious injury and it's been one of the toughest lessons I have learned so far. It's been a learning curb, but one I think I've had to go through. 

Don't get me wrong, I fricking love the way I train. CrossFit has changed how I look and feel about fitness and I wouldn't give it up for the best gym in the world. But I took the wrong form one day and with the combination of an explosive movement (damn you wall balls!) I tore some cartilage in my right knee. Let me tell you, it's not a fun or easy injury to have. Being someone who considers fitness to be a key part of who they are, I was heartbroken to have taken such a step back. It's not all bad though and the whole point of this post is to share how I'm trying to get through it without losing that part of who I am. 

Obviously I'm no doctor and this post won't have anything to do with medical advice. This is just me sharing my experience of an injury and how I'm learning to deal with it. If you ever do feel that something is wrong, don't hesitate to go see a proffessional about it. 

Don't give up

The thing about fitness injuries is that they can be incredibly frustrating. You want to train hard and run for miles, but you physically can't anymore. At least not without further damage occurring. Everyone around me can see that I'm not happy about being so restricted. It's not about the pain, although getting my leg caught on something can be a nice little wake-up call. It's about being stuck on bench press while everyone else squats, or rowing another 2km for the third time in a week. 

But you know what?

I didn't give up. 

I could have easily told my coach I was going to take it easy and rest. But that's not me at all. I just strapped my knee up and came into class at the same time I do each morning. Luckily I have a brilliant coach who simply modifies the workouts to take the ease off of my knees. And hey, it means my upper body can finally get some focus too! I'm still not able to get back into running (which kills me inside) but I know that if I keep strengthening me knee on the with different exercises, I'll get back to it soon. 

Talk to your coach/trainer
Who better to talk to than someone who lives and breathes fitness? They've probably come across a number of injuries, or even experienced some themselves. My coach has been a great help in keeping the intensity of my workouts. He even helped me identify a few problems (quads too tight, which is pulling my knee the wrong way) and solutions to help me heal better (foam roll them to shreds and invest in a compression band.)
If you're not sure about what a physio or doctor has said to you, this can be a helpful way to get a second opinion. They want what's best for you and to get the most out of your workouts, so they will always be happy to help. They can even point you in the right direction for recommendations specifically for your sport or injury.


Treat your body right
You'd be surprised by how much nutrition can speed up the healing process, especially to help fight inflammation. It's like when you come down with a cold and having orange juice (or anything high in vitamin C) makes you feel better. Now, I'm no expert about this stuff, but I know if I'm eating plenty of fruit and veg, avoiding anything processed, and taking turmeric tablets for inflammation I'm helping my body do it' thing. It's something to look into, even when you just have sore muscles from recent workouts. Your body is in pain, you gotta take care of it.



Have you had a sports injury experience? Let me know how you got through it.
Steph x.