GETTING INJURED IN THE GYM

Everyone comes with years of life under their belt. We can’t rewind the clock and do anything about that. The sport they played, the way they move, the injuries they have suffered, the bad habits they have picked up. But what we can do is work with that person to try to break some of the bad habits, improve their movement, and get them stronger and more resilient to protect them against further injuries.

In the case that someone gets injured in that process, we are here to support them. We have Sports and Health Professionals who we work closely with who we communicate with regularly on a weekly basis so that we can get the injured person back on track as soon as possible.

If you do get injured, we, the coaches at CFH, are here to support you. Many of your coaches, like me, have been in the trenches, and suffered some serious injuries over their time.

Here are some tips if you get injured in the gym:

1. Don’t ignore it and push through pain. This is a sure way to make it worse and take longer to recover. Let your coach know and start managing the injury immediately.
2. Let your coach know – this is vital. That way steps can be taken immediately to reduce risk and start managing the injury. Communication lines will be opened and other coaches will be aware and be able to support you straight away with your recovery.
3. Don’t stop training. That is not the answer to an injury. Training should be modified, but in most cases, stopping training is not necessary. Your coaches can help you modify your training.
4. Stay positive and remember that if you manage the process well the situation is temporary. The world is not ending.
5. Seek advice from the CFH staff as to what you should modify in the program. The earlier you can do this the better. The coaches are happy to do this, and want to do this. We would much rather be part of this process and help rather than leave you to your own devices.
6. Seek professional advice, and this does not mean see Dr Google. Physio’s spend many years studying the body, and even more working with people with injuries just like yours. In my opinion if you choose to manage it yourself, you are just wasting time and slowing down the recovery. If you need someone to be referred to, let us know.
7. Commit to the rehab and recovery of your injury. This may require you to completely prioritise this in your training. For example, instead of 5 x training sessions per week, for 4 weeks you may need to reduce that to 2, and do 3 rehab / prehab sessions until you get on top of it and can start increasing volume and intensity again. It may seem inconvenient and annoying in the short term, but in the ling term it is more effective.
8. Once you have recovered – the process is not over. Stay on top of your prehab for that injured area so it does not become a recurring problem. We often see this in the gym. Injuries coming back to haunt you. This should not be the case if you get the above 6 steps right and keep on with this one.

Remember we are here to help so if you do suffer an injury whilst training, let us know so we can support you back to full recovery.