Recently, over the past two months, it seems I have quite a few conversations with athletes that have had an injury, or “tweeked” something or have an old physical issue that has come back.
There always seems to be a common thread in the conversations that doesn’t always seem to be in our best interest.
“ But I can’t not workout!” “ I don’t want to miss any good WODS”
Sound familiar? Or perhaps you’ve given this advise to someone but when it happens to you, it’s not the same.
If you get injured or something starts to hurt without a specific incident, generally there should be some improvement over a 2 week period. If there’s no change at all, it’s probably good idea to seek out medical advice or treatment.
At this point it’s probably a good idea to modify your workouts to a pain free range to avoid further injury. Modifying along with stretching if appropriate, lacrosse ball or moist heat might also be helpful. Sometimes more interventions are neccessary.
Physical therapy, chiropractor or massage depending on the severity of the injury.
Pushing through an injury that isn’t healing will probably make the injury worse and possibly cause symptoms in other areas because you unknowingly will begin to compensate your movements and body mechanics. For instance, if you strain your ankle you may change your gait pattern to avoid pain. This could cause knee, hip or back pain, just because you changed the way you normally walk.
“ But I won’t be in shape any more!” “ I won’t have any cardio left!”
There are so many ways to modify or scale a workout so you can stay strong. Might it not be as intense? Maybe, maybe not. Will you be doing what you need to heal and get back to your fullest? Yes!
Remember you only have one body- your vessel. If you want to keep sailing through the yet uncharted Crossfit waters you need to keep your vessel healthy and leak free.
You have your coaches for advice and support to help you through. Do what is best to stay on top of you ship!
