Exercising Through Injury the Right Way

Injuries - they happen to the best of us. Because if we're exercising the right way, intense and daily, chances are we'll suffer an injury eventually. But just cause we're stuck on the couch with a bum knee doesn't mean we need to abstain from exercise altogether. On the contrary, exercising through injury can actually help speed up the healing process and keep your spirits up. And for active people yearning to get sweaty, performing light exercising around your injury will help you maintain fitness and strength.

First and foremost, listen to your doctor. He or she will probably tell you to take it easy on the heavy weights and the high impact exercises, which is the best advice you can get. Attempting to lift heavy weights before you're ready will only aggravate your injury; and joint impact is what causes most injuries, so imagine what jogging on the concrete will do to your already injured joints. If your doctor gives you the go ahead, there are ways to exercise through injury.

Swimming

Swimming is probably the best exercise for injured athletes. Because the water supports your body weight, there is little to no impact on your joints. Plus, swimming wind sprints is incredibly taxing on your arms, your core, your legs - pretty much your entire body gets a great workout from swimming. You may not sweat while swimming, but you'll definitely working hard!

Biking

Whether you're out on the road or on a stationary machine, the biking motion isn't just a low impact, safe way to get a cardio workout; it's also a therapeutic way to rehabilitate your knee after injury. The constant fluid motion puts your knees through their full range of motion, allowing you to stretch your stiff post-surgery limbs and get them back in working condition. If you feel up to it, increase the resistance or head uphill for a killer way of exercising through injury.

Rowing

Using a rowing machine, or even getting out on the water in a boat, is a great way to exercise your upper body through an injury. If your legs are injured, rowing won't aggravate them. If your upper body is injured, the circular, steady motion won't put too much stress on your joints. Of course, before exercising through injury, start out slow and pick up the pace if you feel up to it.

Replacements

You can effectively replace your favorite workouts if you're saddled with an injury, simply by trying out new workouts that don't affect the injured area. If you can't run, try doing high reps of sit-ups, push-ups, or pull-ups, which will get your heart racing and build strength (if you do it with enough intensity). If you've got a herniated disc and are unable to squat heavy weights, try doing body weight squats instead. You probably won't gain any strength, but at least you'll work up a sweat and maintain strength.

Burpees

And perhaps the greatest body weight exercise of all is the burpee. Done correctly, the burpee will target your lower body, upper body, all while giving you a cardio workout similar to doing sprints. Simply start in the squat position. Drop your hands to the floor and perform a push-up, then bring your feet up and explode upwards into a squat. Come back down and repeat. The first few seem easy enough, but once you hit double digits you'll be pouring sweat. It's very low impact and doesn't require any heavy weights, so the burpee can be an effective way to exercise through injury.