In Game of Steel, expect to get beat up sometimes.

If you have been seriously training for a while in or Olympic Weightlifting, you’ve probably confronted a sore shoulder or a beat up hamstring.

injury

 

Here are three things you can do to help speed your full recovery back to training.

  1.  Be creative with your programming.      Find movements or altered movement patterns of the prescribed exercise to do.  Experiment with working around the injury.  Shoulder hurts when you press up?  Find out if it hurts to press horizontally or pull vertically.  Does your hamstring hurt when you deadlift?  Find out if it hurts when you squat.  Dr. Kelly Starrett of MobilityWod.com and San Francisco uses a great phrase when dealing with injuries:  “motion is lotion.”  Keep yourself active in one way or another.  The movement keeps tissues supple, but more importantly the response from working out boosts levels of muscle building hormones like testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH).  Lifting weights in a non-damaged area will actually help heal the affected area in your body, thereby speeding your recovery.
  2. Reduce inflammatory foods from your diet.   Foods like wheat, rice, corn, and certain dairy foods have shown to have inflammatory effects on our bodies.  Systemic inflammation reduces the immune system’s ability to heal the body from illness or injury.  If you rely on a grain heavy diet to fuel your training, cut back or remove those foods from your diet to help your body get back to its fighting strength.
  3. Sleep more.  8-9 hours of sound sleep a night allows the body to adequately repair injury.  Your body produces greater quantities of anabolic (muscle/tissue building, repairing) hormones at night.

While injuries can suck, they help us learn more about how our body works and how much our bodies can handle.  Follow these three simple steps and you’ll get back to those workouts or the Platform in no time!

Want to learn how Steelworks Strength Systems can help you train smarter and longer?  Fill out the form below and someone will contact you within 24 hours!

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