6 Dos and Don’ts of Exercising While Injured

A common-sense approach to pain management.

Photo by Owen Beard on Unsplash

Let’s discuss some ideas about how to work around an injury in the gym. Some things you could try and some things you should avoid.

First and foremost, the following is not medical advice — if you’re in pain that you feel requires medical attention, go to a doctor.

Secondly, I’m not a physical therapist — just a person who’s had their fair share of injuries with some insight as to what’s worked for me and people I’ve worked with in the personal training space.

With that said; oftentimes, our first instinct when we’re injured is to stop any type of physical activity whatsoever to give the injury time to heal.

For example: My shoulder got screwed up pretty badly in late November. I was involved in a pro-wrestling match and took a move that jammed my shoulder hard into internal rotation. The other guy didn’t the memo about it being fake, I guess.

At first, it was painful to do a lateral raise with 10 pounds or even press an empty barbell.

But doing nothing made it feel worse. The injury would get stiff and tense to the point that it was difficult to even sleep.