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**Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor and I’ve never played one on TV. My thoughts on this topic are simply from my personal experience and the experience of my clients and athletes. I’m currently dealing with a shoulder injury due to my poor arm bar escape technique, so this subject is fresh in my mind at the moment.
The focus of this article is to discuss what you do after you’ve sustained an injury. Are you going to be proactive and get better? Are you going to cower in the corner of the stall like Jim Carey in Dumb & Dumber? I vote for being proactive. Accept it, get your required rest and rehabilitation work going, work on your imbalances, and come back stronger and better than before.
Injuries occur for a variety of reasons and come in all shapes and sizes. They can range from a bump on the knee to severe sprains, fractures, and dislocations. Regardless of whether you’re a professional athlete, weekend warrior, or housewife, chances are you’re going to get injured at some point.
Get over it
Being proactive means we’ve determined the severity of the injury and now it’s time to plan the best course of action. If warranted, rehabilitation work may be required. When it comes to rehabilitation and injuries, I’ve always said when in doubt, refer out. I think it’s vital to have a solid network of rehabilitation specialists at your disposal—physical therapists, ART specialists, massage therapists, chiropractors, doctors, etc. The stronger your list, the better your chance for complete recovery. If you’re a trainer or coach reading this, you should have a network already in place so you can make recommendations for your clients and athletes. If you don’t, start researching today. A colleague of mine, Eric Cressey, said it well in his “Proactive Patient” article: “It’s better to know who you’re going to contact when you get injured than it is to scramble to find someone on a moment’s notice when you’re already in pain.”
Personally, I always try to learn from my injuries. If I have a muscle imbalance or mobility issue, I will really try to focus on that in my training to help fix the problem. I like to know why I got hurt and then work to correct the issue so it doesn’t happen again. Mr. Einstein said it best when he said, “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
What do I do now? Continue to improve…
Just because you have an injury doesn’t mean you get a free pass from training. Of course, this depends on the nature and severity of the injury. Sadly, the calories we consume during an injury still count so we need to keep moving. These setbacks just require us to get a little more creative with our training.
Two alternatives to consider are the use of machines and expanding your programming. Even though I’m not a huge fan of training with machines, this may be a time when it’s OK, at least until the injury is healed. This is also a great time to focus on those aspects of a complete program that we tend to rush through such as our flexibility exercises and joint mobility work. If you have a lower body injury, you can continue with your upper body training. Incorporate your lower body rehabilitation movements and spend some extra time on those mobility and flexibility exercises that will help to prevent the injury from reoccurring.
Personal experience
My rundown from this past year includes three injuries—an oblique strain, plantar fasciitis, and a labral tear.
Oblique strain: This injury occurred during a grappling session. I figured my lower body movements would be unaffected and I could still focus on my upper body pushes and pulls. I was proven wrong when my first attempt at a pull-up resulted in me on the floor writhing in pain. As soon as I began to pull my body toward the bar, I felt a searing pain in my oblique muscle. Pull-ups are already my favorite upper body exercise. However, this drove the thought home even more. It incorporates so many muscles that you wouldn’t think of.
Ironically, it wasn’t too long after this incident that I read a great article by Bret Contreras titled, “Inside the Muscles—Best Ab Exercises.” Bret showed us that your abdominal muscles play a major role in performing pull-ups. The take away from this painful lesson is that pull-ups are a great “core” and “ab” exercise. I love to tell my clients that we’re going to train abs today and then I walk them over to the pull-up bar.
Plantar fasciitis: This is an issue I’ve dealt with on a couple occasions now. Years ago, it was simply improper programming on my part while training for my first half-marathon. This past year, however, I’ve discovered that it has occurred due to an old ankle injury I sustained back in high school. At the time of my symptoms, my right ankle range of motion was literally 50 percent of my left. Since then I have incorporated ankle mobility exercises, daily calf stretches, and lower leg foam rolling. That discrepancy is improving. The take away lesson is that I need to work on my lower body mobility every day. My lack of ankle dorsi-flexion and extreme calf tightness are keeping me from running, which is something I really enjoy.
Labral tear: This was the injury I prefaced at the beginning of the article. I’m an amateur grappler (emphasis on amateur), and I attempted to pull my arm out before my opponent locked me in an arm bar position. Needless to say, I shouldn’t have pulled. He had it locked in solid, and I’ve had shoulder pain ever since.
After a couple days of rest and ice, I saw a sports chiropractor and a DPT, who both determined it was a probable labral tear. I realized bench pressing and any overhead work were out. I began with two weeks of ART, physical therapy, and laser therapy. Next, I focused a lot more on training the small, intrinsic muscles of my shoulders. External rotation work, Y’s, T’s, W’s, scapular retraction, lower trap recruitment, and rotator cuff stabilization movements were now first and foremost in my routine. While I’m not at 100 percent, I feel like I’m getting better every day and this injury will be a blessing in disguise as my overall shoulder health will be greatly improved.
Final thoughts
I listed these three injuries as examples to help make my point. An injury is not an excuse to keep you from training. Just be smart and have that strong referral network at your disposal. We are at our best when we’re moving! So listen to your body, fix what needs to be fixed, and continue to get better every day.
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Doug Balzarini, CSCS, MMA-CC, is the owner of DB Strength which provides fitness training, education, and resources. He is also the strength and conditioning coach for Alliance MMA, where he works with UFC Champion Dominick Cruz, Phil Davis, Brandon Vera, Travis Browne, Alexander Gustafsson, and more. Prior to starting his own business, Doug worked at Fitness Quest 10 as a personal trainer, strength coach, and operations director for Todd Durkin Enterprises (TDE). He has completed some graduate work in biomechanics at SDSU and has obtained multiple certifications including ACE, NSCA-CSCS, MMA-CC, TRX instructor training, EFI Gravity instructor training, LIFT Sandbag Certification, and FMS training. He has produced his own two-DVD set on strength training for combat athletes, has appeared in many fitness videos and articles, and is currently a coach on The Ultimate Fighter television reality show. 
So if I tell people ‘Hey, you’re injured but you have to get back on the horse’, and then list a couple of my injuries, I can get an article published? Sorry, but there is no substance whatsoever here. Go read Dave Tates latest. That is a heartfelt read.
This is a good article. Nothing substitutes for having the right person with the right qualifications evaluate and manage your injury. I see too many people get gym consults, and spin their wheels for years and then use it to excuse their stupidity in training.
This article wasn’t meant to be a heartfelt read. It’s an informational read and therefore does have substance. We can come away from reading an article like this with some useful knowledge and knowledge is power.
Having had some injuries in the past, and present, I appreciate the information.
Thanks, Doug
@pb – sorry you didn’t get anything out of the article. I was simply trying to show that an injury isn’t a ‘be all end all’. Of course, it matters on the injury itself, however, there is still hope and a number of rehab methods available to help get you back on your feet.
@Dan – thanks Dan, I agree 100%.
@Stephen – thanks for getting the point of the article; much appreciated.
I got a question for you, Doug. What are your recommendations for disc injuries? I have a bulged disk from hyperextending my back on the last rep of a press, and I already took a week off completely, and though it feels better it still hurts when I bend over. Chiro visit? PT?
Good article Doug. I have an injury right now and adaptation is difficult but still moving which is most important as I said. Getting to a professional as soon as the injury occurs is very important. If one of my athlete comes up hurt in workout, we try to get them to our athletic trainers ASAP. If it can be diagnosed and treatment started quickly the return can be quicker. One suggestion is to work with the health professional in the adaptation of a workout. Again a good article.
The level of animosity some people are showing to a few of the articles of late is strange to me. I’m not sure what people’s expectations are, truth be told. Must EliteFTS only run pieces with black ops level information that have never before seen the light of day to please people? Often the best pieces can be ones on oft-coverted topics, but which provide a different perspective that resonates with people. Maybe this one didn’t work for some – OK, fair enough, but that doesn’t mean all have your experience or that you just toss in an add-nothing comment (from the safety of Internet anonymity, no less).
Doug – I liked it and appreciate seeing what you did to be proactive in addressing each of your injuries.
Carl: I am on the tail end of recovering from a lower back injury. I got amazing results from physical therapy, but my PT was certified in Orthopedic Manual Therapy. I don’t know if that makes a difference. It took a little over 2 months, but I am back to heavy lifting again.
You guys are all crazy. EliteFTS does not put bullshit information up. If you don’t like the article no one cares because you’re probably small and wimpy. Enough said.
@Carl – I’m with YC on this…get to a manual therapist of some sort to get a proper evaluation. I always believe in the saying, “when in doubt, refer out”…don’t try to “fix” it on your own if you don’t find relief with the traditional ice and rest. Contact a physical therapist, Chiro, ART, or any rehab specialist to you have in your referral network.
Alright then, thanks gents. I know a good orthopedic manual therapy specialized PT. I’ll contact him ASAP
Good Article.
I concure 100%; an injury does not have to be the end of the world.
Carl,
I’m also experiencing some “iffy”-ness with my lower back. I really think it’s a buldging dis as you have mentioned, but something in the back of my mind is also thinking it could be some type of ligamentous or muscular tear. I’ll be getting some XRays at the end of the week to see.
And yes, injuries are NOT the end all of training. In fact, I’ve got a meet next week, woot woot!
Let’s hope my back cooperates
Nice article. We have been successful using “got no arms” or “got no legs” workouts when we have injured players. Strapping a sled around your waist and dragging can hit the legs pretty hard and not touch the upper body- you might need someone to load plates, though. Step ups, Split squats, stiff leg deads all can be loaded up.
@ Doug- try some band pull aparts, scap push ups and wall slides to hit the scap stabilizers- I’ve had a labral tear repaired and these are staples to my shoulder health routine. I’m pressing heavy overhead and benching most of the time and I attribute this to those 3 exercises. The more pull ups I do, the stronger my shoulder feels too.
@Pb – To quote Daves article, “…the ones who know the difference between what is ‘part of the game’ and what is not are the ones who succeed.”
I thought it was a really good article bro. Well written. And speaking from experience, a labrum tear will set you back. Its not like sore shoulders from pressing, sore traps from pulling, sore wrists and joints. It can be a sideline injury that causes you to have to reformat your training and start your weights from scratch. Doug’s right when he says, “An injury is not an excuse to keep you from training,” but just be smart about it. If you know that you’re suffering from a grade 2 or 3 pectoralis tear, don’t head off to the gym for your ME bench day. If its an “injury” that just comes with the territory, like having a sore fucking back, hammies, and glutes from deadlifts and hitting the ghr, then suck it up. Having someone to go to when shit does hit the fan is great. Nothing wrong with networking with people who can help fix your debilitatiing injury. I’m not too proud to have them on my favorites list on my android phone.
Doug,
Great read, thanks for sharing, gets back to what Coaches always ask their players, are you injured or hurting. We work out to literally tear the muscle fiber down, so the body can rebuild in anticipation of future loads. This tearing down is not without some pain and discomfort. Pain is temporary, PR’s are forever. Soreness and discomfort only reinforce the idea that I’m forcing my body to adapt and overcome weaknesses. After 15 years of supervised wieght training, I relish the days I wake up with a sore chest, or tight hammies.
Thanks again and don’t let the idiocracy of the few skew your perception of the many, we appreciate your time and experience and willingness to share.