Injuries (part 2 of 2)

OK, so you got yourself an injury. Great. Perhaps you cheated during the warmup, perhaps the weights were just a teeny bit too heavy or perhaps you had a previous, minor injury which you didn't know about and simply made worse. Who knows? The bottom line is that it hurts, and you want it to go away as quickly as possible so you can resume training again.

First thing when you get injured:

STOP TRAINING IMMEDIATELY!!

Do NOT try to keep training - you might regret it later. Hit the showers instead, as you'll most likely not do anything productive anyway. When you've cooled down, you have to make an evaluation - how serious is it? This can be partly judged by the injured bodypart. A slightly aching bicep-joint usually doesn't require medical attention, while a spine that feels like it was filled with throbbing, white-hot lava would take an idiot not to realize that it's time for a doctor to have a look at it. Basically, the spine, knees, shoulders and elbows are the "Danger"-areas, and if you feel strong and/or stubborn pain you should not hesitate to seek medical attention

Getting well

OK, so you've either concluded that you're not seriously injured or you've been cleared by the doc. Now what? Of course, the natural reaction for a bodybuilder is to start worrying about how long it will take to heal, when one can resume training and whether or not he or she will lose muscle from the inactivity. These are natural thoughts indeed, but this is where you'll have to rely on your common sense instead of the ego.

It hurts. That's the body saying: "Stop doing that!" Conclusion: Don't! Now don't get me the wrong way here, as pain is a natural part of hardcore training, but there's a difference between the "good" kind of pain where you're pushing the body out of it's convenience-zone, and to tearing up an injury.

The old truth of "better safe than sorry" applies. What do you think is most counterproductive - resting a few days extra and ensuring a complete healing, or tearing the whole thing up again, keeping you out of the gym for weeks? Keep in mind that joints and ligaments heal slowly, usually much slower than muscle tissue, so whatever time off you're estimating, pad it with an extra 20%. This might feel frustrating, but it's NOTHING compared to how frustrated you'll be when forced to start all over again when you're sooo close to being fully healed.

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