Two weeks ago I sustained a minor wrist injury that kept me out of the gym for a week. While this does not sound too debilitating let me tell you that there are many injuries (including a neck) where I had to stay out for several months and found it very hard to survive. So today let’s go over some tips to getting through that painful injury successfully, so you can be back in the gym, work, and life in general.

Most people suffer injuries throughout their lives, but a person who goes to the gym religiously may have a more difficult time than others in “working through” it. I myself was out of the gym for over two years and nearly gave up because of an injury. I will now relay some of the lessons that I learned and show you how to avoid such long layoffs and more importantly stay motivated.

The first thing you need to have is HEALTH INSURANCE! Let me repeat this, HEALTH INSURANCE!!! In this day and age in the U.S. if you do not have HEALTH INSURANCE, you are living life on the edge. When I hurt my neck, I had just left a job where I had insurance and never even USED IT!! I should have, but I digress. The reason you need insurance is because uninsured medical expenses are just not affordable. If you get injured, you wont have enough money to go to the doctor or get the necessary exams that you need so the problem can be identified as soon as possible. I wouldn’t go to the doctor for a month because a visit to his office was about $80-100 per visit. If I had insurance it would have been between $20-45 (depending on coverage, contracts, etc). When I finally did go, the doctor told me that I needed an MRI. It costs about $2000 ($100 with insurance), much of which I didn’t have. As you can see, costs can add up quickly and that premium money that you thought you were saving can come back to haunt you. As a result of this experience I have a new motto in life, “Either way, you pay” and it is true more than you know now.  Because of my lack of insurance, it took quite a long time to heal (I’m still not fully done yet) and it would have been a lot faster, less hassle and much easier if I had HEALTH INSURANCE!!! So get some HEALTH INSURANCE before this happens to you.

There are places that give you discounts for cash and doctors who charge less without insurance, but generally it’s harder finding them and you have to have the money cash in hand.

When you do get hurt, STOP IMMEDIATELY and go home. Rest the injured area for a few days (3 to a week should do). If the area still hurts, or becomes aggravated when you lift again then GO TO THE DOCTOR ASAP!! This should be obvious, but some men including myself do not follow this advice as often as we should. The above rest advice should be taken if the pain experienced is below a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. Anything higher and a doctor should be consulted with as soon as possible.  I am not a doctor, nor is this medical advice, but it has worked for me as a general rule.  When you go to the doctor do EXACTLY AS HE SAYS. Whether it is a chiropractor or an M.D. the doctor’s job is to heal you as quickly as possible. Ignoring or only doing some, not all of the recommendations given to you can impair healing results and as a bodybuilder, HOW CAN YOU WANT THAT??? So go to the doc when you feel necessary and don’t delay, as some injuries can be permanent.

If you have to take a break from lifting make sure you take a break from eating. What I mean is that since you are obviously not burning as many calories per day due to lack of exercise, you should probably cut back on total food consumed. If you keep track of this already, it shouldn’t be hard to figure out how to do this. If not, then you have some homework to do. If you do not cut back, I GUARANTEE that you will add unwanted body fat (I speak from experience) and thereby compounding the problem of injury with increase in body fat (because you have done two things that are detrimental to your health).  So cut back on food and enjoy the extra free time.

One problem that can result from injury is a loss of motivation. Particularly when the injury lasts a long time. One thing that may help and hurt is to stay in the game by reading articles or books about bodybuilding or nutrition. It helps by keeping you somewhat in the realm, even if you are not longer in the gym or dieting as seriously as before. It may hurt, because it may become depressing that you have to wait for time to pass you by as you wait and heal up. It happens and I wish there was more I could say to help, but the reality is that you have to wait your turn and do the best you can. Read books or contemplate your current workout routine. See if there may be something that you can do better. Personally, I like reading about nutrition and it has kept me away from gaining too much fat during injury. Also, do NOT let people talk you out of dieting just because you no longer workout. This attitude will lead you to fatsville fast (I gained 40 pounds). Listen to motivational speakers on mp.3 if you have to, but DO NOT stop living like a healthy person. The added fat could make things worse as it did for me by creating unnecessary pressure on my neck. So whatever you have to do, STAY MOTIVATED.

Finally, when you do get the medical or other type of clearance to return to regular exercise, just do it, seems to apply here. One of the many problems I faced getting back into the swing of things was the dread of waking up early to workout. It sucks to a degree to have to do this, but I knew why I was doing it and should have known better. One of the techniques I used to get myself out the door was to repeat a phrase that my high school football coach used to say to us before we would split off into our position groups for training. That phrase was, “let’s go to work”. The gym has become an office for me and when I go, I am there to work, but you wouldn’t believe how saying that short phrase actually made it easier for me to go to the gym AND WORK! So take any steps necessary to get back into prime motivation level when it is time for you to return to the gym.

Injuries can and will happen. Nobody is invincible, but you don’t have to be out for as long as some people claim it takes to fully heal. If you take my advice above (especially buying HEALTH INSURANCE!!!), I ensure you that you will return much faster and in better shape than someone who does not. So remember to stay motivated, cut back on your food, and do what the doctor says. You’ll be glad you did. If you need any motivational tips send me an email (mrcontroversy@therealpetermidnight.com) and I’ll work with you. I lost 34 pounds as a result of the steps above while injured (fat) and you can too (hopefully if you follow the above you wont have to).