Injuries suck.
They can completely take the wind out of your sails.
You’re training consistently, you’re getting fitter and stronger, you’re enjoying what you’re doing, and then suddenly something hurts and your normal training gets interrupted.
As coaches, hearing that one of our members is injured is one of the things we hate most.
Our job is to help you get better.
We want you moving better, getting stronger and fitter, and ultimately living a healthier life.
So when an injury gets in the way of that, we want to help you navigate it properly.
Unfortunately, injuries are part of life.
You can hurt yourself training.
You can hurt yourself running.
You can hurt yourself playing sport.
You can hurt yourself gardening, picking up your kid or doing something completely random over the weekend.
We can’t guarantee you’ll never get injured.
What we can do is have a sensible process for dealing with it when it happens.
And there are two reactions we see all the time.
Reaction 1: Stop Everything
Something hurts, so you disappear from training completely.
Sometimes people become scared to move because they’re worried they’ll make things worse.
Depending on the injury, certain activities may need to stop temporarily. That’s where getting appropriate professional advice matters.
But an injured shoulder, for example, doesn’t automatically mean every form of exercise has to disappear from your life.
There might still be plenty you can safely do.
At CFA, we can scale and adjust your training around what you’re dealing with while avoiding movements that could make the situation worse.
The important thing is having a plan.
Reaction 2: Pick the Scab
This is the other one we see.
I call it “picking the scab.”
Something hurts.
You give it two days.
It feels slightly better.
So you test it again.
Still hurts.
Leave it for another day.
Test it again.
Still hurts.
Then you keep training around it, irritating it and checking whether it’s magically disappeared.
You’re basically picking the scab over and over again.
Eventually a little niggle can become a much bigger frustration.
There is a better way to approach it.
So, What Should You Do When You’re Injured?
Here’s the process I’d recommend.
1. Tell Your Coach
This sounds ridiculously simple, but please tell us.
Send us a WhatsApp.
Speak to us before class.
Grab us afterwards.
Let us know what’s going on.
Please don’t arrive at a workout with an injury, say nothing and then try to figure out modifications by yourself.
The more we know, the better we can help.
Our first step is usually to have a conversation and understand what happened, what you’re experiencing and how it’s affecting your training.
From there we can start working out the next step.
2. Get the Right Professional Involved
There is something I think coaches need to be very clear about:
I’m a coach. I’m not your doctor or physio.
There are limits to what we should be diagnosing and treating.
If something needs proper assessment, we’re going to encourage you to see an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
That might be a physio, doctor or another relevant professional depending on what’s going on.
I would much rather refer you out and work alongside the right professional than pretend we know something that’s outside our scope.
Get the appropriate assessment.
Understand what you’re dealing with.
Then we have much better information to work with.
3. Give the Injured Area a Chance to Settle
This is where you need to stop picking the scab.
If something is irritated and painful, continually testing it at the same load, speed or range of motion isn’t going to give it much opportunity to settle.
Follow the advice you’ve been given by your healthcare professional.
Let things calm down appropriately.
And communicate with your coach so we can adjust your training accordingly.
This doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing.
It means being sensible about what you do.
4. Keep Training What You Safely Can
This one is important.
An injury doesn’t automatically mean your entire fitness journey needs to stop.
At CFA, we scale and adjust the workout to work around what you’re currently dealing with and avoid making the situation worse.
That might mean changing a movement.
Reducing the load.
Reducing the range of motion.
Removing impact.
Working on your engine.
Training another area of the body.
Every injury and every person is different, so communication with your coach and following the guidance of your healthcare professional is important.
Our goal is to keep you moving safely where appropriate while giving the injured area the opportunity to recover.
Sometimes an injury can even give us an opportunity to work on something else you’ve been neglecting.
You might temporarily train differently, and that’s okay.
We’re still working towards the same goal:
Getting you back to doing the things you love.
5. Restore Function
Once things have settled appropriately, we want to start working towards normal function again.
That might include restoring range of motion, strength, control and your ability to use the area comfortably.
This is another stage where working with your physio, biokineticist or other appropriate healthcare professional can be incredibly valuable.
Do the rehab.
Do the boring exercises.
Take the process seriously.
Your goal is bigger than simply waiting until something stops hurting.
We want you to build back towards using your body confidently again.
6. Progress Back Into Training
This is where people can get themselves into trouble.
You start feeling good again and immediately want to go back to where you were before the injury.
If you were running 10 km, you want to run 10 km.
If you were jumping onto a certain box height, you want to go straight back there.
If you were lifting a particular weight, you want to load the bar again.
Your body might need time to rebuild its tolerance to those demands.
So we progress.
We gradually increase load.
We gradually increase volume.
We gradually increase range of motion where appropriate.
We gradually introduce impact.
We gradually build running distances.
We gradually work back towards normal training.
Depending on the injury and your individual situation, that process could take weeks or months.
That’s okay.
You’re playing the long game.
7. Keep Communicating
Your coach needs feedback.
How did that modification feel?
How did you feel later that day?
How did you feel the next morning?
What did your physio say?
What has improved?
What still doesn’t feel right?
Returning from injury is a process.
The more information we have, the better we can help you navigate that process alongside the healthcare professionals involved.
An Injury Can Give You Perspective
Nobody wants to get injured.
But I do think injuries can sometimes teach us something.
They can remind us how much we value being able to move.
They can expose weaknesses we’ve ignored.
They can teach us patience.
They can force us to work on areas we’ve neglected.
And they can give us a much greater appreciation for our health.
I’ve seen people come back from injuries with a completely different perspective on training.
Suddenly warming up properly matters.
Recovery matters.
Mobility matters.
Technique matters.
Progression matters.
Listening to your body matters.
And simply being able to train becomes something you’re grateful for again.
Your Comeback Doesn’t Need to Be Heroic
You don’t get extra points for rushing.
You don’t need to prove anything by immediately lifting your old numbers.
You don’t need to test the injury every second day.
And you don’t need to disappear from the gym because one part of your body isn’t currently cooperating.
Tell your coach.
Get the right professional involved.
Stop picking the scab.
Keep training what you safely can.
Do the rehab.
Restore function.
Progress gradually.
Keep communicating.
Then build yourself back.
That’s how we want to approach injuries at CFA.
Our goal is to help you become stronger, fitter and healthier for the long term.
Sometimes that means pushing you.
Sometimes it means adjusting the workout.
Sometimes it means slowing you down.
And sometimes it means patiently helping you work your way back.
If you’re currently dealing with an injury or niggle, speak to one of your coaches.
Let’s have a conversation and figure out the best next step.
And please…
Stop picking the scab. 😂
💙 Stronger. Fitter. Healthier.
