How to avoid losing fitness when injured or away from the gym.

As any of my clients know I don’t believe in excuses to get out of exercise. It is so crucial, especially in this generation where everything can be done from a computer desk or car to maintain an active lifestyle. Most of us know the basic benefits of exercise are increased cardiovascular health, fitness and weight control. Here is a list of 60 benefits of regular exercise that you should also consider. If it isn’t a priority to you, it should be!

www.busywomensfitness.com/exercise-benefits.html

Obesity rates are increasing all the time and a proportion of that can be attributed to the lack of exercise performed by a large percentage of the population in western countries like Australia and the U.S. So, here are two ways to continue training when injured or away from a gym, which are two of the most common excuses for taking time off.

Training when injured:

If you have suffered an injury from training, sport or an accident, it is important to understand that it is not necessary to cease training until you recover. You can lose fitness and strength very quickly if you decide to take a month or 6 weeks off training altogether. It is better to continue training, avoiding use of the affected area, until appropriate to begin using it again. For example, if you broke your ankle playing netball, you can still do upper body and core conditioning. If you have torn a muscle or ligament in your shoulder, you can still do kicking on your back in the pool holding a board, lunges, squats and so on. Don’t use an injury as an excuse to give up for a while, you will lose so much ground and find it very hard to start up again.

Injuries can range from strains and sprains to fractures and tears. It is imperative that any unusual soreness, or obvious injury is examined by a medical professional and perhaps a physiotherapist to ensure the extent of the damage is diagnosed, which will give you a starting point for rehabilitation also.

A recent example of training around an injury. My husband is an elite 100m sprinter, and has had some swelling and possible fractures in one foot. He was supposed to do deadlifts and some other leg/whole body exercises today. We decided to rejig the session to an upper body and swim session instead. Managing training like this is simple and ensures you don’t lose fitness and all your improvements because of an injury. Each injury varies however there is always a way to work around it.

If I have really sore muscles in a particular area, I often change my plan when I walk into the gym, depending on how I feel. If my chest or shoulders are really sore, my plans for a workout containing push ups and pull ups might be changed to some plyometric box jumps and some walking lunges. Be flexible, and be focussed on doing something because it is always BETTER THAN NOTHING!

Learn to listen to your body. Injuries are not common in the general population who are exercising for fitness or weight loss, however those who tend to push a little harder and have more serious goals in mind experience mild to moderate injuries and need to manage them effectively. Your physiotherapist can show you effective rehabilitation exercise to get range of movement and strength back into the injured area when appropriate. Always seek professional advice when training around or rehabilitating an injury.

If you are ill from a virus or other condition, this is different to an injury and it is best to get medical advice as sometimes exercise can exasturbate a short term illness. Some people believe in training when sick and "sweating it out", however I’d advise against this as your body is under enough strain fighting the illness for you.

Ways to train without a gym or when traveling:

If you think you can’t make a difference to your health because you don’t have money for a gym or trainer, or are away from home frequently, this one is for you. If you normally go to a gym, but can’t get there for some reason sometimes, please read on, planning ahead prevents failure!

If you are committed to improving your health, you need consistency with your training. Unless it is a scheduled day off, you need to plan to be able to train. I suggest organising a display folder with a list of exercises (some resources below) to have on hand. You are less likely to skip a day if you have a backup plan at the ready. So, pop that on this week’s shopping list right now. If you think you will do it later, you won’t. Literally get up now and write it down!

Exercise should be integrated into your daily life, rather than seen as a chore. Look forward to your session, and plan ahead.

The following exercises are but a brief list of excellent functional exercises that can be performed in varied formats to provide a short yet challenging and effective workout without any special equipment. I can guarantee from personal experience when one, some or all are performed in a timely fashion, you WILL get a challenging workout!

Burpees
Squats
Lunges
Push Ups
Sit ups
Dips (chair/bench/table/step required)
Running
Walking
Step ups
Jumps
Bear Crawl

You can look up demonstration videos for these exercises at the following link:

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.htm

The link below contains workout suggestions utilising many of these exercises. You can try 20 minute workouts with 3 different exercises, clocking up as many rounds as you can in the time, or you could set a number of rounds i.e. 5 and see how fast you can get through them. My favourite (when I say favourite I mean loathed) home workout is to do 50 or 100 burpees as fast as I can and to record the time. I usually break it down into sets of 10 with a 15 second breather between the sets. Burpees are cardio, strength, power. They work arms, legs, core, everything! The key to doing workouts at home or on the go is to ensure you keep the intensity high and plan short sessions with only 3 or 4 exercises (including sprints/runs if you like).

The following link provides 3 different lists of exercises you can print out to keep handy for any situation. The top 3 threads in the forum contain the lists. http://www.crossfitbrandx.com/index.php/forums/viewforum/20/ Don’t be overwhelmed, you can pick and choose what suits you and your training level. You can modify sessions to a difficulty that is appropriate. Have a read through them and print out or copy any that you feel are appropriate for your training.

Plan ahead or you are setting yourself up for failure. Playing catch ups after time off is dangerous because you have diminished fitness and strength, then you go to train at the same level where you left off, compounded by the fact you might push out more training per session to catch up. Be smart about your planning and have something ready as a backup plan that you can do in the lounge room, motel room, local park etc. No more excuses!