For BG fitness fanatics, a question..

[Omnipotent]

Just curious to know how other people have made it through overtraining injuries they've had in the past.

I've been there more times than I want to with my shoulder, straining a muscle near my pinkie doing weighted dips, my wrists and other injuries. The best possible way I find myself to get over these is by continuuing to work out..... but adjusting my workout so it doesn't hurt anymore; maybe go to a machine instead of free weights, use more padding. Time is really the best cure, and I am an impatient mother fucker and we all know 1 week off from the gym is like a month. I recommend just approaching your workout normally, but tweaking your form and your comfort accordingly to what you injured.

[RKenshin]

Just curious to know how other people have made it through overtraining injuries they've had in the past.

Had to take a break and/or find different exercises, or adjust form.

At one point a few months ago, I had a weird but increasingly intense pain in one shoulder during shoulder exercises (and sometimes bench). I didn't want to push it and end up with a serious injury, particularly for the shoulder area, so I changed around my routine/exercises a bit and focused more closely on slow movements and targeted form. I had to experiment quite a bit, but eventually I was able to continue on with my normal workout intensity without triggering the pain. From that point, within a few weeks it was completely gone.

Originally I was just going to throw in the towel and take a break from that area for a couple of weeks in fear of making it worse, but glad I found a way around it.

May not always be able to do that, but worth a shot.

EDIT: Yeah, more or less the same as Omnipotent.

[Takedown3]

i consistently get sore muscles in my left shoulder and sometimes lower neck on the same side, i don't want to say they are tears or sprains because i've always been active more or less and have had this type of injury/pain since high school sports more then 15 years ago.

whenever i do any kind of bench (decline or incline included) or any kind of shoulder or back work the issue comes up. i also sometimes aggravate this pain on my leg days because of the squats putting some heavy weight on the affected areas.

i don't like to take days off, i'm currently on 3 days a week but sometimes need to go to 2 depending on work and family life, and when i do take breaks when i'm away for biz trips or whatever the pain sometimes goes away but then comes back when i start working out again. Clearly the workouts are aggravating the area. could be form, could just be age. i treat the area by taking some pain killers (advil/ibuprofen etc), stretching before and after workouts and i've been trying to stretch every morning as well.

[Jefe]

Thanks for the feed back, I kept on truckin' and will do light exercises this week and chillax the next.

[Daemien]

I've been there more times than I want to with my shoulder, straining a muscle near my pinkie doing weighted dips, my wrists and other injuries. The best possible way I find myself to get over these is by continuuing to work out..... but adjusting my workout so it doesn't hurt anymore; maybe go to a machine instead of free weights, use more padding. Time is really the best cure, and I am an impatient mother fucker and we all know 1 week off from the gym is like a month. I recommend just approaching your workout normally, but tweaking your form and your comfort accordingly to what you injured.

This may very well be the worst advice given in this thread to date

[Omnipotent]

Probably, but I've always recovered from my injuries this way, and I still have the body of a god. If I stopped working out every time I felt pain, or discomfort, I would probably look like you.

[Kuya]

lol

[Daemien]

Probably, but I've always recovered from my injuries this way, and I still have the body of a god. If I stopped working out every time I felt pain, or discomfort, I would probably look like you.

lol

[Shiroikage]

You either train through it or you train around it (or I guess you stop training). That's it.
Find other exercises, use less weight and higher reps, figure out what caused it so you can not do it in the future, etc..

Hit a 155 kg front squat today.

[Kuya]

kg

[RKenshin]

This may very well be the worst advice given in this thread to date

If you read it as "push through the pain", yeah, but I'm pretty sure that's not exactly what he meant?

Changing your exercises/weights/reps, slowing down your movements, and/or focusing more closely on form can be effective in avoiding pain/putting stress on a problem area. Doing it right (and smart) can allow you to continue on with your workouts while the injury recovers and without risking making it worse, as opposed to just giving up all together.

There are practically countless different ways to target a certain area of your body, and most of them work the muscle groups in different ways with different distributions of pressure/stress. Odds are you can find a way around many of the minor problem areas.

Though, again, the strategy is not always possible. If you mess up a major muscle/joint bad enough, you're not likely to be able to get around it at all and probably shouldn't even be trying. But if it's just a tweak or light injury of a minor muscle, or just for a very specific range of motion, you likely can find a way around it. You have to use some common sense.

And, hopefully, it's also implied that while you're specifically avoiding a problem area, you probably shouldn't be shooting for one-rep maxes, reps against the clock, jerking motions, or major burnouts. Again, just have to use some common sense.

[RKenshin]

Probably, but I've always recovered from my injuries this way, and I still have the body of a god. If I stopped working out every time I felt pain, or discomfort, I would probably look like you.

Hilarious lol, but... yeah, kind of true.

I've had countless minor/moderate/major pulls, tweaks, cramps, etc. If I took a month off every time it happened, I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am now. Makes me sad to think of how far backwards in progress I'd be in that scenario.

This isn't to say you should be careless, ignore injuries, or not listen to your body. You just have to be persistent, careful, and kind of resourceful. Injuries will happen, and rather often, particularly as you take things more seriously. But don't use them as an excuse to quit or take extended breaks, you likely still have 4/5ths of your body you can push that much harder on. And again, in many situations, you can find a way to work around the injury.

Just be smart about it, listen to your body, and don't be reckless. Pay particular attention to detail on movements, motions, your body, and your sleep/diet. More the better.

[Shiroikage]

front squat is one of those lifts that i am suspicious of when i don't see it in kg

but yeah, seriously, i front squat with bumpers so i can dump the bar on the ground if i fail

[Daemien]

Hilarious lol, but... yeah, kind of true.

I've had countless minor/moderate/major pulls, tweaks, cramps, etc. If I took a month off every time it happened, I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am now. Makes me sad to think of how far backwards in progress I'd be in that scenario.

This isn't to say you should be careless, ignore injuries, or not listen to your body. You just have to be persistent, careful, and kind of resourceful. Injuries will happen, and rather often, particularly as you take things more seriously. But don't use them as an excuse to quit or take extended breaks, you likely still have 4/5ths of your body you can push that much harder on. And again, in many situations, you can find a way to work around the injury.

Just be smart about it, listen to your body, and don't be reckless. Pay particular attention to detail on movements, motions, your body, and your sleep/diet. More the better.

Our definition of overuse injury is just not the same then. When I, as a rockclimber, think "overuse injury," my mind goes immediately to lateral/medial epicondylitis or traumatic arthritis. You can try to train through that, but the only thing you'll end up with is an elbow so inflamed you can't turn on a faucet without agony, or fingers so swollen and you can't make a fist.
A reasonable course for someone without much experience in injury treatment isn't "just approaching your workout normally." Rather, try cutting back the intensity of the workout on the joint/muscle that's injured such that there's some small discomfort during the exercise but none lingering long after you've finished. You don't want fuck yourself up to the point you'll be out of commission for months. It can, and does, happen.

edit: And if by "look like you," you mean look like someone at close to their optimal physical form for their chosen sport then yes, you would.

[Ayn]

People need to chill out and drink some Brawndo like that guy who wrote that one thread.

[Milkster]

I'll continuously be injured until I turn 24, maybe even then. My latest injury is a lower back one that most likely came from doing an endo. Right now, I have an strained ligament in my ankle, joint pain in my elbows and lower back pain.

[Osede]

Just curious to know how other people have made it through overtraining injuries they've had in the past.

Take a rest.

Depending on what kind of injuries? Pulled my muscle, hurt my wrist during racket sports, or muscle soreness after squat.

The first one I would just rest or avoid that muscle part.
The second one I would just prefer stop workout, probably only doing cardio.
The third one I will just lower the workout intensity for next few days and adjusting it again

[Wulfgang]

Lower back is the worst. I had never had back issues before in my life, then strained it severely from a stupid deadlift and clean & jerk session. I couldn't really lift for like a month and even running was pretty tough for like 2+ weeks.

[Callisto]

I jacked my lower back up bad when I first started skating, outside of rest I had a lot of success with ice > heat > stretching rotations three times a day.

[Cream Soda]