5 Steps To Progress While Injured

Focus on what you can do not what you can't

This first step is something i first heard said from Mark Bell (the creator of the SlingShot and Super Training Gym. I don’t remember what the circumstance was why he said it but it really stuck with me and it makes all the sense in the world it really goes along with the famous business quote “only worry about what you can control and don’t worry about what you can’t control.” So how do we use that in our way back to getting healthy?  Well let me use this example; After i had my injury on the next day i had set to squat i had programmed to work up to in my taper week an easy 175lbs for 4x4. When i got up to 175lbs (a weight that would be warm up) i noticed that my regular squat stance was putting me in too much pain so what did i do? I stopped thinking “oh i can’t squat today.” I Said “ok Shawn so your normal squats hurt today  what about low bar squats? do those hurt as well?” sure enough that next set i did low bar and i had no pain and was able to complete the working sets. Low bar is really new to me but focusing on the fact that I could low bar without pain allowed me to get through the work and have a good time doing so. If for instance you can’t squat right now at all without pain don’t think of it as “oh man i can’t squat, how am i going to maintain my strength if i can’t squat?” instead think about it in this perspective “ok so right now i can’t physically squat without pain alright what can i do? Well i can bloodflow restriction bodyweight squats, i can do leg curls, and i can do leg extensitons, awesome! i will make up a little circuit rotating between them in the mean time while i can’t squat” just by changing the perspective you are able to stay positive and when your positive your able to make good things happen and your able to think a lot clearer than if you would have just gotten mad and quit.

 

Find Exercises That Recruit similar Movement Patterns

So for the time being since i can’t deadlift heavy i have had a lot of time to try and figure out alternate things to do in the mean time that still strengthen the areas that are involved around the deadlift. For instance lets take a look at the deadlift-

The deadlift primarily works;

- The Back

- The Glutes

- The Hamstrings

- The Quads

- The Core

Now obviously the deadlift is a total body movement and works everything but listed above are at least the primary muscle focused on.

Now since we can't deadlift we can still break the deadlift into those categories and create a routine to at least help assist the deadlift for now. Once we come back to the movement when were healthy we will have a lot more strength still than if we would have rested all together. So lets break this down Lets say you have deadlifts planned.

Your program is saying for you to do 3x5 with 300lbs

the first thing you should do is work up to highest weight that you can before you get pain. Don't push it past that tho. So lets say 135lbs felt good ok now try 225lbs ok that also was fine, try 250lbs ok that caused some pain, stop there. Back the weight back down 20% of that 250lbs so drop back to 200lbs and do your 3x5 at that weight. Once you got that and as long as it did not hurt to bad then we can accessorize that lift more to help and try maintain more strength.

So here is where it comes to when we broke that lift down into the primary movers.

First lets start with the back;

While there are many movements you could do you want something as similar to the deadlift as possible but also a movement that does not cause you pain. You could try;

- bent over rows

- seal rows

- rack chins

- landmine rows

- pendly rows

pick one of those that does not cause pain and do 3 sets of 8-10 reps with it and make sure your only hitting at the most an RPE on each set (leaving 2 reps in the tank)

 

Ok lets now go to the glutes, for glutes we could choose

- Hip Thrusts

- Barbell Knee Squats

- Good Mornings

- Straight Leg Deadlifts

- Glute Ham Raises

- Kettle Bell Swings

Pick on of those and do the same 3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set

 

Moving on to the hamstrings

- Leg curls

- Straight Leg Deadlifts

Im sure there are more but thats what comes to mind first - do the same thing 3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set.

 

Now The Quads

- Front Squats

- Leg Extensions

- Goblet Squats

- Step Ups

- Lunges

do the same 3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set.

 

and last but not least lets hit that core

- pike ups

- stability ball crunches

- bicycle crunches

- Heavy Squat Walkouts with a brace and hold tight for 10-20 seconds

perform 3 sets of anyone of those with a rep range of anywhere from 10-50 reps.

 

So by breaking the deadlift down but still doing what we could on it without causing pain then doing the accessory lifts we are able to still get a ton of volume in to assist in that big lift that we can't currently do to the full potential right now. Try that routine and i promise you won't leave the gym feeling bad about yourself.

Just for the knowledge lets break down the bench as well for some reason if you can't bench right now as well, same rules apply as above.

 

first work up to what you can handle with the bench, then back off 20% of that amount and do your original programmed reps.

 

Then break the bench down into muscle groups mainly involved

- The Chest

- The Back (stabilizer)

- The Shoulders

- The Triceps

- The Core

 

Then Pick one of these chest exercises

- dumbbell presses

- cable presses

- machine presses

- dumbbell Fly

- cable fly

do 3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set

 

Then For back as a stabilizer

- pull ups

- barbell rows

- seal rows

- rack chins

- dumbell rows

3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set

 

Then Shoulders

- overhead press

- db shoulder press

- side laterals

- Arnold press

3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set

 

Then Triceps

- over head ext.

- close grip presses

- pin presses

- reverse grip presses

- one arm ext.

- tricep push downs

3 sets of 8-10 reps leaving 2 in the tank each set

 

Then Core

- pike ups

- crunches on stability ball

- bicycle crunches

3 sets of 10-50 reps

 

There we go hopefully that helps.

 

Try A New Variation of A Specific Lift

So this goes along with everything we have already discussed but lets take a different perspective on things. I used this method on my first squat day after i injurer my lower back a few weeks back. The first squat session after i had injured my back was a planned taper routine so i new it was going to be light. I went in and on my first set i felt pain even though the weight was light. So instead of just quitting squats i thought "ok Shawn so your regular form of squats is not working tonight, lets try moving the bar lower down and see if that helps." The next set then felt great! So instead of quitting i just changed the variation of movement to a version that did not cause pain. I was able to complete all the working sets without pain and since then i have been continuing low bar and so far its working well. I'm not as good at low bar yet as my regular squat but with some time i could see this being my main form of squat i use, so because of this injury i might actually be able to come back more stronger and proficient, another positive! For your convenience i have provided below a list of variations for each main lift that you could try out to keep you in the game and maybe even find a better variation that works better for you.

 

The Squat

- high bar olympic style squats

- medium bar position squats (my normal bar position, or used to be anyway)

- low bar squats

- front squats

- pin squats

- box squats

- goblet squats

 

The Bench

- close grip bench

- bench with the Slingshot

- pin presses

- reverse grip bench

- dumbbell presses

 

The Deadlift

- sumo deadlift

- conventional deadlift

- straight leg deadlift

- Romanian deadlift

- block pulls

- deficit pulls

 

Pick a variation that you can do that does not cause pain and just do the best you can do and are capable of.

 

Create Ways of Getting Small Personal Records

The Last thing in todays article i want to cover is why getting small personal records along your recovery is so important to your mental state for training. The problem with getting injured or coming back from an injury is that it is very easy to get discouraged when you can't lift anything compared to what you were doing before the injury. This can really put a person down and it can really make it hard to get motivated to train. So for this reason is why when your trying to come back i recommend creating new ways for you to hit small PR's every or at least most training days. So for example lets say right now you can't squat your normal weight or reps. For that day i want you to drop the weight to something you can squat and do it in a way you never have done it before. Maybe change the variation of the lift so instead of back squats try front squats, box squats, pin squats, you have a ton of options, pick a different variation and make a new personal record fall into your lap. By creating small PR's on your journey back from an injury you are able to stay motivated and you will be even more determined to get back to where you once were.

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