Breaking the cycle: Returning to Strength Training after Injury
Here’s a quick guide to getting back into strength training without hurting yourself (again).
It’s ultra-concise, so take it with a pinch of salt. It won’t apply to everyone, because every situation is different. But I believe that if something’s concise, it makes it useful. No extra details to remember. Just a few rules of thumb, that you could implement starting tomorrow.
So, here are my top 6 ‘writer-downers’:
1) Stick to what you know
Choose movements you know you handle well, and avoid ones that have historically been iffy for you. That doesn’t make those movements bad, but for the purposes of getting back into training, just play it safe for now. And if your body responds well, that may mean repeating the same session multiple times per week for the first few weeks. It might feel repetitive, but we need to send regular signals to your brain that movement is safe in order to reduce that protective pain response.
Pro tip: Grade each exercise using the Traffic Light System, 24h after the session.
Green = Feels same or better next day → continue
Orange = Mild increase in symptoms → repeat dose
Red = Worse and lingering → reduce 20–30%
2) The 50% rule
This is for you if your pain isn’t the result of a significant traumatic injury and you’ve just pissed-off a back/shoulder/knee etc. and been out for a couple of weeks. Start at 50% of the working weights you were using before you stopped training, and go from there in small increments. Remember: feeling like you could’ve done more is actually a good thing at this stage.
3) Add reps before load
Just an extra rep or 2 each week is enough to build strength and capacity. Prioritise this over big jumps in weight. Remember, you’re in this for the long game. And a couple of reps here and there, stacked up over the course of several months, equate to really meaningful gains.
4) Quality over intensity
Leave your ego at the door, and stay ultra-conservative for the first 4 weeks. That means, leaving a good 4-5 reps in the tank at the end of each set. You should also focus on building capacity instead of pushing intensity. That means focusing on static holds (isometrics), control, pauses, rep smoothness, breathing, creating stability, and feeling the contraction in the right muscle.
5) Earn your range, don’t force it
Your body has smart ways of ‘protecting’ a body part by restricting your range of motion in that area. Start by working within your tolerable range, and allow that range to increase on it’s own. Don’t force it if you’re not ready for it yet.
6) Pain is helpful
Let’s say you have the session and in the process, you re-aggravate that body part. Instead of viewing pain as something awful that’s going to sideline you again, I’d challenge you to view pain simply as information that we can learn really useful stuff from. In the same way a pharmacist might adjust dosage depending on your response, we simply go back again next session and reduce the dosage of the training stimulus.
Oh, and definitely DON’T do these:
Think, “Let’s see what I can still lift”
Going back to the old program
Chasing soreness
Skipping warm-ups
Doing nothing on “bad days”
Follow my advice, and this could be the last time you ever have to ‘get back into it’.
Have a question? I respond to every email. Reach out to me at hello@coachbower.com
Talk soon,
Michael
