When you’re in pain, your instinct may be to avoid exercise. However, staying active is an important aspect of good health – the key is to do the right kind of exercises for your circumstances. An added benefit is that exercising your body keeps you toned and attractive, which can give you a considerable boost of confidence during the months of warm weather!
Exercises to Avoid if You Are in Pain
Before you get started with a fitness plan, you should probably explore which exercises are best avoided when you’ve been hurt. You need to be relatively pain-free to implement certain exercises properly. Until you’re feeling better, you should find safer alternatives.
Repetition exercises that involve free weights can cause strain on your body. Added strain could be detrimental if you’re in pain. This includes any type of repetition exercise that involves using free weights to create resistance against your body.
Sit-ups and abdominal crunches can lead to more pain than you are already feeling. These exercises require the use of your core muscles, so if the discomfort you’re feeling is in your core area (such as your back), doing this type of exercise could result in a greater injury than you already have. Additionally, exercises that require you to lift your leg while lying down could also lead to strain, so you should wait until you’re physically healthier before you do any of these types of floor exercises.
Squatting exercises are also ones to abstain from doing when you have a core area injury. Like abdominal crunches, these exercises also demand that you use your core muscles. If part of your core area has sustained an injury, you should avoid doing squats until you feel better.
Exercises that involve bending and twisting should also be avoided when you have pain. Twisting exercises may put pressure on your spine, so you need to be in good physical shape to do them. Bending forward – especially while twisting or when your legs are not bent– could result in a herniated disc if you’re injured.
High impact exercise is another type to avoid when you’re hurt. Running, racquetball, and some types of dancing should be avoided while you’re dealing with an injury. Wait until your injury has healed before jogging or taking a high impact aerobics class
Safer Exercise Alternatives When You’re in Pain
Now that you know which exercises to stay away from when you’re injured, you can focus on the kinds of exercises that won’t likely cause further damage to your body. Don’t forget to stretch and warm up before you exercise. Doing this will make your body more flexible and less susceptible to further injury.
Exercising in water is a great way to stay in shape when you’ve been injured. Water provides the resistance you need to work your muscles, but it also provides support for your vulnerable areas. Both water aerobics and traditional swimming exercises can be beneficial.
Yoga and Pilates are two other viable exercise options if you’re in pain. Both involve stretching and warming the muscles. Yoga can strengthen your entire body, and it offers the additional benefit of being an ultimately relaxing activity. Pilates helps you to strengthen your core muscles, which will help you to get the most from your exercise time. Both yoga and Pilates can be done on a mat, so you have extra support. Either activity may be done at a pace with which you are comfortable, so you don’t need to strain your body while exercising.
When you’re experiencing pain, it’s important to see a qualified health care professional on a regular basis. You don’t need to manage your pain alone; in fact, trying to do so could result in more damage to your body. A trained professional can help you to devise a healing and fitness plan that fits your circumstances.
You are reading an article provided by Sports and Spine Orthopedics, a fully staffed physical therapy and sports medicine facility in Los Angeles with board certified surgeons. They have been helping patients with minimally invasive surgery procedures in the Los Angeles area for nearly 10 years.