When one area of the body is injured, it is important to strengthen supportive muscles in addition to rebuilding those that have been damaged or weakened from inactivity overtime. With a post injury exercise plan tailored to your needs, personal trainers can help you re-establish full range of motion, strength and flexibility.
The Importance of Movement Post Surgery
Injuries resulting in surgery require a thorough exercise program for full recovery. Controlled exercise in the immediate post-operative period greatly reduces the likelihood of developing contractures, or permanent shortenings of your muscles or joints. Muscles and joints tighten and harden up in response to surgery, replacing elastic tissues with inelastic ones. The build up of these new stiff tissues around joints and muscles can result in joint deformities and in some cases a complete loss in range of motion. The sooner you can move post surgery, the better.
Post Injury Exercise Calls for a Professional
Post injury exercise can be harmful to the body if not done correctly. Even professional athletes and seasoned fitness enthusiasts can compromise recovery or cause new injury without a solid post injury exercise plan in place.
- First, consult with your physician to ensure you are ready.
- Next, you will want to work with a personal trainer who is experienced in rehabilitation exercise and injury prevention.
Your personal trainer will work with you to identify primary and supportive muscles that need to be strengthened, then design an exercise plan to re-establish full range of motion, so you can get back into the swing of things. Stronger joints and muscles also boost your body’s ability to manage pain, further accelerating your recovery post injury. A systematic review of the effects of exercise on pain management found that increasing the strength of deep abdominal muscles and improving the stabilization of the spine is effective, reducing lower back pain in some cases by up to 20%.
Another advantage of working with a personal trainer is that he or she will see you through each step of the process, carefully monitoring your progress, making sure you reach each goal safely and preventing further injury along the way.
Common injuries are knee, back and shoulder related. Although these are common, each injury is unique, requiring a specific exercise plan tailored to the individual needs of the client. There are two main points personal trainers take into consideration when working with clients post injury:
- Injury specifics (location of damaged muscles, supportive muscles, joints and connective tissues, pain points, etc.) &
- Level of training of the client
It is important for individuals to remember they cannot jump right back into where they left off prior to the occurrence of injury. Building back strength to full recovery takes time. Those who understand this from the get go are more likely to follow through with post injury exercise plans.
“I am a runner and suffered a series of hamstring injuries in both legs which severely curtailed my running for more than 2 years. As a result of the workouts with Chris at Core Results, I see significantly increased strength and flexibility. I have been able to steadily lengthen my runs and I recently completed the ATT 10 miler.” Core Results personal trainers are highly experienced in post injury exercise and prevention, designing post-rehab programs that take clients from functional to exceptional. Read more reviews from clients who have turned to Core Results Personal Training post rehabilitation here.
