Working Out With Injuries: How To Work Around It And Stay Ripped
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Hey guys,
Clark and Henry here with Six Pack Shortcuts, and today we’re going to show you how we get through a week of working out while injured.
For myself, I have injured my ankle, but I still want to make sure to keep my legs in top shape, and Henry is dealing with an elbow injury – so the both of us have some working around to do.
So for myself, I’m going to keep the weight light so I don’t put any pressure on this swollen area of my ankle, but I’ll be doing some leg extensions to help get the blood flowing to my quads and to keep them in shape even though I can’t do any heavy squats or anything.
In this case I’ll just do some single leg versions so I know I am working both legs equally because if I just use both at the same time, there is a good chance I might unconsciously push more with my uninjured leg.
For the hamstrings, instead of using a prone hamstring curl machine, and since stiff leg deadlifts were causing me some pain, I’ll be trying a simple cable hamstring curl by attaching the cable to a strap around my mid/lower shin.
Again, it’s a good time to take things a little lighter and do it a little differently than usually, focusing on keeping your form tight and as perfect as you can get it over this longer set.
Now of course, you shouldn’t just stop at 2 sets – I’m just demonstrating how I would get my leg workout in during an injury period.
And here’s how Henry will get a workout in without upsetting his elbow even more:
So guys, what I’ve found that can be helpful when dealing with elbow injuries that are exacerbated by triceps work is doing triceps exercises that allow for a more free range of motion – like instead of skull crushers, I’ll do rope pushdowns and overhead triceps extensions with a cable instead. Using the cable allows you to have a little less need for stabilization and gives you a safer alternative.
Additionally, to exercise the biceps, I’ll usually stick with dumbbells where my elbows and arms are free to move as they need to, not limited with preacher curls. I’ll also avoid using barbells which can force your wrists (and subsequently your elbows) to be in certain unnatural positions. Try to do your curls with a nice and controlled motion – of course it’s not going to be the time to go heavy. Typically a neutral, hammer grip is the best for when my elbows are hurting, but just play around and see which works best for you.
As for benching – I’ll tuck my elbows in a little more and avoid going into a full extension. I’ll also bring the bar a little bit lower on my sternum.
For shoulder presses, I’ll keep my elbows again, a little more tucked in toward the front of the body rather than flared out. This angle generally helps me stay mostly pain free, and may help you as well.
If your elbows are just completely shot and you absolutely can’t do any of these movements – what I would suggest instead for the chest is cable flyes, for shoulders instead of shoulder press, you can do lateral raises or front raises, coming out to the front, out to a 45 degree angle, and then out to a 90 degree angle or T position.
I hope you guys got some benefit out of this video, and while it’s tough to make these recommendations… You always just have to listen to your body and trust your gut. Sometimes injuries happen and you don’t want to miss out on progress so see how these work for you, but also take other healing measures like icing, taking NSAIDs if necessary, and adequate rest.
Stay tuned in on Six Pack Shortcuts, and we’ll catch you later.
Henry & Clark
PS don’t forget to share this with your injury-prone friends!
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