Returning to The Gym After Injury
So you were dealing with an episode of pain, long or short, that kept you from training, running, or weightlifting. If you are wondering how to appropriately return to the gym after injury, this blog post is for you! Let’s dive into how to appropriately ramp back up into the gym post pain episode or injury.
The biggest thing to remember from a blanket statement is that you shouldn’t try to do too much too fast while you’ve been doing too little for too long. If you remember that, this concept is key. Returning to the gym/sport/recreational activity after injury is why a majority of our clients come see us for physical therapy. No matter the intensity level or how one may perceive intensity, we need to consider a ramp up process. I know this may sound simple and common knowledge in a way, so let’s put some science to it.
At Loon State Physical Therapy, we like to talk with our clients returning from injury or pain about an acute to chronic workload ratio (ACWR). We reference that in another blog post more in depth, but let’s still chat about it here. ‘Acute’ is relating to just a shorter amount of time compared to the chronic. This could be 1 day (acute) in comparison to a week (chronic), one month in comparison to three months, and so forth. We want to make sure that any ramp up process relatively follows a steady acute return without spikes because this leads us down the road to possibly delaying our desired return or flaring up the injury again. The optimal acute to chronic workload ratio does differ per person, their level of prior activity, past medical history, and more, but generally speaking you would be safe with a .8-1.3 ACWR while returning to your desired activity after injury.
How this would look within the numbers is, for a runner as an example, if they worked back into 10 miles a week returning from a running injury, a safe ramp up next week would be to add 8 miles to the total volume in the week (making 18). Playing on the higher side of the scale would often be where we recommend our individuals who are deeper in their return to sport recovery, not the immediate term.
I hope this helps paint a clearer picture of how to best return to the gym after an injury, as this can usually be a grey area for people who desire to return to physical fitness but are also nervous about re-injuring themselves. These are the clients we specialize in at our physical therapy practice, so if you have questions, we are ready to answer them!
Looking for assistance in returning to the gym after injury? Dealing with recurring injuries and pain that you can’t get ahead of? Let’s chat! We would be happy to discuss further how Loon State Physical Therapy can be a teammate in getting you back to moving and feeling your best! Our convenient Minneapolis and Edina physical therapy locations, along Stillwater physical therapy location will happily welcome you to get you back to moving at your best. Call us at (612) 405-8503 or book with us online at www.loonstatephysicaltherapy.com for an in-person or virtual appointment.
We look forward to being your teammate through this journey!
Andrew Eccles
Owner and Physical Therapist at Loon State Physical Therapy
