Injuries happen. If you’ve been working out long enough or have trained as an athlete, minor tweaks, even major pains are often an inevitable part of the game. There are, of course, things we can do to prevent and provide some definite insurance against injuries – properly warming up, focusing on mobility, stretching, foam rolling, etc. Still, they happen. Pain aside, the mental toll is often the worst part about getting hurt. Suddenly, we feel at risk of losing our hard fought gains – whether it’s muscle built or pounds shed. We are forced to begrudgingly battle that fatiguing, favorite word of parents, teachers and nuns around the world: patience!

The following suggestions are not meant to take the place of an actual doctor’s visit, but can provide some guidelines to getting back into the ZGym sooner rather than later if you find yourself injured in a minor or major way!

Google Is Not Your Friend! – Do not, I repeat, do not start googling your symptoms after suffering any kind of injury! Not only do you run the risk of misdiagnosing yourself, you also run the risk of freaking yourself out. For example, say you tweak your ankle doing a set of burpees. You then decide to limp over to Google for an immediate answer. You anxiously enter your symptoms into the search engine. Five hours later, bathed in cold sweat, you’re certain that not only have you suffered an inoperable torn ligament that may require some kind of amputation. Worse, that nagging seasonal cough you get every year is actually Black Lung Disease even though you’ve never stepped foot in coal mine. All that to say, don’t do it! Go to a doctor. Even better, go to a sports doctor!

Take Time Off and Rest – Depending on the advice given by a doctor or by the severity of injury, take some time off. It’s okay. I promise. A few days or weeks here and there will not drastically affect you.

Lighten The Load – Again, depending on the diagnosis and severity of injury, less is more. For example, let’s say you rolled your ankle, but your doctor says it’s okay to work out after a week of rest. Don’t go crazy and try to do what you were doing before. Ease back into it. Instead of working out five days a week, try working out for three days instead. Be smart about it also. If you have a hurt ankle, obviously you don’t want to be skipping rope or performing jumping squats until you’re fully healed.

Don’t Test Your Injury – A great way to reinjure yourself is to test the injury before it’s had time to fully recover. Sure it may be feeling better, but often this does not mean it’s fully healed. Don’t throw caution to the wind and insist on working out knowing that your injury requires more time to heal.

Stick To Your Physical Therapy – If the injury is severe enough, don’t skip out on your physical therapy appointments. This is another great way to reinjure yourself. Certain injuries – knees, back, neck, etc. – demand proper therapy to fully recover.

Do you have any nagging injuries lately? How are you dealing with them?