“So can I keep training?”
If I had a dollar for everytime I’ve had to answer this question…
and the response may not be what you’d expect.
Many people come into the clinic because their training has brought an old problem back up, or because a new problem has gradually emerged.
All we can say here is:
That's completely normal.
You're moving more, probably moving better and if you've been consistent over a period of time, there are probably areas of your body that have undergone chronic loading (consistent loading for more than 12 weeks).
Literally stopping will stop the pain from occurring… Awesome right!?
However, If you stop - you will also lose a chunk of your progress :(
Stop training for a week, the strength losses take you back about 3 weeks!!
(depending on which source you read it can vary)
and with strength being such a large contributor to ongoing pain and injury, it's in our best interests to keep you training unless the problem is so bad that we can't find a way around it.
My answer to the question "so can I keep training?"
YES, of course you can!
It's great that you've made a great decision to train and exercise consistently, so the last thing we will recommend is that you stop.
There are however, a few things we will need your cooperation on in order to make this work though…
Stick to the guidelines. If we ask you to substitute an exercise, don't ignore us… we don't care that you think it feels alright today and want to test it! It's important we work through the problem together which means we need you to work as a team.
Let us talk to your coach. Your coach is in the best position to help you substitute the right exercise so that it works for your goals and also works in the class. We can convey the issue to them to help you in the context of the gym… telling them "I've got tendonitis" doesn't help them one iota… put us in touch
See it through till you're 100%. The last 20% is always the slowest and the trickiest. There's probably a strength deficit we're trying to bridge at this point, and strength takes 6-12 weeks to develop. Not only that, returning you back to your chosen training type or sport, requires some specificity as well.
Returning before we're done is impatience on your end and incompleteness from a rehab perspective which will only put you at potential risk from it recurring. This is also highly individual, so if you want to return early, just tell us so we can try to modify things to make your goals and desires the priority.
Training consistently and building strength is a long term game. The benefits outweigh the negatives by a landslide. We want to work with people that are motivated to look after their health and make movement a priority so we are here to support you every step of the way.