Exercise can be a dangerous business, and injury is a very real reality every single time that we get into our workout gear. Obviously, steps like warming up and eating the right foods can help to avoid this, but one wrong move can still leave us out of action for untold amounts of time. If this happens, taking adequate time out to recover from injury is fundamental but, even once we think we’re ready to get back on that (potentially literal) horse, it’s worth hanging fire. After all, it’s often by getting back to work too early that footballers and the like do career-wrecking damage. Mistakes made during those early stages of return can especially create secondary issues or exacerbate old injuries. Here, we consider the most common mistakes that could see exercise off your cards for a whole lot longer if you aren’t careful. 

# 1 – Scrapping your treatments

Whether you’re taking a prescribed anti-inflammatory or are treating your injury with pain relief roll-ons like those available from Omax Health, it can be tempting to scrap treatments as soon as you feel strong enough to attempt exercise. Unfortunately, even an injury that feels okay is likely to experience a period of regression before you can finally move forward. By keeping your treatments going for at least the first week or so that you get back to training, you’re way less likely to experience significant pain or do further damage. Then, as that injury starts to strengthen up again, you’ll be able to cut back your treatment plan without feeling the sting of doing so.

# 2 – Diving back in at your previous level

It’s tempting to dive straight in at that deep end after injury but, even if your general fitness levels are around the same, your injury area needs to relearn everything that it once knew. As such, it’s important to go back to baby steps, including shorter workout sessions, practice walks instead of runs, and even stretches across yoga practices, etc. that focus on strengthening before you’re truly ready to go again.

# 3 – Assuming you can do it all yourself

Injured athletes work with physios and personal trainers to get back to full performance, but many of us still assume that we can handle things alone. The trouble is that we don’t have any real idea of how injuries change movement, meaning that bad habits we’ve picked up to negate any pain could cause significant secondary issues if we jump back into exercise alone. Instead, booking a few physio sessions in advance, or even working with a PT as you delve back into exercise, is the best possible way to make sure that you’re ready, and to enjoy the full benefits of exercise again in no time.

Injuries are frustrating, especially when you’re in your exercise stride. Make sure that you’re not out of action for any longer than you need to be by keeping these essentials in mind even as you dip your toes back into exercise at long last.