At this point, it's time for you to assess the best manner in which you can move forward. Let's go over a few points to keep in mind...
1. Assess The Nature Of The Injury. First, you need to assess the nature of your injury. If it's a minor injury such as your elbow hurts, you might still be able to do a number of different exercise variations, so this won't keep you out of the gym entirely.
If it's something else like a sprained ankle for instance, this will likely mean total time must be taken away from your sessions.
Evaluate your injury honestly and go from there. Don't push yourself to keep exercising if you know you shouldn't.
2. Think About What You Can Do. If your injury isn't major and doesn't impact all forms of activity, think about what you can do. You will now need to make modifications to your workout program.
It's often best to continue on with your exercise routine if you can for two reasons. First, it ensures the other parts of your body don't get out of shape as you begin to lose fitness.
And second, it'll keep you motivated. For many, if they become sidelined with an injury and take a few weeks off from the gym, their motivation goes out the window and it's hard for them to get back on track again. If you keep going, you'll avoid this entirely.
3. Ease Into It Slowly. Once you do feel like you are ready to start exercising again on your injured area, you need to make sure you do so slowly. Do not pick back up where you left off. Start at half the intensity you used previously and build up slowly from there.
Also be sure you evaluate why the injury occurred. Was it poor form? If it is, unless the poor form is corrected, you will keep seeing the injury happening over and over again. Be sure you make any adjustments as needed.
If you keep these quick tips in mind your injury doesn't need to take you out of the game completely and you can continue on to realize fitness success - even while recovering.
