Injuries are not a fun thing to deal with. If you or one of your athletes has a injury, there is no reason to discontinue training altogether. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do, focus on the things you can do. I think one of the best ways to go about training with an injury is to use pain as a guideline. If a movement or exercise hurts or is causing pain, that’s a good sign you should probably not do that exercise. There’s not much room for “tough guys” and ego-driven athletes when it comes to dealing with injuries in training.
Coaches should have the ability to notice and train around an injured area when necessary. There’s no reason to push certain exercises on an athlete just because it will mess up your progression if you don’t do them. If you force a puzzle piece into the spot it’s not supposed to go you’ll end up damaging it. If the athlete doesn’t have the ability to do Exercise A, don’t force them to work through it. Choose Exercise B, or C.
If you find yourself in a scenario where you’re unsure of how to select Exercise B, try to train the same qualities, movements, and muscle groups as Exercise A.?Exercises B and C may not fit perfectly in the long-term plan, but you’re, at the very least, maintaining the needed qualities for your sport.
John Grace
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