360fit Blog Why to Train Through Injury

Two week ago I had surgery week in my family. My mother and ex wife both had hysterectomies and my brother had had stomach surgery. It was a crazy few days.

But the thing I noticed  is how quickly hospitals and doctors want people back moving again. Gone are the days of lying in your bed doing nothing so you can recover.

My mother was up the next day walking the halls under doctor orders. She went some three days later. My brother was up and around in three days and home in four.

The reason for this is simple; you heal better when you move.

This is because you have better blood flow. The more blood flow the faster the rate of healing and the more quickly you will be back to your regular self.

The same thing applies with injuries from sports or working out. The rule should always be train around the injury. If you have a bad knee then squats aren't the best idea. However working other parts of your body and range of motion exercise (without weight) will help a great deal.

As long as you are smart you can work around almost every injury. Even a shoulder or back injury, which are part of most upper body exercises can be worked around.

When injured, use exercises that keep the injured muscle out of the movement, or keep it stable in the exercise. For example with a shoulder injury do  pushups from your knees rather than toes to take  pressure off the shoulder but making it move. Another option would be to move your elbows in or out during the pushup to take the shoulder out of the movement more.

So next time you are injured don't take the time off and do nothing. Keep moving. You will be happy you did.

Devin Sherrington is seven time Best Personal Fitness Trainer Halifax award winner, and owner the award winning fitness studio 360fit in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He lives in Fletcher's Lake with his girlfriend Lauren and children Reign and Journey.

Click here for a FREE personal training session at 360fit!

Hotel Workout by Devin Sherrington

I have many clients who travel a fair amount and they are always looking for things to do on the road. The great thing about exercise and fitness is that you can workout without equiopment. You have a body - so use it!

Here a a great little workout anyone can do on the road, or at home.

Pushups 10-20 reps
Squats 25-50 reps
Crunches 25 reps
Jump squats 20 reps
Pushup hold (hold half way down into a pushup) as long as you can hold it!
Leg Raises 20 reps

Do each exercise and then move on to the next one with as little break as possible. When you have finished one round take a one minute break and then go again. Do four rounds.

When you are done that, go walk stairs for 15 minutes. You don't have to run just get a pace you can handle and don't stop until you are done.

This workout won't take you more than 40 minutes to finish but if you do it I promise you will be sweating hard, and be tired when you are done!

So don't worry about fitness on the road. You don't need a gym, or even weights! Just some will power and less than an hour of your time..

Devin Sherrington is an award winning master personal trainer and owner of 360fit in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. He lives in Fletcher's Lake with his children Reign and Journey. 

Click here for a FREE week of fitness!