When you’re dealing with an injury, there’s no need for a watered down rehab program that slows or stops you from reaching your goals.
Yes, we want injuries to improve. But most people also want to increase their strength, fitness and the possibility of fitting into old pants.
The good news? We can do it all at the same time without relegating to a rehab only mode. Even better, we’ll likely recover quicker from the injury by doing it.
With my clients, I plan their programs and workouts based on their goals, equipment, and even on what they enjoy (but we also need to do the stuff that we dislike).
Then I’ll adjust ONLY the exercises that need to be adjusted because of the injury and rehab. We’ll tick both the fitness and rehab boxes by choosing an alternative exercise that is the closest to the original exercise and can be done without aggravating the injury.
A person with a shoulder injury might not be able to do kettlebell swings or push ups. But they might still do a deadlift or an isometric push up variation.
Similarly, a person with a knee problem might not be able to do a full squat. But they might do a squat to a chair / box.
Then we sprinkle in whatever is going to help them get over their injury and/or whatever homework their physio/osteo/chiro gave them.
Voila, progress and rehab bundled in one.