Injured? How to Deal with Setbacks!

You are making good progress towards your healthy weight by exercising and making all the right food choices.

Maybe you are doing a combination of fitness classes like body pump and yoga or you are working out with the guidance of a personal trainer.

Yet, life can throw some challenges at you just when you’re doing just fine. Injuries is one of them.

Let’s say you have been on track with your weight loss goals and have been pushing yourself just a little bit harder because your motivation was sky-high. The last thing you need is an injury.

Athletes in peak condition can get injuries too and their way to cope is to enrol the support of a team to get them back on track.

You can get valuable support from a physiotherapist, osteopath, acupuncturist, massage therapist or chiropractor.

The first thing you need to tackle is the origin of the pain and what caused it.

Pain is the way your body is signalling that something is not right. You should never ignore pain and although the temptation is just to have some painkillers, that is not the solution to the problem.

For example, say you have been complaining of back pain for a couple of weeks. The pain is not going away. It’s time to take action: visit a body therapist to have a massage or an osteopath to have an adjustment. The key is to find out when the pain first started and to work out the cause of it.

Back pain is a complex issue and many factors can contribute to it. Most of the time rest, massage/remedial work and targeted exercises will ease back pain if there’s no major condition or injury.

Weakness in the lower back muscles and the abdominal muscles are a common cause of back pain so exercise under the guidance of an instructor is recommended to strengthen and protect the back.

Could posture be the main culprit? Or did you lift a heavy weight without bending your knees to protect your back?

Talking of knees: knee pain is an indicator that a person is either overweight or that there’s some wear-and-tear in the knee joints (or an arthritic condition). If there’s a chronic condition you should seek help from a specialist.

Sometimes knee pain is caused by tension in the surrounding muscles therefore some gentle stretching and massage can provide relief. Over time, keeping your muscles flexible and strong is the best way to protect your knees from injuries.

Knee strain can also be painful – this is usually the result of over-activity so a combination of rest, stretching and ice applications can allievate the discomfort. Switching to a different fitness routine while you recover can also speed up the healing process, for example taking up swimming which is a low-impact activity.

A sedentary lifestyle can also affect your knees: knee pain is felt mostly when standing up and climbing stairs.

Weightmatters can help people explore how their injury started in the first place – putting others first and ignoring your own needs, eating when you are stressed or being in denial of an existing health condition that is getting worse due to an increase in weight – the WM team can support you in rebalancing your mind and body so that good health once again becomes a priority.