Pushing through an injury is it safe or is it harmful?  I get this question a lot and since I did not cover injuries in my To Exercise or Not, When You Are Sick? post I thought I would give you a few tips.

Whether you exercise or not will really depend on the type of injury you have.  There is an old saying that goes something like this: "let pain be your guide".  With some injuries that saying goes out the window, do not let pain be your guide use your common sense.

In injuries that involve broken bones, ruptures, torn ligaments or muscles exercise is a no, no.  Let yourself heal, the dumbbells will be waiting for you when you come back.  Some of these injuries may even involve surgery.

My husband tore his ACL this past spring, after the initial injury there really wasn't a lot of pain so he never went to the doctors until a few months later when his knee gave out on him.  Against better judgement (from some other people) he continued to play softball over the summer as his surgery had not been scheduled yet.  To make a long story short he now has a significant lateral meniscal tear that can not be repaired, which I am sure will cause him problems later in life.

Muscle spasms can be debilitating especially spasms in the low back.  The first thing most people who have a spasm want to do is go lie down.  This is one of those times you exercise through the pain.  Mind you, you will not be using your normal workout.  You will be doing light stretches and gently working out the body part in spasm.

Swelling is another indicator of injury.  You typically want to try not to increase the swelling as this will delay healing.  For example, you can probably still do some of your workout even if you have a sprained ankle, but be aware of the swelling in your ankle as you work out. 

Bottom line:  use your common sense when exercising, there are things you need to push to be able to get back in the routine where as, others will just need time to heal.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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On those days I simply fall back on one of my favorite workouts (I have a bunch) and do one of those.

Here it is:

I do 3 sets of 12 reps for this workout.  I try to make the weight heavy enough that I fail around rep 12.  If you do not have dumbbells you can use bands or cables.  If you do not have a super band for the hip pops just do body weight squats or dumbbell squats.  If you do not have a bar to do the inverted rows on you could do bent over dumbbell rows.

• Inverted row
• Hip pops using a super band (front squat band around waist)
• Incline chest fly - this is a superset try to use the same weight for both the fly and the press
• Incline DB chest press
• DB alternating lunge – this is a superset try to use the same weight for both the lunge and he squat
• Bodybuilders

Give my workout a try and let me know how you liked it.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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Where do you buy your fitness equipment?  There is a recall/warning for about 3,000,000 fitness balls sold between May 2000 and February 2009.  I have used quite a few bands and stability balls that have been bought at the local sports and department stores.  Every band I bought broke or tore within a few months,  I can honestly say they do not come close to the professional grade equipment I buy. 

It is OK to buy your dumbbells, bars and plates anywhere they are always going to be the same.  You will however want to make sure you make the correct choice for you.  They come in many different shapes and forms so test them out before you buy.

Superbands, balls, and tubing etc. are all forms of equipment that can break.  You want to make sure you are buying top quality and you are following all of the instructions.  I understand, you may be thinking I can't afford to buy high quality.  Rest assured, the equipment I buy is really no more expensive then going to the department stores, and you can be guaranteed that it is safe and will last much longer.  Below are the two companies I use for all of my equipment. 

If you are not sure what to buy send me an email and I will help you choose the size and strength.

Total Body Transformation Workout - Day 30 starts the Intermediate Level.  Today you will do Strength A 3×12

Front squat

Chin up (superset)

Bench press

Straight leg deadlift (superset)

Foam roll 3 trouble spots.  10 minute jump rope workout, 1 minute on 30 seconds off, repeat for 10 minutes.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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I think the first thing you need to decide is, what are you trying to accomplish with your exercise routine? 

If it is cardio related you need a piece of cardio exercise equipment such as: a treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike.  An elliptical tends to give you the biggest calorie burn, but it really depends on the type of workout you are doing, you can get just as big a burn on a treadmill.  With this type of equipment it really has to be what you like best.

With resistance training, exercise equipment is easy to decide for someone with no equipment.  For a beginner the first piece of equipment you should buy is a stability ball.  With all of my clients I do recommend that they buy a high quality ball that will last as opposed to the ones you find in your local stores.  I have found the balls at Perform Better to last the longest and they have very competitive prices.

If you are not sure about stability balls check out my article Stability Ball Training Made Easy and read about all of the great benefits.  I have also created a program just for the stability ball.

Other great pieces of equipment are bands, dumbbells and free weights.  They all allow you to do  multiple things and are inexpensive and take up very little room.

The most important thing to remember is to find things you like and can safely use.

Stay Motivated,

Karen

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