Taking Time Off From An Injury Vs. Being A Wuss

I was all pumped up for Wedneday this week. My Alma Mater has an amateur gymnastics league (some of them on this forum) and I get to train with a lot of knowledgeable people with the same passion I have. Tuesday, however, I was doing a bunch of Leg Curls and Arch ups and something happened with my lower back the next day.

Every time I took a step I could feel some pain there and, though the pain was not debilitating, I pretty much reflexively decided to skip gymnastics and rest. I took a walk, did some stretching, and played some poker with the boys.

I couldn't help but wonder if I kind of wussed out though... I planned on a good rings workout, exercising my muscle up, back lever and other movements. Basically there were a bunch of movements that I could have done, why not do a gentle but thorough warm-up, slap a little Tiger Balm on, and give it a shot? I have had some serious injuries that have taken me out of the game so I can be a little gun-shy when anything goes "wrong", but I wanted to get feedback from the Community here as to how you all handle injuries and if you think there is such a thing as being "too safe".

The fact that I lost $600 playing Omaha Hi/Lo may have had something to do with this line of thinking...

It's not like you will be majorly set back from one day by saving yourself from making an injury bigger (at least not physically...monetarily is a different story ). Worse come to worse, you can make up the missed day somehow and be happy you didn't make it a really bad injury.

An extra day or two off before trying to warm it up and work it out is never a bad idea. Making it worse could set you back months....easy choice

I'm not stupid enough to mess around with that kind of thing anymore, I can tell you that!

I can still pull 450 no problem on DL and I can probably still PC at least 225, but I started out with 135 for DL and an empty bar for PC. I'm now up to 155 lbs on DL and 65 lbs on PC.

Why? Because I don't like how my right hamstring was feeling. It is now feeling great. I will take the rest of the year (and probably longer) and add 10 lbs every time I feel like it is ok to do so until I get back to around 400 or so for DL and a comfortable 225 for PC.

Do people look at me funny for using such light weights in the gym? Sure, but many know me or have heard of me and they know I don't do anything without a good reason. When asked why, I tell them.

Always treat injuries with more respect than you think they deserve, even when they seem minor. Young guys (and young girls often too) will try to be all macho and that has ended many careers before they ever began. Something as minor as a long history of recurring grade 1 hamstring strains is enough to keep you from getting drafted. Doesn't have to be catastrophic.

All of that is even more important when you are talking about the spine, because you can't heal a ruptured disc.

Good advice Josh et al. One thing I would like to say though is taking it easy shouldn't mean sitting on the couch watching TV- blood circulation really works wonders for injured areas in many cases so some sort of moderate exercise, even if it's just taking a walk or doing some yoga is a good in between.

So if i'm having slight pain in the elbow during back levers should I stop the back lever and do planche leans or just stop all straight arm work immediately for a week or two?

igm503 said:

So if i'm having slight pain in the elbow during back levers should I stop the back lever and do planche leans or just stop all straight arm work immediately for a week or two?

I would suggest scaling back to a position that doesn't hurt, and use high rep bent arm work to heal the elbow. It is a big mistake, in my opinion, to exclusively practice straight arm work. Very important to use biceps curls for prehab if nothing else... I think there is a good reason why so many of the best rings guys do this. In my personal experience it makes a big difference!

Joshua Naterman said:

igm503 said:

So if i'm having slight pain in the elbow during back levers should I stop the back lever and do planche leans or just stop all straight arm work immediately for a week or two?

I would suggest scaling back to a position that doesn't hurt, and use high rep bent arm work to heal the elbow. It is a big mistake, in my opinion, to exclusively practice straight arm work. Very important to use biceps curls for prehab if nothing else... I think there is a good reason why so many of the best rings guys do this. In my personal experience it makes a big difference!

x2. I had elbow problems (pain when doing planches, back levers...) for about 1 year and after I started doing bicep curls (more like hypertrophy work) I never felt pain on my elbows anymore.

Joshua Naterman said:

igm503 said:

So if i'm having slight pain in the elbow during back levers should I stop the back lever and do planche leans or just stop all straight arm work immediately for a week or two?

I would suggest scaling back to a position that doesn't hurt, and use high rep bent arm work to heal the elbow. It is a big mistake, in my opinion, to exclusively practice straight arm work. Very important to use biceps curls for prehab if nothing else... I think there is a good reason why so many of the best rings guys do this. In my personal experience it makes a big difference!

I agree, straight arm work is the best for strengthening the tendons and connective tissues, but bent arm elbow flexor work is good too. I was strong in bicep curls relative to my bodyweight when I first started or attempted gymnastics stuff like back levers and planche and I've never experienced any elbow pain at all since I've started 2 years ago. I could attempt and lean into a full planche (unsupported with fingers pointing back) without any pain in my elbows and biceps tendon when I could barely hold an advanced tuck planche. This goes to show how important it is to have strong elbow flexors. I have heard far too many people on this website complaining of having pain or soreness in the elbows and biceps and I would highly recommend to them curls along with straight arm work to strengthen those elbow flexors and tendons and of course working on the correct progressions scaled to their level.