Not everything about lifting has to be heavy, heavy, heavy and all about packing on 25 pounds of muscle in a month! In fact, the more you engage in that mindset, the likelier you are to injure yourself.
Most of the time spent in the gym should be spent trying to create an ongoing foundation – not engaging in glory exercises that show off brute strength. However, for times when you have done that, and your muscles have not been cooperative, knowing how to rehab injuries is very important. The longer you are away from the gym, the less likely you are to hang on to what you’ve worked hard to gain. Injury prevention is key to avoiding this pitfall, and cannot be overrated.
But…
We all know that in the real world, bodybuilders are posers – both on and off stage. The gym is often the perfect stage upon which to ‘show others’ just how strong you are. So what happens when you’ve injured yourself?
The first step is acknowledging your injury – knowing that you have, in fact, injured yourself and that something is ‘not quite right’. It’s important not to be so hooked into workouts in an ego sense that you cannot admit that something has gone terribly wrong in that moment. Debilitating injuries are unmistakable and continuing is an impossibility. However, there are many serious injuries that can be masked by immediate endorphin release, or a refusal to accept an injury because of ego and bravado. Don’t fall into that trap. No one will look down upon you for stopping because something tore, came loose, slipped, or is causing you an abnormal amount of pain.
The second step is to stop immediately and assess your injuries. Immoblize the injured area and get yourself to a doctor or hospital. Things like muscle tears and strains require immediate action and attention. The faster you move, the more likely you are to have a good recovery and a chance at restoring that muscle group to the way it was prior to injury.
The third step is to go through the steps of recovery in actually preventing further damage and fostering healing. That could be anything from R.I.C.E. for a muscle strain or pull, to surgery and physical therapy. So what happens once that is done? This is, as they say, where the healing begins…
Rehabbing a muscle or joint is a several step process, not only in the execution of promoting normal movement, but also in the components that one includes in the process. The components most important to the promotion of rehab are: Stretching and Range Movement, Resistance Using Traditional and Alternative Apparatus, and Pharmacology.
Stretching and Range Movement
Stretching increases the range of motion, and including range-oriented movement is crucial for getting the “old you” back after an injury. Stretching is particularly appropriate for joint injuries but also for muscle or tendon tears where tendons and tissue actually shorten as a result of the injury. Stretching is lengthening and allows a range to return to normal. Doing shoulder circles, knee extensions, or sitting in a static stretch for an extended period of time, without forcing effort, is what is necessary to begin the process of rehab.
- Good apparatus to use:
- Training bands
- Rubber tubing
- Swiss balls
**Note: The point isn’t to go heavy or to train it’s to rehab, and that is very different. It’s reestablishing movement and fluidity throughout the range into a muscle group.
Resistance Using Traditional and Alternative Apparatus
Rehabbing muscles and joints requires a somewhat different approach to training. That’s probably because rehabbing isn’t training and vice versa. Don’t think of “getting back into the gym” after an injury, or forcing yourself to resume your normal activites. You can resume activity, but it ought to be a lot different than you normally do. So if you tore something in your biceps or shoulder, think about how much resistance would be required to work it out, but not push it, what material you might use in order to achieve that, and what exercises you can do with that apparatus or material to facilitate a rehabilitation of that muscle. Light resistance is all that is required, because it is a slow building process – building resistance gradually through pushing it just to the limit of work, but not re-injury. Use things like rubber tubing, rubber balloon material that comes in various strengths cut in lengths (physical therapy offices have these) and things like exercise balls. It pays to seek the advice of a professional in order to develop an arsenal of muscles. Always begin and end with a little stretching and range movement, and follow up any rehab work session with R.I.C.E. (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) to reduce swelling that may occur during a rehab exercise session.
Pharmacology
Here’s the big question – Drugs or no drugs? Some would say that therapy with NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs), such as Ibuprofen or Aspirin, are all one needs to repair and begin the road to recovery. Quite frankly, we wouldn’t suggest being without them as they are probably second only to antibiotics as the most meaningful and important drug group in the world of pharmacology. However, we’re talking about AS drug therapy, and whether or not it can be beneficial to the process of rehab. Resoundingly, yes. Because they are so rapid at repairing the destruction from a workout and mobilize protein and bring it to the source for rapid restructuring, they are, by default, a great choice. Quite simply, rehabbing naturally and rehabbing with steroids is like night and day. Recovery success rates from muscle tears and ruptures, joint damage or even simple strains and pulls, or bone breaks, are sky high with AS compared to natural old fashioned recovery. AS gives you an opportunity at more rapid recovery, more complete recovery, and a chance to strengthen and build up the area in ways that repair the flaw or weakness that may have caused the opportunity for injury in the first place.
Some of the better choices for injury rehab:
- Anavar
- Deca-Durabolin
- Primobolan
- HGH
Light cycles of orals are really the best for rehab, possibly assisted by GH in 2-3iu amounts. This will get you through the acute soreness phase of physical rehab and create opportunities for rebuilding with less rest in between rehab sessions.
Tags: anabolic steroids, rehab, rehabbing injuries, steroid, steroid rehab, steroid use, steroids