Injuries :-(
Injuries — they are a serious BUMMER! Tony had a pretty serious injury last month that I told y’all about (he tore his bicep and had to get surgery). But he’s already back at it, working out and leading workouts just like always (albeit without doing curls, but he’s still pushing himself to get stronger in other areas).
I used to play football, and I’ve got my left-over dings and dents. I had complete shoulder reconstruction on my right shoulder in college following a football injury. That shoulder is actually my “good” shoulder now. The left one — which also got injured but I never had surgery on it — is a chronic source of irritation. It doesn’t stop me from working out, but it’s always a little “off”. And as a result of compensating for my bum left shoulder, I tend to get some tendonitis in my left elbow as well. I notice it on some of the exercises more than others, but I don’t let it stop me.
Then there’s the right knee, which I had surgery on 3 years ago to repair a torn ACL, medial, and lateral ligament injury I got playing basketball. That knee still swells a bit and gets sore when I do a lot of Insanity or Asylum workouts.
I know y’all are probably all surprised since you figured Coach Wayne’s body must run like a well-tuned formula 1 car! LOL! Nope! I’m sporting the same assortment of snap/crackle/pops as many of you! LOL!
And what have I learned about making P90X / Insanity a way of life while dealing with injuries? It’s simple — do our best and forget the rest! There are some exercises I simply don’t do when the shoulder and elbow are acting up. I substitute exercises that don’t bother them as much. It bugs my elbow to do the overhead tricep extensions, so I do bent over tricep extensions instead. It bugs my shoulder to do pour flys, so I just do hold flys. I’m doing this for life, and there is no sense in doing something I know will exacerbate my chronic areas. I would encourage you to do the same. If a particular exercise is causing you a chronic problem, find a way to substitute something else in it’s place.
And if you have an acute injury (sprained ankle, injured wrist, etc.) you may have to totally lay off that area for a bit until it heals. That doesn’t mean you have to put the DVD’s on the shelf and go to the Golden Corral though! You can still do lots of exercises, and you can darn sure still keep eating right in the meantime!!! Just look at Tony! He can’t do some of the arm lifting exercises and pullups, but he can do plyo, cardio, core, and pushups. And he’s doing exactly that!
You may need to lay off plyo for a while if you have an injured knee. You may have to lay off some of the core work if you get a back injury. But you can find other things to do to keep working on a lifestyle of health and fitness.
We all have injuries — some acute, some chronic. That’s the nature of having these frail human bodies we have. I can’t wait for the day when we get to trade in these clunkers for bodies that will never wear out! But in the meantime, we exercise and take care of them to make them hold up as best we can. Just know that it’s totally normal — and expected –to get dents, scratches, and some rust along the way. That’s part of living!
Will we let it be an excuse to park in the garage and put the car cover on, or will we get out there and do the best we can with what we’ve got? Tony showed us that is what winners do! And that’s what I hope we all do too!
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Hey Rafael, sorry about your setback! I’d recommend seeing a physical therapist to get it checked out to be sure you aren’t going to make it worse by starting back up. And as for picking up where you left off vs. starting over, it really comes down to what will help you stay motivated and moving forward. If you feel like you’ve lost your momentum, start it over. If you feel like you would rather pick back up, then do that. I hope it gets well soon!
Hi Coach;
I loved your article on injuries.Just Q I had was I was hittin shoulder/arms y;day nd seem to ahave woken up with a frozen shoulder…Today I was supposed to do core synergestics.Instead i decided to do X stretch just to warm up my muscles. what would u have done if faced with a similar situation.
-Kaushik
Hey Kash, I don’t know. It would depend on how the shoulder felt (not sure what a frozen shoulder feels like and if it’s a kink that would work out with stretching of if it’s an injury). Keep me updated on how it feels in a day or two!
basically since i work on comp a lot (lol) , my posture is a bit sneaky.
so sometimes i wake up not able to turn my head towards my right.its a bit painful when i try to engage my shoulder muscles. Doing X Stretch helped me as the pain greatly reduced.
I am ready to Bring it!! tomm .
Hey coach i seems ti injury my lower back doin standing shoulder press on sunday os friday and still bothers me a little bet nos damn i was goin so good
Hey Coach,
I’ve been struggling with what I believe is tendinitis on inside of my left elbow. Have tried adjustments, but really bothers me on pull-ups and bicep curls. Can’t see how to do P90X w/o those. It’s really discouraging since I wanted to be ready for the deuce, but can’t see getting better w/o laying off. Any suggestions on treatment?
Hey Mike, I have the same thing (inside of left elbow), and it flares up worse from time to time. Indo (one of our members and also a physician) has recommended the Thera Bar (search it on Amazon). I haven’t tried it since mine isn’t bad right now but if it gets more bothersome I’ll probably try that.
For mine, it seems to get better if I increase resistance and do fewer reps. That way I’m not using the joint as much but working the muscles hard on the fewer reps that I do.
hey coach.
ever since i added running with one of my programs, i’ve been having problems with my left knee. i went to the doctor and he told me to do one day of p90x and run the other. its fine when i do the program, but when i start running the next day it does the same thing. what would you do?
I believe tendinites is the problem.
Hey Brandon, you may need to lay off the running for a couple weeks because steady repetitive movements like running, which are hard on the body by nature, can start to lead to other chronic injuries like tendonitis.
Coach,
Any advice when to approach increase in weights. Currently in fat shredder mode, rnd 2 halfway through your hybrid. I know many have said they “always” up the weight next time around or push harder, but currently on 8-10 rep mode. Last time I pushed my limit, I really pulled my back muscle (3 week layoff), last week was doing overhead tricep ext., my form went bad and you should have heard the sounds my shoulder/ rotator cuff made!!! I thought I really tore something major, luckily no, but a little sore (muscles might have rubbed the wrong way with bad form).
I NOW FULLY understand when Tony says form is important ( I learned the hard way 2x). I just feel at times I should be upping my weight, but assume not to, unless form is good and I have reached at least the 10th rep. Is it perhaps because I’m currently in fat shredder mode?
Just want to give it my best, but not to the point where I can injure myself anymore.
Thanks!
Hey Rafael, the only time you should increase weights is when you can do the upper limit of your range with perfect form. If I am shooting for the 8-10 range and I fail at rep 8, 9, or 10, then I stick with the same weight the next time.
If I get to rep 10 and can get another one with good form, then the next time I’ll up the weight so that I hit fatigue and failure in my target range of 8-10.
This is regardless of the nutrition phase someone is on.
Dear Coach,
With 6 workouts to finish this round of P90X, while playing tennis, I got a sprained ankle. I went to the hospital and they told me no sports for at least 2 weeks. I was planning on starting Asylum the week after the end of this round. I am planning on keep doing my lift days, Chest, Arms, Shoulders, but im afraid il have to skip Legs & Back. Also, Cardio and Plyo, what should I do? I can walk, but I’m in no position of jumping around. Also, what do you recommend for Nutrition. I am running on 2000 cals a day, on a Phase 2 Diet. I sent you my pictures via e-mail some weeks ago. Should I go back to Phase 1? Or decrease my cals? Im afraid of loosing muscle, but also afraid of gaining weight!
Hey Alex! Sorry to hear about the setback. I’d suggest you stay on the same diet on the lift days but drop it to 1800 and fat shredder % on the other days since you can’t do cardio. You can sub another lift day in place of legs and back to be sure you let that ankle heal as fast as possible.
Thanks Coach! That’s what I’ll do, but what workout should I do for cardio days? Maybe cardio recovery? Core synergistic? X stretch? Yoga? I must do something! Maybe do 6 lift days? Lol. This is the first time I’ll finish this round! Only 6 more workouts!
Hey Alexander, if your ankle can handle yoga or core syn, then that would be great to rotate those in.
Hey Coach Wayne!
A few days ago, I slipped getting into the shower (scary)! and banged up one of my knees. It was pretty painful for the 1st few days, but started to feel better yesterday and a good bit better today. Not perfect yet, but I can now move up and down the stairs without pain.
I did chest and back yesterday with no problems of course. Today, I am scheduled to do Plyo, but was thinking of doing something else to lay off the knee for a while. Is there anything you can think of to replace it that won’t add to the knee injury?
I know I need some kind of cardio, but all the cardio seems to involve pressure and movements on the knees. I currently own the original p90, p90 master series, and p90x. Any thoughts on what you think might be best to do instead of Plyo?
Thanks so much!
PS. I am convinced that w/o having been doing these programs, I would have caused a lot more damage to myself on that fall. A normal person’s legs aren’t supposed to go the way they did!!!
Ouch Dan! I’m glad you are okay (at least mostly). You’ll need to find a low impact form of cardio to do while the knee heals up (swimming, stationary bike, walking at a brisk pace if that doesn’t bother it). I wouldn’t recommend any of the plyometric work while the knee is swollen. Hopefully it just took a hard hit and it’ll feel fine again in a few days and you’ll be back at it. Keep eating super clean and doing all the other workouts though, as much as the knee will allow.
Thanks so much Coach. I will follow your advice and get back to Plyo as soon as the knee heals up.
Hey Coach,
Thanks for posting all of these articles. I love reading them! I just started week 4 of Insanity as an absolute beginner so I totally expected to be sore. I’ve been having constant ankle pain that gets worse during/after a workout and they’re pretty swollen. I’m going to see the doctor and I have a feeling he’ll tell me to lay off the ankle. What would you suggest I do as a workout in the mean time? Most of Insanity is rough on the ankles but I don’t want to make the past 4 weeks count for nothing! What would you suggest?
Hey Ryan, sorry about the ankle! Insanity is high impact cardio, every single day, and wear and tear on the joints is common for those who jump in without getting in better shape first. My joints wouldn’t hold up to daily Insanity if I had tried it in my first round.
I’d suggest you make a shift and start doing P90X, which works your whole body, doesn’t pound the joints as much, and helps build overall strength which will make you more resistant to injury on the future.
Hey coach I recently pulled a hamstring muscle while playing soccer and it seems like I won’t be able to do any of the cardio workouts for a while but I will still be able to do the lift workouts or p90x What kind of workout schedule should I be looking to do? I was just going to do chest and back,rest day, shoulder and arms ,rest day then Chest shoulder tris ,rest day ,and then back and biceps? Are there any lift workouts that I can do back to back as to not overtrain? I
Hopefully my hamstring heals quickly enough so that I can get back to it, the last thing I would want to do is tweak and reinjure myself. Thanks for the help coach greatly appreciated!
Hey Tony. Sorry to hear about the hamstring! The only lift days you can do back to back are C/S/T and Back/Bi since none of the muscle groups overlap. I wrote more about that in my article “overtraining” if you want to read more = http://teamripped.com/overtraining