Staying Fit Despite Winter Training Injuries, by Ben Greenfield
Thursday, January 21, 2010 at 11:51AM 
Question: I've spent the last few years losing my fitness during the winter because of sprained ankles, skiing accidents, and a blown knee. From a fitness standpoint, is there a way to not "lose everything" when you get injured or hurt?
Answer: During cold weather training, joint injuries become more frequent. Not only do winter sports involve the risk of falling, but the lower temperatures decrease elasticity of tendons and ligaments, resulting in increased susceptibility to injury. But you should never have an excuse that you're "not able to exercise" in the presence of a shoulder, knee, back, or ankle injury.
While you want to follow the doctor's recommendation for movement about an injured joint, there's no reason that you can't stay in lean, fit shape while rehabilitating. It's just going to take a modification of your training program - the key being to keep stress off the affected area. Here are some examples of ways to stay fit through an injury.
1. Ankle & Foot Injuries
• Perform the following workout 3x/week, with 48 hours rest between each workout.
• Complete 15 repetitions for each exercise.
• Complete the two exercises back to back with minimal rest, then move on to the cardio booster.
• Complete 60 seconds for each cardio booster.
• Move 3-4x through these 3 stations (exercise 1 + exercise 2 + cardio booster)
• Then move on to the next triple set!
• Perform 30-60 minutes non-weight bearing cardio, like swimming or cycling, on the non-weight lifting days.
• Machine Leg Extensions + Machine Leg Curls + Bicycle Cardio Booster
• Incline Dumbbell Chest Press + Lat Pulldown + Rowing Machine or Elliptical Cardio Booster
• Stability Ball Push-Up + Single Arm Dumbbell Row + Bicycle Cardio Booster
• Weighted Crunches + Hanging Leg Raise + Bicycle Cardio Booster
2. Knee Injuries
• Complete the following series of exercises as a circuit, moving from one exercise to the next with minimal rest.
• Do the entire circuit 3-4x.
• Complete 10 repetitions for each exercise.
• Do Circuit 1 and Circuit 2 on alternating days
• Circuit 1:
• Seated Overhead Shoulder Press
• Pull-Up or Assisted Pull-Up
• Lying Dumbbell Chest Press
• Seated Row
• Incline Dumbbell Chest Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Circuit 2
• Seated Med Ball Torso Twist
• Med Ball Crunch
• Side Plank Raises
• Med Ball Push-Ups
• 5 Second Front Plank Hold
• Corkscrew Rotations in Push-Up Position
3. Shoulder Injuries
• Complete the following mini-circuits 5x through every day for three days. do #1 on Day 1, #2 on Day 2, #3 on Day 3. Take one day rest, then repeat.
• Mini-Circuit 1:
• 2 minute bicycle at 100%
• 20 Barbell Squats
• 20 Dumbbell Romanian Deadlifts
• Mini-Circuit 2:
• 2 minute elliptical at 100%
• 20 Incline Crunches
• 20 Low Back Extensions
• Mini-Circuit 3:
• 2 minute treadmill at 100%
• 20 Lunge Jumps
• 20 Horizontal Jumps
4. Low Back Injuries
• Complete the following circuit 3x during the week.
• Perform 30 seconds for each exercise, then rest 15 seconds and move on.
• Do the entire circuit 4-6x.
• Complete 30-60 minutes of non-weight bearing cardio on the non-weightlifting days.
• Machine Chest Press
• Lat Pulldown
• Machine Shoulder Press
• Seated Rows
• Stability Ball Squats
• Machine Leg Extensions
• Machine Leg Curls
One last word of advice...if you're dealing with a chronic or acute injury, be sure to network with your physician or therapist before beginning an exercise program - just to make sure you're not making any problems worse!
Ben Greenfield
MS, CPT, CSCS, CISSN
President, Pacific Elite Fitness
Director of Sports Performance, Champions Sports Medicine
http://www.pacificfit.net/bengreenfield.html
http://www.champsportsmed.com
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About the expert:
Ben Greenfield is recognized as one of the top fitness, triathlon, nutrition and metabolism experts in the nation. In 2008, he was voted as the Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association, an internationally recognized and respected certifying agency. Ben is Director of Sports Performance and oversees the physiology and biomechanics laboratory at Champions Sports Medicine in Spokane, WA, which offers metabolic-based weight loss, bicycle fitting, running gait analysis, swim stroke analysis, VO2 max testing, blood lactate testing, resting metabolic rate analysis, and other cutting-edge procedures for weight loss and performance.
Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at www.bengreenfieldfitness.com, which features blogs, podcasts, and product reviews from Ben. In addition to coaching and training for weight loss and sports performance at http://www.pacificfit.net, Ben serves as a business and marketing consultant to fitness professionals, and is the host of a weekly syndicated fitness business blog and podcast at http://www.trainfortopdollar.com. E-mail: ben@bengreenfieldfitness.com
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Reader Comments (1)
I am just beginning my running training for my first 8K. I am 51 yrs. young and completed numerous 5K runs in the past 2 years. My question is how do I transition my body to run 3 miles in 1 hour, now I want to run 5 miles in 1 hour. It seems very difficult to go over the "hump", "wall", whatever you want to call it. Also, should I be running 6 days at 5 miles per day, or alternate running and walking every day to accomplish 5 miles.