Physical Therapy for Weightlifters: Don't Stop Training While You Rehab

No matter what type of physical activity you routinely participate in, you will inevitably develop some kind of aches or pains along the way. Pain and injury is not 100% preventable, no matter how hard you try. However, you should find comfort knowing that active populations typically do not require some kind of major surgical intervention when managed appropriately. Through reading this article, you will gain a better understanding of what the rehab process should look like for weight lifters dealing with pain or injury.

So What Should the Rehab Process Look Like?

When dealing with an injury, the most important thing to do is to continue working out! That's right! Complete rest is never the answer for these aches and pains that have slowly gotten worse over time. When we choose complete rest, we will often see a decrease in pain. However, when we return to weight lifting after a period of complete rest, the pain will likely return as we did not address the cause of our pain during our complete rest period. In order to continue working out, we will have to make some short term modifications to help you work around your pain while you rehab. For example, let's use someone who experiences pain in the front of the knee while squatting.

When someone experiences pain in the front of the knee with squatting, there are many factors to consider. This is why it is so important to identify the cause of the knee pain, rather than just treat the symptom of pain. We want to ensure that there is appropriate ankle, knee, and hip mobility. We also want to make sure that there is good stability coming from the muscles that cross those joints as well. Once we identify the cause or causes of the person's knee pain, we can develop a plan that gets them started on rehab specific exercises and keeps our patients working out through making modifications to their current program. For example, if we know that a barbell back squat reproduces the person's knee pain, we will likely swap the barbell back squats out for another squat variation like a Band Assisted Heel Elevated Goblet Squat so that our patient can continue to train legs while they rehab. The end goal is to get our patient back to squatting under a barbell comfortably, and the best way to do so is through modifying their current routine while addressing the root cause of the pain.

Find a Healthcare Provider and Facility that Works with Weight Lifters

For people who lift weights, it can be incredibly frustrating when trying to find a solution as to why they are having pain. It's even more frustrating when a healthcare provider you are seeking help from tells you that you just need to just stop doing whatever activity is causing you pain. If you think about the majority of patients that walk into a family medicine practice or a traditional physical therapy clinic each day, are they as physically active as you? The reality is that a majority of the patients who walk through the doors of a family medicine practice or a traditional physical therapy clinic on a daily basis are older and physically inactive. The healthcare providers in those facilities often have little experience working with people who regularly lift weights and have goals pertaining to their fitness level. This is often why active adults are told to "just stop doing that" when reporting pain with weight lifting. The providers they work with simply just don't have enough experience working with weight lifters or active adults.

You may come across a healthcare provider who lifts weights regularly in one of those facilities, but the next challenge you will be faced with is the limited exercise equipment available in the clinic. For example, if a CrossFit Athlete experiences back pain when deadlifting 225 pounds, but the heaviest thing in the clinic is a 20 pound kettlebell, how can we expect to adequately load that powerlifter as they progress through their rehab? They will likely reach the limitations of the clinic very quickly and feel that the rehab is no longer effective. Finding a facility with adequate exercise equipment and a provider with experience working with weight lifters will set you up for success in the long run. It will also lead to you spending less money in the long run, as you will avoid unnecessary imaging studies like X-rays and MRIs if you develop new injuries or pain. If you are wondering why imaging studies are so commonly performed, it again goes back to the little experience that family medicine practitioners have with managing musculoskeletal injuries (muscle strains, joint pain, radiating numbness). It isn't their fault, they just don't know any better.

If you are a weightlifter or a CrossFit athlete experiencing pain that interferes with your ability to train, click here to set up a free discovery call with Dr. Brandon.