If you're injured and can't lift - what do you do instead?

[Fibrous]

I've been lifting barbell weights and calisthenics for a couple of years now but have to stop due to a very painful recurring anal fissure, as I think my exercise regime is either stopping it from healing or the cause of it in the first place.

But what to do instead? I'm worried I'm going to get fat and lose everything I've built up which isn't going to help my healing process either. I'm running and doing yoga but it's not the same.

Obviously this is with the caveat that you should get medical advice related to your specific issue - when I've been injured I've done some training using resistance bands - very light, but done very slowly and thinking about it as a means of perfecting form and increasing ROM, rather than as a substitute for the weights. I think you have to accept that nothing will feel the same as weights, so trying to find a different focus that feels like it'll help for when you can get back to it in future.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!

That's rough @Fibrous What's the recovery time do you think?

Thanks both. Bands are a good call.

I’ve got another appointment with the colorectal surgeon in two months - so definitely taking it easy till then. I’ve got a physio appointment with a pelvic specialist next week and going to see what she says.

it’s been going on for seven months already (but I didn’t know what it was so kept training when I felt up to it). If I need to take a long break I will as I definitely don’t want this to become chronic, it’s hell. It is very frustrating as I was starting to feel pretty strong! But you’re only as strong as your weakest point it seems.

I have a torn knee cartilage (from running fast intervals on a treadmill) and had anput 6 months of very careful "kneehab" which focused on keeping my glutes strong, and working to support & gently extend the full range of motion in my injured knees. It was a year before I did squats & I've just started running (slooooowly) again, 2 years later.

I did more bench pressing than I'd done before - my PT rarely programmes it, but it kept me lifting heavy-ish. It was about 6 months before I did deadlifts, and those were generally between 40k (my warm up weight) & 60k, so v light.

Obviously my injury was very different to yours. The focus was on strengthening everything around my knees, and getting the joint working properly again through a full range of movement: lots and lots of (unweighted) step ups onto a box, with very slow downward motion to really train all the glutes as the power house of my legs. It was hard work! Also lots of work on a Bosu ball and then the much smaller wobble balance ball.

Lots of slow slow work, mostly unweighted. I think my knees, quads and glutes are stronger now. And a year after that injury I hit a deadlift 1RM. Squats are still not so heavy, but I'm back to a training weight which is challenging.

I was seeing a physio (privately) about once a month for the first 6 months - at my age (65) injuries do take longer & I fear a weakness in my knees. I wear a tubular support bandage - I think now it's a placebo, but it does feel better than bare knees. I also warm up a lot, and get really mobile.

So ask your physio what you can do that will help keep your strength and support recovery from injury. And remember, fitness is not linear - if you've got a good foundation, you'll get back there & stronger, from all the thoughtful careful rehab you have to do. Sometimes slowing down has its rewards!

Have you had advice from a PT who is knowledgable in this area? You can usually work round things. If you don’t do any strength training then that has an impact on the health of the rest of your body so the impacts need to be balanced. If the advice comes from a medical specialist with no knowledge of training, then I’d seek more specialist training advice. I can’t see how every single strength exercise has an impact on an anal fissure.

Hi everyone, thanks for your advice. I had a pelvic assessment with a pelvic floor physio today and it was a complete game changer. For the first time I feel like I’m getting somewhere with my medical issues instead of being told to just eat more fibre.

she said my pelvic floor is 80% engaged at rest. It’s causing issues with bladder function, bowel function, and with my training. She’s given me exercises to do and advice with weight training - she wants me to keep doing it but restrict the heavy pelvic work to one day a week. Also lots of yoga. And HRT - which I had been contemplating anyway but she has convinced me to crack on with that gp appointment. And more relaxation - I haven’t had a holiday for a couple of years due to one thing or another so gonna get something booked.

That sounds promising? I was wondering about shifting to more of a calisthenics focus as well, and with weights doing more isolation/bodybuilding type exercises. Good luck.

Get a bar for pull ups and dead hangs.

Full military pressups are also good.