Injuries are never fun because they practically make us give up our normal lives while making us live in pain.  I understand why you, and everyone else, would love to stay healthy and uninjured all the time.  However, injuries happen all the time, even to the people who are the most careful in everything that they do!

The worst part about injuries is that they seem to take forever to heal.  Thankfully, there are a few things that you can do to speed up your recovery!

Here are 4 proven tips that you can use to speed up your recovery:

1.) Always Listen to Your Body

Your body will always tell you whether or not you can do something.  Don’t believe me?  Well, it already tells you when you are in need of food and sleep, so why shouldn’t it also let you know if you can do a certain activity or not?

Unfortunately, so many of us ignore what our bodies are telling us when we are working out, and that is how an injury, re-injury, or aggravation begins.  I know that some pain is good during a workout, but when that pain persists or gets worse, you really need to take a step back and ask yourself why?

It is never a good idea to stop working out completely when you are injured, mostly because you will lose so much muscle mass and you will be miserable!  However, you can change your regular routine a little and only do exercises that do not cause you to be in so much pain.

If your upper limbs are what is in pain, switch your workouts to your lower body.  If a lower body part is hurting like heck, then work out those arms and choose lower limb activities that will not put stress on what hurts.  Most of the time the exercise bike is an excellent option, as you will still get your cardio in.

When you take the time to adjust your workout, you will give your body time to heal.  This will ensure that you will be back to your regular workouts much sooner than if you ignored your body and kept trying to push on.

2.) Consider a Holistic Approach with Your Body

When you really think about it, every part of your body works closely with all of those other parts.  There are times when a hamstring injury can present itself as a back injury and you will not be any wiser until you really focus on where the pain is truly originating.

The worst part though is that once we figure out what is hurting, we focus solely on fixing that one part of our body and ignore everything else.  When you are trying to recover, I recommend that you take the time to stretch, massage, and do therapy on your entire body.  This will ensure that every muscle group is getting the attention that it deserves and that those muscles can all work together to get your body back to normal.

3.) Utilize a Foam Roller for an Amazing Massage

As I mentioned above, it is important to focus on every muscle group during a massage or stretching session.  One of the best ways to do this is to use a foam roller, but you need to make sure that you are rolling from one part of your body to the next, using a fluid motion.  Spending more time on your injured area than all of the others is not going to help.  Instead, I recommend focusing your energy equally on your entire body.

I love rolling in multiple directions so that I know that I am hitting every spot.  I also use a small ball to ensure that I massage all of those little sections that my larger foam roller cannot reach.

4.) Eat Foods that are High in Antioxidants and Specific Nutrients

Certain foods can help speed up your recovery, which is why I recommend changing your diet to include more of those foods.  Anything that includes antioxidants, glutamine, zinc, and collagen can help repair your body from the inside out.  Berries, chicken, fish, beef, legumes, tea, and bone broth are all excellent options to get you started on being healthier than ever before.

I haven’t found a way to prevent injuries completely, but these four tips are guaranteed to help you speed up your recovery.  The best part is that if you continue using these tips long after you recover, you may find yourself facing fewer injuries in the future.

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