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* Limit the Consequences
** '''Limit Weight Gain.''' One of the problems of being injured is weight gain, which needs to be limited to prevent a corresponding degradation in fitness. Weight is easy to gain and hard to lose, so try to limit your calories to offset the drop in energy expenditure. Don't try to avoid any weight gain, as this could impair heeling.
** '''Nutrition is Critical.''' Poor nutritional quality can also limit the body’s ability to heal, as can a restricted calorie intake. So nutrition becomes a balancing act, between getting the nutrition needed for heeling with restricting calorie intake to limit weight gain. The focus should be on food that is nutritionally valuable without too many calories. I would suggest focusing a higher intake of quality protein, along with a high intake of [[Omega 3]] oils (including fish if possible) to ensure the body has the raw materials to rebuild. A supplement of vitamins and minerals can also be appropriate as insurance. For stress fractures for instance, ensuring a high quality [[Magnesium ]] and Vitamin D3 intake, along with Calcium can ensure that bones can be rebuilt.
** '''Cross Train with Care.''' Cross training can help offset the loss of fitness that can occur with injury. However, if you do not normally cross train, then it is easy to incur another injury by overdoing an exercise you are not used to. Don't try to do a new form of exercise with the same intensity that you would apply to your running.
** '''Understand Loss of Fitness.''' The loss in fitness that occurs when you are injured will depend on how much you reduce your exercise and for how long. Total bed rest (such as post-surgery) can produce a rapid loss in fitness, but limited exercise, even with reduced intensity and duration, can offset this loss. It seems that fitness that can be lost in a short period can be regained in a short period, so a week or two of partial rest can be recouped in a week or two. (Weight gain can harder to undo.)
** '''Rest Appropriately.''' Some injuries require complete rest, but others require either a reduction in activity or will allow cross training. There is even evidence that some injuries do not heal correctly with total rest, as a small amount of stress is needed for correct repair. This is especially true of tendon injuries, as a limited stress will align the new tendon material. Without that stress, the tendon will heel weaker.
* Don’t let it happen again
** '''Root Cause Analysis.''' Fixing an injury without working out what caused it is only a temporary fix. Did you do '[[Too Much Too Soon]]"', is your [[Cadence]] too low, is there a muscle imbalance, etc.?