Active Rest

Let's talk about rest!

When an injury happens it is important to rest, BUT I’d like to take on the challenge of changing your mind about what rest after an injury can look like. 

Before we dive too deep, yes, there are some injuries that require complete rest of that particular area. For example if you break your leg and you’re put into a cast, that leg needs to rest within the cast so the bone can heal correctly. BUT, did you know that doing some toe crunches or ankle circles with the leg elevated can help create a change in fluid flow, therefore bringing more oxygen and nutrients to the injured area? This is an example of active rest!

Active rest is when you do a low intensity movement to help create an optimal healing environment. 

Let’s go through some examples.

With a shoulder injury, active rest might look like the following:

• Squeezing a stress ball
• Neck stretch
• Shoulder blade squeezes 
• Range of motion within non-painful limits
• Isometric (activating the muscle, but not moving it) holds

With a knee injury, active rest could look like this:

• Assisted walking with crutches
• Active knee flexion and knee extension 
• Calf stretch
• Ankle exercises 

With a back injury, active rest could include:

• Core activations
• Bum squeezes
• Breathing exercises
• Short walks 

There are TONS of examples of what active rest can look like, but the point is that when an injury occurs, 100% complete rest isn’t usually the best course of action or helpful in creating an optimal healing environment. By seeing a healthcare practitioner within the first week of the injury occurring, you can set your body up for success and hopefully decrease your overall healing time! Movement is medicine, so lets keep the body moving as best as we can!