When you’ve injured yourself, you need to ensure that you take it easy and allow your body the time it needs to repair itself. Once you’re feeling in tip-top condition once again, you might think you can simply start where you left off in terms of your exercise routine.

However, this isn’t the case. Failing to ease yourself back into exercise and take the proper precautions could mean that you injure yourself again, possibly making it worse than it was originally.

You need to start off slow and build up your endurance once again to avoid further injury or long-term problems.

Here are some great tips if you are getting back into exercise after an injury:

Go slow

It might be frustrating, but you need to go at a slow pace for as long as your body needs. The longer you have been out of action, the longer you’ll need to take it easy.

Your body needs to start communicating properly again, something that gets harder to do the longer you have had to give up your workouts for. However, it will happen and you’ll find it is easier to coordinate your movements and pick up your speed as time goes on.

It is also worth remembering that you should slowly build up the number of gym sessions you have in a week. Start with one and see how you go. Ideally, the first few weeks should have more rest days than gym days.

Start with something simple

The best exercise you can start with after an injury is walking. It may not seem like much of a workout but walking is full of natural movements for your body, which can get your muscles used to stretching.

You can walk outside or use a treadmill to help you monitor and alter your pace.

Another great exercise following injury is swimming, which is low-impact and gentle but also effective. Just be sure to listen to your body and stop when it needs to or you can risk overdoing it.

Work your way up

Even without recovery from an injury to worry about, we often think we can do more than we actually can. With this in mind, reduce your expectations and effort to ease yourself back into exercise.

You can work yourself up to where you think you should be, as this will stop you injuring yourself again or causing you pain. This is a much safer way to get back into your workouts than just assuming you can handle a certain level and going for it.

Pay attention to your pain

If you feel pain during your workouts when you are trying to recover from an injury, you should stop. Pain is your body’s way of telling you it has had enough, so you shouldn’t ignore it as it will get worse if you do.

Resting is just as important as actual exercise when you’re trying to get back into a routine, so be sure to listen to your body and avoid thinking that you’ve failed. It will pay off in the long-run.