Just about two weeks into Insanity! Let's work through this injury....

Wow. Two weeks into Insanity and, yeah, it's still challenging.

You know what else? You can pull stuff doing this!

Well, strain, anyway. I strained my lower back last week. Worked through it, it's fine.

Today I strained my right oblique. How? I dunno. Trying to push too hard, I suppose, probably on those moving pushups. I'll work through this, too.

Working through injuries. Is that the way to go? I've sort of addressed that subject before when I gave you some P90X tips, and I stand by the idea that a minor injury should not -- cannot -- stop you from working out. If it does, you are just looking for an excuse.

Does that mean you don't work around the injury? Nope. You do need to work around it.

Does that mean you sacrifice form to work around the injury? Nope. You should not sacrifice good form to accommodate an injury.

So, then, with a strained oblique, how can I continue training with Shaun T's Insanity program?

Well, fortunately, it is a strain, and not a pull or tear (I think!), so I will just do the logical thing and take it easy! If I need to do a move, and I feel pain in the injured area, I will modify the move if the pain is too intense. I will still keep good form, but modify it, such as by doing pushups from the knees.

This is all part of knowing your body. Pain is not bad. It's a reminder to you that something is wrong. However, you can feel pain and not give in to it. Could this lead to further injury? Sure, if I overpush it. Again, it's part of knowing your body.

I know mine. I know how far I can push it!

(Okay, you got me, if I knew exactly how far I could push it, I'd never get injured, right? It's not an exact science. But you get the idea.)

The point is simply this: Don't let a minor injury cause you to seat your ass. You have made a commitment to work your body, don't use a simple muscle strain as an excuse to keep you from your commitment.