Groin Strain

Hi All, I have recently strained a groin muscle and have been out of action for a week now (and it probably won't be wise to run for another week) so what can I do in the meantime?

As I'm sure you are all know, not being able to get out and run is really frustrating and I hate the thought of all the recent gains that I have made slipping away!

Go swimming if you can - breast stroke probably not a good idea, go for front or back crawl and don't kick too much, use float between knees maybe. If you have access to a gym try out some of the cardio machines and see if there are any you can use without aggravating your strain. Elliptical trainers can be good for giving you a 'running' type workout with no impact. Buy a foam roller and start using it. If you can manage any of that you should be able to keep your current level of fitness ticking over reasonably well...

thanks runs-with-dogs, am a regular gym gooer so will give a few of the machines a bash. 

thank you also, Jason.

Ah yes, I was off for 5 months with it. Plenty of streches, do aqua jogging and swimming, improve on your core strength as it's probable weak core could have been the cause. For groin strain do the rowing if it does not hurt. Ohg yeah, and do star jumps for warm up, they warm up groin area beautifully. Good luck.

Ouch..5 months!! Is that typical? I was thinking a month at the most!

Though of course, it will vary person to person and by the severity of the strain. I'd count my pain as an annoyance rather than a real pain, I could run if I wanted to (the pains not too bad) but I'm scared that would cause more damage.

Groin pain is notorious as there the blood flow is restricted and it heals slowly. But then it was my first injury and I was a heel striker then. It took me a while to recover, may be better for you, at first I only managed half a mile before I would concede defeat.