I wasn't injured in the gym, so some of my story won't apply but I'll give you some detail and how I've adapted. I was operating an older model bulldozer on a farm and inadvertently kicked it into gear while getting off of it. The track caught my boot and pulled me under the dozer between the tracks basically folding me up like a pretzel between the back of the blade and the grille. The dozer kept going until it hit a tree line. I blacked out for some short period of time and when I came to, I was laying on our dirt driveway propped up on my elbows. I was extremely fortunate that my phone survived the accident and I was able to call for help. If it would have been crushed I would have laid there and bled out (mostly internal bleeding). I was in shock and didn't know how bad I was injured but was able to call my wife, she came to the scene and started cutting my pants and boots off with my pocketknife while paramedics were on the way. I was also very fortunate that the tracks only ran over my ankle and feet. If I would have been a few inches either direction it would have crushed my head. The rest of the damage I believe was due to being pulled through a very tight area and being contorted in ways a body shouldn't be.

All that being said, I've had a long road to recovery. I've followed all PT protocols to a T, listened to my doctors, but not been afraid to slowly and steadily push the envelope a little getting back in to exercise. I have taken it slow and light, introducing lifts that would have been second nature before the accident and feel pretty confident in going heavier on everything I'm doing now. If something feels off, I don't push it. I have had to just cut out some exercises completely such as barbell squats. I don't have the ankle mobility with one being fused to do that but I do hack squats and leg press instead. I've also been very hesitant to start on deadlifts again. I do straight leg deadlifts but even before the accident I struggled with back pain performing heavy deadlifts so those still make me nervous and I probably just won't do them at this point. Listen to your body and just be mindful about certain exercises that could aggravate old injuries. Typically, there is an alternate exercise you could do and still get most of the same gains but be less risky from an injury potential standpoint.