Ouch! That didn’t feel good. Immediately we sense that something isn’t quite right. For me, it started with a stiffness in my back. Nothing too unusual. I blamed the heavy deadlifts I had done the day before. It was the DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) kicking in a day early I thought. My lower back was unusually tight, but no big deal.
This continued the following day and I simply trained through it. It was only on day three that a flash of uncertainty whipped across my mind. Was this something to be worried about? Shrugging it off, I went to the gym again. The next morning, I felt like my kidneys had been kicked by an angry horse.
Injury terrifies athletes and those training for something specific, like a 10 km race or a CrossFit competition. The thought of not continuing with your routine can be upsetting. Therefore, I didn’t want to even think about the consequences of being injured. The missed training sessions, the lowering of self-esteem, the feeling that I’m failing.
There was obviously something wrong. Those of us caught in the addictive grip of exercise, however, know only too well how hard it is to have to broach the subject of injury with oneself.
I would give it one more day and simply loosen my back up by doing some back exercises.
First dead-lift into my set, something in my back tweaked and that was that. I even went as far as lightening the load so I could finish off my set but my body simply had had enough. Like a stubborn donkey, it wasn’t going one step further.
An athlete’s strength can also be their downfall. That “not backing down” mentality can sometimes overpower common sense. If I had rested for two days and had a sports massage when my injury started to come on, I would have been back close to one hundred percent in probably three days max. Now, I was looking at a full two weeks out after tearing a muscle in my lower back. As can happen, clarity sets in only after it’s too late.
So now what? Your training programme, as you knew it, has been blown to pieces. Utter disappointment, sadness and a little panic sets in. You feel defeated and in desperate need of a new plan to implement immediately. A change of mindset is needed before you implode into the binge eating, TV watching and self-pitying zone. This is where the three Ps step in.
3 must-dos when injury hits:
1. Pivot
Once you give yourself an hour or so to come to terms with what’s happened, it’s time to focus on a new direction. You need to pivot.
When you pivot, you don’t step off your original path. You simply adjust your course slightly. Basically you are going to take a bit of a detour, which will take a little longer than originally planned, but will still get you back on track as soon as possible.
The problem we face is that, instead of pivoting, we change course completely and sometimes even go backwards. This can happen when we get so frustrated by the setback, that we temporarily give up. This worsens the situation by lowering our self-esteem and bringing us out of our workout routine.
Poor self talk also rears its ugly head at this point. I called myself every name under the sun when I felt my muscle tear. I knew it was completely my own fault and I should have been wiser to the situation…aah the beauty of hindsight. These moments, however, are pure frustration in every way so try to go easy on yourself!
A successful pivot relies on flexibility and creativity. The key is to keep moving forward towards your goal. Throwing in the towel or stopping for a prolonged rest just isn’t an option. Shout, curse or cry and then get down to the business of formulating your new plan.
2. Productivity
Being injured can be harder work than being in great shape. When most people think of injury, they envision feet up, movie on and chill out in progress. Don’t let this be the case. Being injured takes more time than normal to do everything. This takes planning and coordination of every movement, from transport, to tying your shoe laces!
Before anything happens, get out the ice pack. This is a great pain reliever. Studies have shown that it may not do anything else, but the increase in confidence you get from using it is huge. With less pain, you feel like the recovery process has already begun and, psychologically, this is wonderful.
One of the keys to managing an injury is to immediately think about your next day’s training. How can you possibly modify it so that you can still complete it? If that is impossible, then it’s time to think positively and have a make it happen attitude!
If it’s a leg injury, you can still do so many upper body exercises like pull ups, lateral pull-downs, bench press and seated shoulder press etc. An upper body injury can be rested while doing a less intense leg workout if possible.
Back problems and illnesses can really wipe you out, but even a short 15-minute walk will keep your spirits up, which is one of the main battles you will be fighting. As long as you continue to take baby steps forward, your confidence will rise and give you that priceless feeling of hope.
3. Patience
This is so difficult!! I have delayed my comeback by weeks on many occasions by not being patient. You persuade yourself that everything feels right, get carried away at how good your first complete session back is going, and then WHAM!
This is a place, so many times worse, than your original injury. Not only are you furiously frustrated, but you feel like an absolute idiot! You did this to yourself by rushing things along and not properly listening to your body.
Great things can happen in life when we are patient. As Gary Vaynerchuk (Social media millionaire who took thirty years to hit it big) has recently said, “Patience is like magic, but so many people don’t want to drink the potion”.
In today’s world, everything is right now and people are working at break neck speed. Allowing ourselves and others the time to get things done fully and comprehensively has reduced drastically. People tend to get a little uptight if their emails aren’t answered in hours…how ridiculous is that?
When it comes to properly healing your body, forget about fast fixes. No heat creams, Epsom salt baths or compression bandages will do the trick here. Injury challenges your body so let your body be the wonderful self-healer that it is by giving it time to do its thing.
The next time you find yourself injured, run through the three Ps. They will keep you on your path, reduce your recovery time, and pop you out on the other side mentally tougher. Have confidence in your body’s ability to take a hit and come back even better. It’s always on your side, wanting you to be the absolute best you can. Be in tune with it. It’s telling you things everyday that only you can hear…but you have to listen.
What has your most recent injury been and what’s the one tip you’d give to overcome it? I’d love to hear about your experiences so please leave a comment!