So you’ve hurt yourself. You saw an expert and they confirmed your worst thoughts, it’s tendonopothy/burtitis/strain/inflammmation/some other annoying achy injury. You have two options:
- Whinge/complain/cry to everyone in sight. Throw in the towel. Cancel your gym membership. Eat a tub of ice-cream.
- Realise it’s a sign from your body that you are doing something wrong. Maybe you have been over-working that particular muscle group, maybe you sleep with poor posture, maybe you hunch at work, or maybe you aren’t engaging the correct muscles when you train etc. Let’s change your mindset to realising that an injury doesn’t mean failure.
Let’s look at the steps you can take to turn this around!
E D U C A T I O N
Use this injury as a chance to LEARN! Learn as much as you can about it. What caused it? What muscles/bones/tendons surround it? What are the best rehabilitation exercises for it? What are you doing in your daily life that may have contributed to the injury? How do you prevent it from occurring again?
S L O W D O W N
Listen to your body. If there’s pain, there’s usually a reason why.
S E E T H E E X P E R T S
Your body is the only place you have to live. Take care of it. See the experts!! If you are sick, you see a doctor. If you want a great hair cut/colour, you see a hairdresser. There’s no time to GUESS and think “She’ll be right”. Chances are, she won’t be right. If you train through pain you are setting yourself up for further injury and even arthritis as you age. See an expert in the field. Think Physiotherapist, Chiropractor, Osteopath, Exercise Physiologist, Podiatrist etc. If you are unsure who to see, ask your coach.
L I M I T A T I O N S
You now need to learn where your limitations lie. Of course it’s pretty cool to squat 100kg. But does that heavy squat contribute to tight hips which in turn gives you pain in the lower back? Maybe re-assess and try 90kg squats with perfect form, rather than a bad 100kg. Are your pull-ups irritating your neck? Why not try making them easier by using a band or doing assisted pull-ups with perfect form rather than pump out horrible tough pull-ups. Be OK with having limitations. Be OK with not being the best/strongest in the gym. Your body will thank you.
R E – F O C U S
So you’ve hurt your shoulder/wrist/knee/ankle. Take this time to re-focus on other body parts. The days and times when you would normally be training these areas, look at other areas of your body that you can improve. You may have a sore shoulder, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work on hip mobility and hamstring work. Spend more time on flexibility or mobility. Strengthen those weak rhomboids. Pick a few things you CAN do, rather than what you CANNOT do.
Life isn’t linear. Embrace the injury as a new journey towards your goal.
Soni Jay 🙂