If you live the adventurous life that we preach at RCTF, you’re gonna rack up some mileage, and along the way, a few bumps and bruises.
That all represents a life well lived, but sometimes, we push beyond that limit and get injured. Or sometimes, shit happens to us, no matter how prepared we are.
We get “bit”, and have to find our way back by going “Into the Teeth of It”.
When we encounter an injury that at minimum disrupts our training in the gym, or at worst, might keep us out for a period of time, the great challenge that lies ahead of us is “How do I get my Mojo back?”
I’ve been a coach for almost two decades. I’ve seen a lot of people with varied backgrounds and injury histories.
I can tell you without a doubt, that it is not about the injury.
It is about the mindset of the person who has been injured.
All injuries will hurt.
All injuries will make you want to protect them.
All injuries will make you desire the sedentary positions that allow you to rest without pain
All injuries do need a certain amount of time to recover.
In the time it takes an injury to recover, that joint/muscle(s) will lose:
- Strength
- Mobility
- Resiliency
- Pliability
- Endurance
- & more
That pain signal from an injury is a good thing – at first.
It protects us from doing some dumbass shit that would worsen the injury further. Listen to that initial pain. Move as much as you can, but still respect it.
But after the initial pain has subsided, most injuries won’t even require medical intervention.
So it’s up to you to “rehab” this area.
Physically? Yes, but more importantly, it needs to fully recover “mentally”.
If there is no actual joint damage being caused by movement (which is RARELY the case), then what an injured area needs is graded exposure to various positions, loads, and tempos.
See, that pain signal, while well-intentioned, is a liar.
There’s no more issue with that injured area getting back to doing all the badass shit it did before.
But your body doesn’t “know” this, so it sends out that pain signal long after it’s useful. That signal’s intent is to protect you from getting hurt again, because your body doesn’t know any better. It’s default setting is to assume everything is damaging, will hurt, and is a threat.
To overcome this, you need to be Stubbornly Persistent.
Dampening that pain signal to the point where it is gone and your joint/muscle is recovered does not happen in a single session.
This is a slow adaptation, that requires your attention and effort every day. So be stubborn about it. Be persistent.
We can recover from just about any injury by slowly increasing:
- Range of Motion
- Position Variety
- Load (potentially starting assisted)
- Tempo
Now, this is important:
Don’t be dramatic, ok?
Remember I said you need to be consistent? If you’re attaching a ton of meaning and significance to every single time you experience discomfort or give effort, you’ll burn yourself out.
That approach is exhausting, and the huge emotional dump means you’re not actually going to work on it every day.
Every day is supposed to be a small and simple “nudge” in the right direction.
Right about now, I feel the need to qualify myself and drive the point home by discussing all the various injuries I’ve personally encountered and successfully recovered from. But I think that misses the point and focus.
Just please understand:
No, you’re not special.
No, your injury isn’t worse than everyone else.
Yes, I believe you that it fucking hurts.
No, I don’t believe that running away from pain is going to help you.
Yes, I believe that no matter how bad your injury is, if your mindset is right, if you’re willing to go “Into the Teeth of It”, that you’ll find a path through.
I know someone who stopped training because they got some tennis elbow (too much desk/computer work) and it “hurts when I move my arm like this”. It’s been 3+ years, and they still haven’t gotten back into an exercise routine.
I also know someone who lost one of their legs. Once they were out of the hospital, they started training twice as hard to compensate for the missing leg as best they could.
It’s not about you.
It’s not about your injury.
It’s about your mindset, and what you want from your body for the remainder of your time on this planet.
Act accordingly.
