Have you ever found yourself thinking, “I’ll always be in pain”?
If so, know that you’re not alone.
That same negative thought crosses most people’s mind at least once after they’re injured.
I know this to be true, from both personal and professional experience.
It can seem difficult to see past your pain, and the limitations that come with it. And easy to end up with low self-esteem.
The conversation you have with yourself while hurt and sidelined can go to a dark place pretty quickly if you let it. I understand that.
But there is a way out. You can overcome your disappointment with a shift in your mindset.
Realize that even though you may not be in total control of how soon you heal, you are in control of how you feel in your spirit in the next moment.
The spirit I’m talking about is your athletic spirit. Because that’s the first to go when your physical capacity is limited.
To lift your spirits and your confidence, follow these two important steps:
KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE
Look at the bigger picture. Have faith that this stumbling block is temporary.
Acknowledge that you’ve overcome obstacles before in your life. So you can handle this one.
Admit that you’ve always known there’s a risk of injury when you LIVE life to the fullest, with no regrets.
This is especially true when you like to push your outer limits of fitness, play sports, or both. Injury happens to be one of the unwelcome tests of your resolve to be an athlete for life.
The sooner you get perspective, the quicker you can learn to manage yourself when you get injured.
This means that you take ownership of the courage you possess to take on a challenge.
In my experience, I’ve learned to embrace the temporary setback as a lesson.
One of the main lessons is that your training program should always have a foundation of prehabilitation. So that when injury does happen, it’s less severe and you’re back in action sooner.
And anytime I have an injury, it also helps me to have a higher level of empathy and compassion for others who might be suffering. Something this world needs more of.
KEEP AN OPEN MIND
Focus on what you can do, instead of what you can’t.
When you’re injured, you’ll experience a limitation in what you’re able to do.. It’s easy to fixate on what you can’t do, and fall into a gloom about it.
Instead, use the injury to focus on other areas of your body that you may have been neglecting.
Focus on correcting any imbalances in your foundation of mobility and stability.
Find alternate forms of conditioning that still gets your heart rate up.
If you’re unable to run, try swimming or biking. If you’re unable to train parts of your upper body, then find ways to build your lower body.
These are a couple of the things that I’ve learned from accepting and managing my own injuries. Now I can pay it forward to you.
I’ve thought long and hard about the best way to help. And I came to the realization that by teaching you how to do daily self-care, your injury risk will go down.
I call this program “Search & Rescue Mobility”. To pre-order and find out more about it’s upcoming release date, shoot me an email at: info@nulladvancedathletics.com.
Until next time, stay athletic.
Your coach,
Adam
Image: Anthony22 @ English Wikipedia