Injuries, Rehabilitation and Mindset

For most of us there will be many ups and downs in our sporting life. Injuries and their subsequent rehabilitation periods can be learning opportunities, if you have the right mindset.

The question is, what have you learned about yourself when you have been injured? 

Common mistakes that I see when people come to me who have or are chronically injured:

• Fear that they are going to lose a huge amount of their hard earned fitness
• That it's the end of the world and are heavily focused on what they are missing out on
• Think that if they can't do (insert your sport) then they can't do anything!

Fitness doesn't disappear overnight even if you need a few months or more of less training than you normally do.

I've had the longest period away from running in my 52 years on this earth. It's now been over a year since I ran pain free. See my previous blog post to see what happened 6 weeks after my partial meniscectomy. I'm still swimming and cycling as well as being the strongest I have ever been. This has not been wasted time!

Most people who are currently reading this hopefully have many more decades of training in front of them. You actually have the rest of your life to do whatever it is you love.

YOU WILL RETURN TO SPORT!

If you enjoy being the victim then keep on saying you can't do (insert: your favourite sport), remain frustrated and take the edge off an otherwise joyful life.

I don't let myself do this and I certainly don't allow my clients to do that. I'm sorry but I am going to be the annoying person who gives you a huge list of things that you CAN do!

You can't run, then walk/bike/swim/elliptical/aqua jog anything that gives you a similar sensation.

Find strength exercises that you have previously neglected that could help you in the future and really master one or two of them.

It's time to change your mindset to focus on what you can do, not what you can't.

It's not going to be forever and if you have a great physiotherapist to guide you it will certainly be quicker than trying to work it out on your own. You'll also increase your awareness of how your body moves.

Injuries are temporary.

Accept that an injury has happened, get the right support quickly, and manage your expectations around the training you are able to do right now.

If you don't shift your mindset you will slow your progress to returning to your sport as well as feeling pretty miserable about it. 

Accept that you cannot do the sports you would normally be doing until you are injury free.

It's time to set a new goal, to do everything you can to be injury free.

If you direct the energy you put into your training/sport into your rehabilitation that's at least a useful way to spend your time. This is a growth mindset.

Let go of your expectations on your return to sport. Focus on the daily process of your rehabilitation and invest time in the things you can do.

The only person you are accountable to is you so focus on what you can control and your return to sport will be sooner rather than later x