Injuries, setbacks, sabotage & speed humps….

How frustrating is it when you’re on – you know when you’re feeling really fucking good wether it be training consistently & hard or eating well – you’re feeling strong, lean and confident then the unexpected shit storm happens.

You injure yourself.
or/&
You binge eat.

leading to…

You can’t train.
or/&
You feel like shit.

What do you do? How do you react?

I know you’re thinking of a certain time where this has happened to you – it may even be right now….

It’s just crap.

Do you ‘push through’ your injury only resulting in hurting yourself more and having even more time off training?

Do you take the all or nothing approach and continue binge eating – I mean you’ve broken your good habits now you might as well make the most of it?

What are you suppose to do???

You don’t want to have time off training – it makes you feel good and you don’t want to fall behind.

You don’t know where to start with eating well again because you’ve just lost all control and get into the groove of saying ‘I’ll start Monday’

So seriously what the fuck are you suppose to do?

Step 1 – frantically panic and start hysterically crying about your injury worrying you’ll never train again continue onto Coles to buy a block of chocolate.

Okay just kidding there….

Well sort of…

I think it’s perfectly normal to have a little cry if you hit a setback – I mean you’re fucking upset and frustrated at yourself – you don’t need this shit right now of course you’re going to be upset.

I did when I tore my quad last week.

a) It bloody hurt.
b) I was on fire with my training this is NOT what I wanted.

Result – sook like a little baby and think about how fat and weak I’m going to get because of it.

Tel, you’re literally not helping the situation at all please give me your magical advice before I either punch someone in the face or reach for another snickers.

Okay, okay lets go…

SO YOU ARE INJURED

-You instantly need to take it seriously – just pretending it’s a little niggle or pushing through will NOT make it go away – you need to address it ASAP.

-If it is just a little niggle/tweak believe it or not this is actually a good thing – it means you can look after it before it becomes a real big issue.

-If you legit know you have hurt yourself (e.g my quad) because of the intense pain, followed by even more intense throbbing and aching please stop whatever the fuck it is you’re doing and just sit down – don’t continue walking, running, lifting whatever it is you are doing.

-Don’t panic – lolz jokes panic will probably happen – the cloud of doubt will 100% loom on you so I’m not even going to try and tell you to remain calm – lets use my examples from above of some thoughts that may cross your mind… ‘I’m going to get fat’ ‘I won’t be able to train ever again’ ‘I’m going to loose all my strength’ ‘Why me?’ ‘It hurts’ ‘I’m dying’ etc, etc.. followed by some tears it is all pretty normal and standard but try and pull yourself together.

–DO NOT book into a bloody GP – your local bulk billing doc is great when you need some anti baby pills, sleeping pills and a med cert to get the day off work – not for training injuries, they will give you some anti-inflams which yes will make the area feel good but it will simply mask the problem not resolve it – see a Dr that specialises in the body which leads me to my next point…

-Book into an Osteo like right now – don’t ‘Oh I’ll see how it feels tomorrow’ like right now do it. Here is a link to my Osteo …

https://alphasportsmed.com.au

-Until your appointment don’t do shit that hurts – if it hurts to squat don’t squat. As a trainer I know there is ALWAYS alternatives to an exercise – so please, PLEASE ask and tell us when something doesn’t feel right – I know trainers are good but we aren’t mind readers!

– Listen to the Osteo – sounds simple right – but I know what y’all training crazed junkies are like!!! If he says no lower body weights for a week then NO LOWER BODY WEIGHTS FOR A WEEK!!! This is the most important point on this blog. You will not recover if you do not let the area rest, I know it sucks, I KNOW!!! But what sucks even more is not resting and re-hurting the area resulting in another 2 weeks off training.

SIDE NOTE: YOU CAN STILL TRAIN WITH AN INJURY – as I said above do not do anything that hurts and leave that area of the body alone eg. I haven’t trained lower body in 2 weeks but I have been going for light walks because the movement feels good and have also been doing upper body sessions. Listen to your body. It isn’t the end of the world you can work around it!

-Go to your follow up appointment with the Osteo – depending on what you’ve done 2 Osteo sessions minimum is what I would recommend – the second one you might not feel as necessary because you’re feeling good but that is exactly why you should go.

-Re-introduce training that area LIGHTLY just because you’ve been given the all clear don’t go and smash you body – take it light, and increase on it next session.

LASTLY…

-Think about what you did that resulted in this injury? If you train like an athlete do you recover like one? Do you have rest days? Do you eat enough food? Do you take stretching seriously? Do you do mobility exercises? Do you use correct form when at the gym? Do you need to strengthen certain muscles? These little things can prevent another injury from happening so are some good points to think about and improve on so you don’t go back to square one.