If you’re frustrated by injury and not making progress with your rehab, this post is for you.
Having your activities limited by issues with your body can be deeply frustrating.
Being unable to run as often as you’d like because your knee hurts for example.
Or not being able to perform certain exercises in the gym because of shoulder pain.
Even picking up your children can become a calculation if you suffer with back pain.
Sometimes that frustration can lead to thoughts like ‘I should be able to do this.’ Or ‘why can’t I do this when everybody else can?’
It can also be tempting to ignore the issue and push through the pain in the hope it’ll just go away. Especially if you’ve already tried a course of treatment without much success.
Let me offer some advice that will be both painful to hear and one of the most significant steps to put you on the path to recovery.
Work within your present limits.
Ouch. How did that land for you?
Not too bad I hope.
I’m not saying give up on the things you love. I’m saying back off for a moment and reassess.
You need to do two things to get better.
In most cases recovery will require you to do two things:
1) Calm the stuff down that’s angry.
2) Rebuild your body so it’s better equipped to tolerate the things you want to do.
The two aren’t mutually exclusive either.
You can do both concurrently if you approach 2) in the right way.
Most rehab professionals you’ve seen will be good at 1). You’ll usually leave each session feeling better with less pain and tightness.
It’s 2) where things tend to go wrong. The exercises you’re given either don’t seem to do much, or they leave you feeling worse afterwards.
Either way you aren’t any closer to your goal.
This is obviously frustrating.
What you need is a viable plan.
An exercise programme which you can feel is moving you in the right direction.
Week by week there’s a clear upward trajectory.
If I told you in 3 months you’d be stronger and more capable, with a clear understanding of where you are and any next steps, you’d probably feel better already.
You’d be less focused on what you should be able to do and more focused on what you can do today to make the changes necessary.
Summary.
Accepting where you are is the first step towards getting where you want to be.
Getting the right exercise programme in place is what will take you there.