Injuries suck. There’s no beating around that bush, but as I sit here recovering from another ACL/Meniscus repair (my seventh knee surgery in as many years) I’m compelled to share a few things that I feel have made a positive impact on my recoveries. Going through this process yet again has already yielded some important lessons- no it never gets easier. Yes, Im comforted by the fact that I somewhat know the road ahead, and know that with the right training I will return to skiing and enjoy a wonderfully capable body. The key piece of that sentence is “with the right training” and that’s where I’ll start.
Two key phrases that live in my head are “do everything with intention” and “focus on what you CAN do”. The most difficult part of injuries for me has been missing out on the activities I love, its hard to go from charging hard everyday, to laying on the couch. All of a sudden you’re given a long list of things you can’t do and it can be difficult not to dwell on that. Ive found that shifting my perspective from thinking about what I can’t do, to focusing on what I can do makes a huge difference. Early on in rehab its a bit of mental hopscotch to figure out exactly what you can do- maybe its as little as quad sets and leg lifts- but damn if Im not going to do as many of those as possible every day. This is where the intention comes in. Intention is everything while rehabbing an injury. If I want to have a successful outcome, Im going to give every ounce of focus into every single rep of every exercise. I dont know how well we can prove the “mind muscle connection”, but I think there is something to it. Erase the mindless reps, and focus on the idea that every single one is getting you closer to your goals.
As the weeks roll by, and the body heals, progress is being made step by step. It might be small wins- but I like to celebrate all the small wins. Each little win is a marker of both progress being made, as well as the chance to keep making progress. Each time your PT prescribes a new exercise- that is a gift to be excited about. It’s not “I have to do PT”, for me its “I get to do PT”. You might notice a trend here we could generally categorize as positivity, but its easier said than done to just “be positive”. Instead, I’ve tried to bring that positivity into variables that I can control. You might not be able to control how quickly your body heals, but you are the one putting in the work through every rep of every exercise, so you have control over your intent with each one.
While injuries are frustrating, debilitating, and painful, they can offer a chance to rebuild. They force you to slow down, take the mental bull by the horns, and steer the ship wherever you desire. While that physical rebuild is going to take time (likely a lot of it depending on your injury), you are given the ability to improve day by day, week by week. As I have navigated those weeks and months in past injuries, Ive been fascinated by how the body recovers and what exactly it takes feel confident returning to sport. While there isn’t one right answer or way to go about this- there needs to be a continuation of training, and consistency with it. Physical therapy visits often end well before someone is prepared for returning to sport- they get you returning to normal life. So it really falls on you to get yourself across the finish line, and keep the fire lit.
This is where I have become somewhat obsessed with figuring out what movements keep me feeling strong and living pain free even amidst a laundry list of injuries and surgeries. It’s led me to pursue a path in training/ coaching to try and help others live pain free, fulfilled lives as well.
If you are coming back from an injury, interested in improving your performance, or maybe just wanting to find more consistency in training- I have a few online training programs I am proud of. They are a culmination of what I feel has helped me the most in my athletic journey: a mix of different training styles Ive pulled from my favorite PT moves, strength coaches, and mobility work programmed over weeks & months to help provide that consistency.
At the end of the day- there is no magic pill to recover faster, or become an overnight athlete-but you can plant the magic seed within yourself to become 1% better everyday.
