The more and more I look at what clients have done to overcome their injuries, exercise is one of the components, but nutrition and mental aspect also play a huge part.

I even had a little discussion on it on my Facebook page:

Today I have a great article for you on the mental attitude needed to recover from an injury.
It was written by Mike Inscho.

Thank you Mike and enjoy the article.

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Let’s be 100% honest up front…injuries happen.

If you’re pushing yourself and testing your limits (something I personally believe needs to happen daily) there are times where the likelihood of getting hurt increases and, believe it or not, sometimes you actually get hurt. It’s too easy to lay in a bed and stare at the ceiling. The possibility of getting seriously hurt doing that is incredibly low, too. But that’s no way to go through life and if you’re a frequent reader of Rick Kaselj‘s blog I highly doubt you’re the type to lay around doing nothing anyways.

So injuries happen, we got that. Maybe it’s just a minor strain or maybe you reallllly pushed yourself and ended up with a torn ligament or another injury just as serious.

Either way you’re going to be laid up for a little bit as you heal and recover. For some people this may be the hardest part about living an active, healthy lifestyle. Since recovering from an injury more often than not means taking time away from the gym/weight room/field you need to be mentally prepared to handle the change of pace.

3 Mental Tricks to Recover from an Injury

These are the mental tricks I’ve used to get me through two major surgeries (ACL injury, ACL reconstruction and jaw wired shut) as well as every minor pull and strain I’ve experienced through 4 years of collegiate sports and 7+ years of military service…

1) Be optimistic

I tore my ACL within 20 minutes of my first college football practice ever.

All I had wanted to do since I started playing football in 1st grade was to play in the NFL. Now, regardless if that was actually a possibility or not, I was still playing at the collegiate level and incredibly excited to get back on the field after taking a year off to finish basic training.

Well now 21 minutes into my first college football practice ever I realize that I’m going to need ANOTHER year off of the field to rehab and recover. Obviously I wasn’t happy, but I was able to see a silver lining. I knew that I was a better athlete than 5 of the 6 guys playing my position, and the #1 guy was a senior. I also knew that as much as athletic ability is a determining factor, understanding the playbook and being “football smart” were just as important.

So while I could have easily gotten down on myself for having to miss 2 years straight of playing the sport I love, there was no way that would help. Instead, I took the optimistic approach and realized that it gave me a full year to learn the playbook and pick the coaches’ brains about anything and everything.

Take home point: ==> It’s too easy to be negative and get down on yourself about your injury. Squash the negative self-talk, be optimistic and focus on what you can improve as you recover. Doing this will ensure you return to your activity of choice, whether it is sports or general fitness, at a level higher than when you were injured.

2) Seek an understanding of what happened

• Was it a muscle imbalance?
• Faulty movement pattern?
• Weak tendons/ligaments in respect to muscle strength?
• Or was it some freak accident that was beyond your control (i.e. getting sucker punched by a “friend”)?

No matter what it ends up being, you better seek out some understanding of why/how you got hurt so you can avoid a repeat injury somewhere down the road.

The best parts about seeking an understanding about your injury is that:

1. you’re going to learn to avoid repeating the same injury later on in life
2. you’re going to learn about other similar injuries as you seek out information

If it helps just think about physical preparedness and training as broken down so that it’s 90% mental, 20% physical and roughly 3.16% mathematical.

So what does that really mean?

It means that even though you may not be an uber-genius when it comes to the body, like Rick, you can still put in some effort now to learn about muscle imbalances, faulty movement patterns or which exercises/techniques keep you’re body in balance. These lessons will pay dividends later on down the road.

Take home point ==> Be an active participant in your recovery.

Don’t just do what ever the Physical Therapist tells you.

Ask questions, seek understanding and learn.

3) Take a break and/or re-focus

This last tip can sometimes prove to be the hardest one to follow. Coincidentally, it can also cause some people to freak out and throw up their arms condemnation.

“TAKE TIME OFF?!?!

WHAT?

Are you crazy?

But I have (insert random event here) that I NEED to be 110% prepared for in 3 weeks!”

This is where you need to realize that fitness and health are LIFETIME pursuits. If you want to use the old saying, “this isn’t a track meet, it’s a marathon” go ahead.

Obviously with some injuries you’re forced to physically take an extended break. It also can prove beneficial to take a break mentally as well. Just forget about training for a certain amount of time and clear your mind. More than anything else this will keep you from stressing out about coming back weaker or reconditioned after your recovery. Did that last sentence make you freak out?? Then go back and read tip #1, it’s not the end of the world.

Once you’re ready to get back into it mentally you can start taking an objective look at your goals and approach to training. And if needed you can refocus on your new goals.

Once you’ve refocused mentally you can begin doing exercises that won’t re-aggravate your existing injury. This can mean isometric holds, unilateral resistance exercises are working in only the planes that aren’t injured.

It’s too easy to get stuck in the same monotonous pattern without realizing that what you’re doing isn’t getting you any closer to where you want to be. This time during rehab is perfect for focusing on getting back to baseline/recovering from the injury and then getting a fresh perspective on your ultimate goal once you get back to 100%.

Take home point ==> Use this time to re-focus on your true goals.

If this means taking time away from training, so be it. If it means finding a way to exercise without doing any more damage to your already injured body that’s fine, too.

There are many more, but if you’re able to internalize and actually put these three tips into practice you’ll be better off than everyone else when it comes to coming back from any injury. Stay positive, yearn to learn and don’t be afraid to refocus or take a break…it’s that easy.

Mike Inscho is a strength coach based out of New York who focuses creating athletes that are physically fit to answer any challenge that might pop up. After 5+ years of being an amateur athlete (NCAA and USA Track and Field) and 7+ years in the US Military he also specializes and helping people become mentally tough through physical training and mental preparation. You can check out his training program, Average Joe to Alpha Male, for more information on his approach to training.

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Thanks so much, Mike.

Excellent information.

Thank you for taking the time to read.

Until next time.

Rick Kaselj, MS