You avid PDT readers know that I have a history of injury, and some might say I flirted with it so much that we came close to having an injury-riddled bastard baby. Does that make sense? Good. I've noticed that many of us who end up injuring ourselves have an incredibly difficult time relaxing and letting our bodies heal. Our minds take us to places of insanity where the likes of only Captain James T. Kirk and Hologram Tupac have been before. All we want to do is get out there and train. Lies begin to perpetuate within our brains, tormenting us, and making us feel far more worthless than we really are: I'm lazy, I'm getting fat, I'm losing lean muscle and am super weak, I'm having far fewer bowel movements, or whatever may drive you bonkers. Some might say that's a mild form of depression.
My not-wife girlfriend recently hurt her lower back doing power clean progressions. This was due to a number of reasons: pushing herself too hard, not being 100% focused on the lift, and not doing the proper prehab/rehab work necessary for training as hard as she does. This girl is intense. She really gets after it, but always felt all of the stretching and extremities bullet-proofing was only for manly athletes. That's something I need to write about in the future. Unfortunately, or fortunately, injuries have a very aggressive way of slapping us in the face with huge doses of reality. If you're going to train hard then you need to prepare your body for that training, no matter what sex you may be or what your fitness goals are. She understands that now. Funny how women never listen to their significant other until the real world hits them upside the head or someone else tells them the exact same thing.
I digress, the reason I'm writing this is because back when I was hurt, and I FINALLY forced myself to relax and take an extended period of time off, the aforementioned lies started going through my head. I was going nuts. All I wanted to do was train, and each day I missed I felt weaker and more worthless. I battled those thoughts and I knew exactly why they were going through my brain, and that they simply weren't true. Now my not-wife girlfriend is going through the same thing. It's bad, but she has never been an athlete before so she's never had to deal with the drop off in endorphins which occurs when one must rest. I can imagine the struggle she's going through as I struggled with my own injury issues and faced similar battiness of the brain. I would always complain to her that I was going crazy just sitting around. She called me obsessed, and I'm sure she thought much worse. Hey, I don't open up very often so I thought I was doing her a favor. Guess not. I think she now understands that I wasn't obsessed, I was just dealing with something along the lines of post workout depression. And no, I'm not referring to the kind where you workout and then hate yourself afterward for not pushing yourself hard enough.
So, what causes this depression? Well, as we all should know when you exercise your brain releases a chemical called endorphins. These endorphins trigger a positive feeling in the body, as they bind to your neuro-receptors and relieve pain. When we exercise those endorphins are released throughout the body. Mmm. Endorphiny. Some of you may have experienced this feeling as a "runner's high". For those of us who train constantly, that feeling is always around. So what happens when it's removed? Well, see the above paragraphs.
This is when we need our minds to be their sharpest because if we begin to buy into the lies and the madness we further sink into depression and negativity which is 100% counter productive to actual living, and/or we fool ourselves into thinking we can get out there and train in a way that does not exacerbate whatever our injury may be. While that is possible depending on the type of injury, it's not always advisable. Besides, we grow when we
rest. Many of us don't rest enough as it is which is why there are a plethora of injuries related to training too much.
So what do we do? Well, recognize the negative feelings for what they are. They may not go away, but if you label a lie a lie then you're much less likely to entertain it. Stay the course, and try and reprogram your brain from thinking "I'M TURNING INTO A LARDASS!" to "I'M RESTING MY BOD SO I CAN ABSOLUTELY DOMINATE SOONER THAN LATER!" Let's face it: you may end up losing some muscle mass. That's not that big of a deal though, as something that was once there can easily be rebuilt. On top of that, excessive external resistance work puts a huge amount of stress on your joints. If joints had purty mouths I guarantee they'd be verbally fellating you for taking this time off. Once you get back to into the swing of training you'll realize just how beneficial that time off was. You can also use this time to plan ahead and program. Set goals, study proper programming, evaluate your training regimen, and absorb as much info as you can. Take this time to grow mentally.
If your injury allows you to stay active then find a way to stay active. Go for long walks, do some bodyweight work (injury dependent), and/or spend some quality time with yourself. Hm. Oh and most importantly keep eating clean! When we're working out we can often justify an incredibly unhealthy meal by saying "Well, I train hard so here is a little treat for me." Try and picture the thoughts you'll have after eating a root beer float with a deep fried hamburger on top. I imagine you'll OMG the shit out of yourself. Eat a lot of
foods which promote an anti-inflammatory environment. Your body will thank you. Don't give any fuel to the negativity, or leave any door open for it to come barging in. It takes mental strength, especially for those of us who are naturally intense, but it's something that can be done.
Hope this helps someone. Stay shiny.
