How to stay motivated when injured ?

Hi !

 

Had a forearm splint in both arms due to the big overload with HS work ( i weigh 210 lbs). Yes i was dumb and i rushed it all and look where i am now - havent been doing HS/planche work for 2 weeks now.

 

My right forearm is almost healed ( dominant arm ) but my left is healing very slowly. 

 

This makes me sad because i had already planned my goals to the summer attending to HS and now it seems all shattered.

 

I'm doing rice bucket everyday for rehab and trying to massage/gently stretch the muscles/tendons that are hurt.

 

I want to train so bad but i can't due to that injury. I want to go back in time and beat myself up for being ignorant and rushing it all.

 

How do you guys stay motivated in a situation like this ?

There are a few things to keep in mind from my perspective:

 

- letting an injury heal properly and rehabbing it properly then getting back into training with proper pace will bring you faster long term results than rushing back into exercise and injuring yourself again.

 

- the way you have set your goals seems to be what is causing you the biggest issue (i.e. have x movement done by y date).  Setting goals like this is almost guaranteed to make you rush through movement, cause an injury, or at the very least have you disappointed that you didn't get to your goal on time.  Its very hard to keep motivated when all these things are happening.  I prefer to set "real time goals"...so my goals look something like "i am going to train effectively and properly during my practice sessions and not slack off" and "im going to prioritise my life so that I do my practice every day".  This way every time I train properly I am meeting my goals.  results are coming by default of training properly and consistently.  If i'm injured i can still meet my goals, it just now means that training effectively is now rehabbing, and also understanding the cause of the injury.  I am also meeting my goals daily, and in the case where I do not meet my goal (i.e. i'm slacking off and not training properly) I can simply stop slacking off and train properly and thus fix my issue real time, or in the very worst scenario (its gotten to the end of the day and i've been lazy all day), I fix it the very following day.  It's very rewarding to be meeting my goals daily, and I make great progress. 

 

- There is an element of patience required for this kind of work.  All the people who are good at it have developed over time. Slowly and patiently, over many years.  I can almost guarantee that even the people who started and then 6 months or a year later are performing solid basics, were already much fitter than the average person when they started.

 

- This is also a good time to perhaps see if you can address any weaknesses.  Have a look at shoulder and hip mobility (which is generally an issue for most), or do a focus on your hollows or other movements that do not require loading of the wrists and may need work (eg: can you do 5x60s hollow body hold with a 10 second rest between sets and perfect form the whole way through?).  There are plenty of things to do that don't involve your wrists.

 

Hope this helps! for the record I'm also nursing a shoulder and hip injury so I'm doing exactly what I've written above, probably for a 12 week cycle.

If training is that important there's always your lowerbody, mobility work, breathing exercises, research, etc.  You can also give your attention to something else that may not be training related that you haven't been able to due to a lack of time.

As others have said, work around the injury. This is a good opportunity to become more well-rounded. Can't do handbalancing? Work on lower body strength, plyometrics, mobility, prehab, scapular stabilization, unaffected upper body strength work, and other movement related skills. Even within handbalancing, you can still do body line drills and mobility work, which will directly help you when you can get back to training. 

 

You may want to look into potential weaknesses in grip/forearm strength to help prevent these splints from happening in the future. In my experience, more than just wrist pushups and rice buckets are needed for optimal wrist/hand health. Being a heavier guy, you will need to spend more time on joint prep and prehab than most smaller people, you need to accept this and act accordingly.

 

When you return to training, you will be very motivated, and hopefully more educated. Don't feel rushed by placing rigid timelines on goals, this strategy doesn't work. Instead, enjoy your training, ability to move and improve, and the process. Otherwise, you won't last long in this training modality.

If you train regularly and are committed to it then motivation wont be a problem for you at all. After a break you will be very motivated to train.

 

The most important thing is not to rush back. Heal completely and learn from this experience. Why did you get injured? When did your body start giving you early warning signs that things were not right? Why didn't you listen to your body, etc...

 

As everyone else has said there are a number of other things you can work on in the meantime.

Thanks guys ! Really appreciate your support

Remember to keep the spark alive, but allow this time to reflect on your goals, and maybe life in general?  Sometimes it is good to take a step back and take a breath.

 

I would recommend as much mobility as you can.  Maybe do something like working on middle splits?

Sorry MrPuppeh, I can't help you with your question.

It seems that my problem has actually been to remain uninjured while motivated...

The way I see it is that you can always work on something else. If your goal is a good HS you can work on:

 

Your pelvic tilt

Shoulder stretch

Coor work

Straddle/split stretch