Dealing with injuries:

I have never met an athlete, professional or otherwise who has never been injured at some point of their career. Like death and taxes, injuries are unavoidable and the inevitable result of pushing your body to its limit on a daily basis. Injuries, are not however the end of an athlete, nor should they be.

Lets face it, being injured sucks. There is nothing worse for a person who is active than to be injured. It demotivates you, it frustrates you, it infuriates you. The thing with injuries are how you deal with it. There are two types of injured people in this world. Those that give up and stop training completely, and those that don't. Take a guess which one of those two are more likely to succeed. 

I have seen, and been through some horrific injuries in my lifetime. Many off which I thought would be the end of my career. I have holes, and scares all over my body that I can only attribute to "Shit Happens" ( In all fairness a lot of them where actually due to my own youthful exuberance and ignorance ) I am still lifting today. Granted I am probably the most stubborn bastard I have ever come across. That being said, I had something which other people didn't, an unwavering belief in my ability to overcome. I didn't even consider injuries obstacles. They were merely an opportunity to focus my attention on other aspects of my lifts I had been neglecting. It was that mindset that got me through it. 

OK, I broke my leg. Time to get the shoulders and upper body stronger. I have tendentious in both wrists, No competitions or lifting a barbell with your arms for 6 months. OK - I am going to Squat every single day. Your L4 and 5 have fused. No dead lifts. Cool, I will have a sturdy base of support. Its about perspective, how you look at a situation. If you consider it a debilitating injury, it will be. 

If you get injured, don't give up. Don't give in. Don't let the setback demotivate you to the point that you do nothing. Do something, do anything. Go to the gym and just do squats, or pull ups, or bench. Whatever you are capable of doing. Just don't give up. I promise it is not the end.

I recently watched the Movie Unbroken, about the life of the US Athlete Louis Zamperini. I highly recommend you watching it. What that man went through, and how he overcame it with compassion and forgiveness for his own captors should serve as an inspiration to us all. There is one quote in the movie that I live by;

" If you can take it, you can make it."

Can you.