How To Stay Motivated With An Injury
As you may or may not be aware, I have broken my knuckle (no one was harmed in the process of this, before you start forming conclusions that I have been fighting people).
Last week, I was supposed to meet my target of 90kg squat. However, with my injury I can’t grip barbells. Suffice to say, I therefore didn’t meet my goal of a 90kg squat.
I have been told the injury will take 5 weeks to recover and even worse…. I shouldn’t do any boxing for around 9 weeks.
Am I going to wallow in self pity and not bother training at all? NO
Instead, I will be making the following adjustments to my training:
Front squats- good for the quads and I don’t have to grip the barbell to do it.
Resistance machines such as leg press, ham curls and leg extensions.
Body weight exercises.
Cardio- improve my HIIT fitness on sprints and incorporate the stair master. Swim more.
Long runs.
Abs/Core- I usually neglect abs and convince myself that my compound exercises will gain me abs. Psychologically, it makes sense for me to work on my core for when I can return to my main compound lifts. This is because in not being able to train my compound movements , the strength in those movements will likely decrease, so if i can improve the lift another way then perhaps I can help myself retain some strength.
Boxing left handed only- my right hand is a lot more powerful than my left and so focussing on my left may help me in terms of balance for when my injury is recovered.
Try new exercises.
If you are injured, it is important to consider which exercises you can’t do (Safety first. Safety is cool).
But, I also encourage you to change your mindset and instead, think about what you can do. How can you turn your negative situation into a positive?
Because….
Yes, my training volume has decreased (because I am limited with upper body workouts).
Yes, my intensity of lifts has decreased (e.g. I don’t have a fully functioning hand to help me out if I can’t leg press a high weight). Therefore, eg, I am pressing less than usual.
Yes, my injury has caused me to have to take a step back in reaching my goals.