Let me know if this sounds familiar: as soon as you get hurt, motivation to exercise plummets. If you can’t run, why bother?
Teaching my daughter the importance of supple fascia 😉
I’m exactly the same way. Before I escaped my chronic injury cycle, a running injury not only stopped me from running, but all other kinds of exercise:
Cross training? Forget it.
Strength exercises? I don’t care.
Ice, compression, massage, mobility…? Ain’t nobody got time for that!
Working on recovery and maintaining fitness were after-thoughts. I just wanted to run! Doing all this other stuff was boring so I skipped it.
But now that I understand what it takes to get (and stay) healthy, I understand two simple rules that can help you recover from injury:
1. Aggressive injury rehab is the best treatment. Get a plan and stick to it, otherwise you may be injured for twice as long.
2. Rest is not treatment! Taking time off – with no recovery strategy – may reduce pain and allow you to start running again.
But did you fix the underlying cause of the injury? Probably not. And you’re much more likely to get hurt again.
Awhile back we talked about this topic:
- How to return to running after an injury
- 5 training mistakes that keep you injured
- How to recover from hard training
But we haven’t yet talked about the mental side of recovering from injury – and it’s quite possibly the most important part! Because…
Trust me, the math works out.
Yes, the step-by-step treatments are important. Of course you need to do the right strength work, cross-training and rehabilitation to recovery properly and ensure the injury doesn’t happen again.
But what about confidence in yourself to get healthy?
Can you increase motivation to do the right rehabilitation?
What about the discipline to stick with your treatment (even though it’s less fun than running?)
That’s what we’ll discuss today: the mentality it takes to stay motivated to recover quickly.
Q&A with Coach: How to Stay Motivated to Get Healthy
Episode 14 of Q&A with Coach answers this question:
How do you stay motivated to continue strength and rehab exercises during an injury?
I’ve received this question numerous times on Twitter (follow me at @JasonFitz1) and through email, so I want to give you two strategies that will help you through any injury.
Show Notes:
- 1:05 Long-term health depends on…
- 1:25 The “Try Everything, Try Nothing” approach to injuries
- 1:45 Why you need an ultimatum to get healthy
- 2:05 How I used this “ultimatum approach” to speed recovery of my Achilles injury
- 3:15 The most effective way to rehab any running injury
- 3:55 The “secret suace” of injury rehabilitation
- 4:10 How I cross-trained my way to two new personal bests
I hope you enjoyed the latest episode of the show!
I’d love to answer your question about injuries, racing, running gear, and even about my personal running. Just ask me on Twitter with the hashtag #RunQuestion! (or, email me)
One last request: I thrive on enthusiasm. If you enjoy the show, please let me know in the comments on this post.
Would you like to see more regular Q&A with Coach episodes? Longer videos? Shorter videos? More guests?
The sky’s the limit, so please chime in!
