Injuries Don't Mean You Have to Scale Back on Life

I've seen many athletes, professional and amateur, sidelined from their respective sport due to injuries. I've watched them go through the trials and tribulations of self-realization to make sure they stayed focused and mentally strong. I've always been impressed when they can come back stronger and better than before the injury. With my recent ankle surgery, I wanted to see if I could find that same inner strength to stay dedicated and focused. I wanted to come back stronger and faster, ready to prove that a middle class father of three has the same inner strength, though I may lack a certain 'professional' skill set.

Injuries, Motivation from within, and searching for 'normal life'

I probably shouldn’t sell myself too short.

Though I’ve never received a paycheck from competing, I’m still a competitive guy who loves excelling at something well enough to be better than his competitors. Luckily, I’ve lost more than I’ve won, so my ego has stayed in check and I can find the fun in losing. Those that have stood on the podium know it’s awesome, but the beer drinking and bench racing after the event is where the real camaraderie comes into play.

For me, the journey of trying to stay motivated during a time of rehabilitation was to make sure I could get back to ‘normal life’ as soon as possible.

First off, I didn’t let my injury or my post-surgery situation change my activity level more than it had to. I still had a very active summer leading up the surgery and I stayed on my routine for the 7 weeks after surgery. Now that I’m cleared to start working in jogging, riding and eventually racing again, I felt it was time expand some on what I think helped me to this point.

The Journey of coming back after surgery

Having been injured multiple times throughout my life, this surgery really isn’t anything new. Through the more recent injuries mobility has played a bigger part for me getting through them. So much so that my nightly routine is to get on the floor with my foam roller and lacrosse ball and serenade my wife through all the knots and flexibility issues I come across. Sitting in a squat position is great too. The 10 minute squat test I did many years back showcased a lot of faults in flexibility, so I continue to work on those.

On top of all the activities I enjoy, CrossFit is what I feel keeps me fit enough to attack any of them at any time.

I’ve never been a specialist. I have always been good at a lot of stuff, not great at any one thing. The common reason is mental strength and a general ability to move your body. This is what CrossFit gives me and why I continue to treat my fitness in such a general application. I work my whole body, mind included, towards the goal of being ‘more fit’. This practice has my mind and body ready for old or new tasks I throw at it.

How did these things help keep me mentally strong and recover quicker from surgery?

I never stopped doing them, even though modified due to a cast or boot. I didn’t look at the situation like the goal was to recover from ankle surgery. The goal was to keep being mobile and get more fit, even though I was in a cast. This mindset kept my body moving and the blood flowing.

A video posted by Brian Pierce (@woodybepierced) on Sep 4, 2015 at 5:04am PDT

I am now 8 weeks out of surgery and I would say I have 90-95% percent ankle mobility. When I came out of the cast and went to the walking boot, I had around 60-65% mobility. I asked if I could start rowing and doing air squats, they said yes. So every night I would get on the floor and start my squat tests all over again. I could feel the spots that had tension, so I applied the knowledge I’ve learned from many hours of watching and practicing MobilityWOD to work out the scar tissue.

Everything I have done at the gym has benefited how strong and how mobile I am. Just last week I did my first overhead squat with the bar. This morning I loaded up the bar with 10K plates, totaling 40K; the stability isn’t great but it’s getting there. It’s exciting to see the minor gains again, getting a bit more fit and a bit stronger.



Did I come back stronger?

That was the goal, right! Physically, unfortunately no. With little cardio and only upper body scaled movements, I can’t say I came back physically stronger. The mountain bike ride I did this past weekend proved my cardio is still a bit behind. But I know I came back mentally stronger. Staying on the routine kept the body and mind fluid. The body got a bit of a rest, but the mind never did. The electrons kept firing and I kept pushing myself.

I think that’s why professional athletes always seem to come back stronger and faster. Though everyone loses some physical strength, by staying on a routine and staying mentally strong, the body quickly adapts physically. Professionals though can have different motivation than a middle class father of three. They have their team, their paycheck or just a very strong internal want (they are professional athletes). For someone like myself, it can be very difficult to find that motivation. I knew I didn’t want to lose all I had gained and I wanted to ‘bounce back’. That was my motivation and I scaled my routine to make it possible. I would imagine we all can find that motivation and a way to scale accordingly.

If you’re having trouble finding that motivation, reach out to a friend or a coach. Someone who has your best interests in mind will help you zero in on your goals and how best to reach them.

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Author Bio: Brian Pierce

If you’re looking for the “I like long walks on the beach” type of stuff about me, I’m your typical adrenaline junkie. I race dirt bikes, I ride mountain bikes, I'm a member at CrossFit Six Shooter, and co-founder of Creating in Cahoots in McKinney. I love music and can occasionally be heard behind a drum set attempting to lay down a beat. If you have a fun sport and I have yet to try it, I am game. Let’s get our cameras and record the effort though, because it could get interesting.

Be sure to reach out and connect with me at any and all the following

Website: purveyorofawesome.co
FB: facebook.com/brianpiercePOA
Twitter: @woodybepierced
Tnsta: @woodybepierced