by Jeff Appel
I’ve had my fair share of injuries and set backs over the years; ruptured my groin, fractured my foot which led to a blood clot in my ankle (lack of mobility and movement), a crack in my hip (which required an epidural in my spin to alleviate pain), broke radius (plate and screws), cortisone injections in my thumbs, bunions on both feet, neck issues (pinched the brachial plexus which shut down nerve function on my chest shoulder, arm, and hand), tore my hamstring, multiples strains to the pec that caused plenty of bruising, unfortunately the list goes on.
The common denominator of all these are they SUCK without a doubt and have slowed me down from doing something I have a passion for, but what I’ve learned over the years through the list above, coaching other athletes with minor and major injuries/setbacks is that YOUR MIND SET is the most important thing and focusing on WHAT YOU CAN DO to speed recovery and expedite the healing process from physical therapy, icing, heating, stretching, strengthening exercises, sleeping, and even focusing on eating healthy; the right type of foods, appropriate amount because the body needs more calories when it’s dealing with injuries. AS OPPOSED TO WHAT YOU CAN’T DO which detracts from what positive things you can do to make progress and can affect all phases of life. In some cases I’ve seen athletes do absolutely nothing which just sets them back that much further or becomes reoccurring setbacks because it wasn’t properly rehabbed the first time.
IT’S A MIND SET, focus and what you CAN do instead of what you CAN’T do (in my opinion the worst word in the human vocabulary)!
