LukePollockOnline |
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March 10th
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Rehab is hard
But why?
Despite how often you’ve asked this question,
maybe daily if your currently injured. Or perhaps it's just something you've let pass through your head and never really consdiered.
Maybe it's obvious?
You may accept that Rehab is tough, but have you consdiered why?
I've found myself asking this question every time I get a message from a friend who is injured.
My reply is normally, something like,
"Sorry to hear about the injury mate..."
Standard isn't it.
What my friend may not know is, that I am lying to them.
I am worried.
I hope they don't give up. I hope they don't quit. I hope they see this for what it is.
I want to say,
"What an opportunity you have ahead of yourself."
Picture the scene now, your 2 weeks post ACL reconstruction.
You've been told this is the worst of the worst, the ACL.
You wake up, and your instantly pissed off.
It’s been 7+ hours since you last had pain medication and your knee is letting you know about it.
The doms from yesterday's session are screaming when you get out of bed.
You don't know why but your back hurts and your bedsheets feel sweaty and uncomfortable.
You hobble over to put your hoodie on, faced with another day of having a leg which appears to be casuing more problems than it’s worth.
You’ve considered cutting it off; I know you have, you weirdo.
Another day of rehab awaits.
It seems pretty pointless because you feel no different to last week.
Putting your socks on right now would be a win, never mind returning to your sport.
You often think about life without the sport you love.
You come to the conclusion it might not be that bad...
Sounds tough?
Bit aside from the obvious, what makes it so challenging?
For the next 2 minutes, I am going to explore why rehab is hard through the stories we may tell ourselves.
I am not going to try and convince you it is easy.
But you may learn how to make it exciting.
As a Rugby player and a Physiotherapist, I’ve experienced this personally and professionally.
In my experience there are two people
Two voices which pipe up constantly during this journey.
The Quitter and The Gritter.
- The Quitter
Everything after the injury is uncertain.
We can gather together some pretty good time estimates, but the language “should” and “hope to” are used a lot.
Uncertainty spirals around-
“You should be able to return to your sport”
“You should feel no effect”
“We hope you don’t reinjure yourself.”
There is uncertainty that can breed a quitter's mindset.
You start to disguise this voice as your own and let other people determine your future.
Practically, this looks like missed sessions, easy choices over hard ones, and an addiction to going out.
BUT WHY?
Because you have told yourself you were set up to fail from the get-go.
The negative beliefs you let others impose onto yourself, you then start to embody.
You know you are going to fail to return to the player you where, so you fail subtly.
So as to convince yourself and others you gave it a good go.
You would of got there but,
"My body just let me down".
"The surgeon said it was one of the worst they've seen"
You conclude rehab is hard, but you were never going to realistically return anyway.
You have quit.
2. The Gritter
You are used to working hard and reaping the rewards from the hard work.
But in rehab?
All work and no reward, it would seem.
The progress is incredibly slow, and you cannot work as hard as you’d like.
It seems the physio and the medical team are always holding you back, and you feel fine.
You put a lot of trust in them, they should know their stuff-if you were in their position, you would!
They fill you with self-doubt about a return to play date.
You enjoy following a plan, and if that plan is not accurate, you find it hugely frustrating.
You have such a high work ethic, its making this whole process incredibly frustrating.
You would rather grit through the pain and risk re-injury, than carry on like this.
It seems the goal posts are always moving.
You tell yourself the best thing for you is just to get back on the pitch.
Your in pain but you mask it.
Cocodamol, tape, ice and stretching.
Your supposed to be tough?
3 Games and you Re injured
Rehab is hard.
You grit through the process, you didn't quit.
But you end up in the same position as if you had.
Reality
Athletes fall into these 2 archetypes.
Most are a combination of the 2.
Over the course for your rehab, you will have both the Quitter and the Gritter crop up in your head.
One will shout louder and times and the other will stay stoom.
The point of this article is to allow you to recognise these traits when they appear.
Irrational thinking becomes rational during a tough period of your life.
You're not able to do the thing you love doing, and this can be tough.
We all encounter it.
It's an unavoidable part of sport.
And it is hard.
But it is made so much harder when we bend the knee to either the Quitter or Gritter.
When that time comes, I would urge you, when you see the traits of the Quitter and the Gritter shining through.
Take a step back, take a deep breath and reframe.
This is a period of growth, of learning.
This is a period to adapt and overcome
This is a period to improve, not get worse.
This is a period of time you may never get back again.
Make the most of it.
Luke Pollock.
The story you tell yourself becomes your reality.
Ps. I love writing, if you enjoyed this in any way I would love to hear from you. DM me on Instagram or reply to this email.
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