INJURY RECOVERY

R E C O V E R Y

In April 2021, I injured my ribs. After 6 weeks of a consistent cough, I sprained an intercostal muscle and popped a rib out. I can safely say I don’t think I’ve ever been in that kind of pain before. I’ve gone through injuries (a broken foot, a sprained wrist) that have set me back before. During those injuries, I wrapped up my injured extremity & modified my movement.

What was different about this injury, though, was it took me out of the game completely. With a rib injury, especially with a continuing persistent cough, ANY movement brings pain. Coughing, talking, walking, sitting, standing, BREATHING. For the first time probably literally ever, I found myself unable to do ANY kind of movement for weeks.

While hindsight truly is 20/20, so I can say with 100% confidence now that it was worth taking the time to recover (by barely moving, let alone exercising, for weeks), it was hard. Hard is actually an understatement. I wasn’t strong. I cried a LOT….. a LOT. I mourned my workouts, I stressed about my business (working out is my job after all), and I became stir crazy (movement and workouts are what keeps my mind sane!).

HOWEVER, resting and fully letting my body recover allowed me to come back faster than if I had pushed it. It also allowed me to come back into training without any setbacks from overdoing it. So how did I get through it?

1- I accepted it. It wasn’t easy. Like I said, I cried a lot. When it first happened and I read “6-8 weeks for recovery” I had a complete freak out. Eventually, though, I looked for the positive. Being injured allowed me to learn how to mentally & physically survive it so that I could share my experience with my clients and be able to empathize. It allowed me to get more creative with my YouTube channel (I haven’t missed a week in over two years, and I wasn’t going to let an injury take me down). I filmed food videos and vlogs and it helped me step out of my comfort zone. It helped me take the time to refocus on the back end of my business as opposed to all of the videos and workouts. It allowed me to REST.

2- I stuck to my routine. I still woke up at the crack of dawn (when I would usually wake up to workout, do yoga, etc). I just swapped workouts for reading. I read so. many. books. while being injured. It helped me realize how “go-go-go” I had been leading up to my injury and helped me reprioritize some of the more relaxing things in my life. Not allowing myself to feel sorry for myself (for too long) and sticking to a routine (although it was modified) helped my mental health through it all 1000%.

3- I practiced gratitude. I journaled & reflected on the things that I was grateful for throughout the whole process. Yes, I cried. Yes, I was sad. Yes, I was angry, frustrated, devastated, etc., but I also created positive energy around it. I was grateful that I could eventually go for walks (even if they were slow). I was grateful for Eric & Macaroni for taking care of me and being there to cheer me up or listen to me cry. I was grateful to all of the people who continually reached out to me to check in on how I was feeling. Pointing these things out to myself (writing them down, reading and reflecting on them daily) was KEY to recovery & keeping me sane.

If you’re going through an injury right now, I feel you. I truly do. It’s always easier to give the advice to someone to rest than to take it yourself, but I’m telling you - REST.

If you’re not currently injured, find gratitude in that and save this post for when you need it.

These tips can also be applied if you’re unable to workout or move for reasons outside of injury, so keep that in mind too!