Today I walked away from my physio appointment similarly to how I often walk out of the office…with some bright blue therapy tape stuck to my body and extreme frustration.
I’m not frustrated with the treatment or even the diagnosis. I’m frustrated with myself. Why do I keep letting my injuries get this bad. And why am I even getting so injured in the first place?
As my amazing Dr (who by the way is Alya Visram and if you’re in TO I highly suggest checking her out) went through my “homework,” AKA the exercises I need to do in order to heal, I was eagerly nodding along but already feeling the burden of taking extra time out of my day to do the work. I guess homework was never really my thing.
She gave me lots of great advice but also the dreaded “things to avoid” speech, which as a trainer and fitness professional, is pretty much anything I enjoy. Which explains where I am today.
It is so much easier to be the one to give the advice instead of the one to actually follow it. I can tell my clients all day long, rest is essential, eat your greens, prioritize self-care. So why can’t I do those things myself?
As a personal trainer, I completely understand where my injuries are coming from and that I pretty much need to go back-to-basics to properly heal. I would be giving my clients the exact same advice. So what have I been doing the past year, working out through the pain, lifting things over my head when I should barely raise my arms at all, and pushing to the point of discomfort, week after week.
Fitness to me is about longevity. About performing optimally. About feeling your best. It’s one thing to be sore from a workout, it’s another to have your shoulder muscles feel so fatigued that you can’t even mix something in the kitchen. And that’s where I’m at today. I’m literally doing the opposite of what I preach as a trainer. I’m exercising to the point of not being able to do a simple daily task at 31 years old, instead of exercising so that I can do all simple tasks at 81 years old. It’s literally dysfunctional fitness.
A huge part of my frustration also comes from the fact that so many people are perfectly fine, doing exactly what I was doing, and not getting injured. But the same way that we can’t compare our outside appearances to one another, I need to make a point to not compare the way my muscles work or don’t work to other people.
So the point of this post is not to complain, but to hold myself accountable. To pledge that I will take my own advice. I will prioritize stretching, self-care, healing and all that dreaded homework. And when the motivation gets lost, I have it written above here why it’s all so important.
If any of you feel the same, or need any similar motivation to stay on track, get in touch and we will hold each other to it!