As you may have heard at the time, I got hurt In January.
A moment of distraction that turned into a horrible graze and big bump to my shins…It really angered me because I knew it would upset my training week. So I went home, festering in my bad mood. Ate a tonne of Doritos, and the kids’ chocolate.The next day, I was equally grumpy. Especially when I knocked it again. I wasn’t able to train so I fell completely out of my routine. I basically sat around feeling sorry for myself and employing destructive behaviours.
Soon enough though, the coaching voice started going off in my head. Basically telling me to put my big girl pants on and sort myself out. I’ve had years of experience recognising this behaviour with clients, so I could see the signs. To be honest, the empty bags of Doritos were hard to miss.
Why I’m I telling you this? Because set backs will happen. It’s life, and it’s normal to want to feel sorry for yourself and engage in destructive behaviours. You might have signed up for a fitness challenge and sprained your ankle. You might be going for a job, but don’t get it. You might be doing house renovations and hit a major issue. It happens.What’s important is to figure a way to get out of the slump. And the quicker the better. So here are some tips to help you next time you’re frustrated because of something out of your control.
- Acknowledge it. Tell yourself it’s OK to feel angry, frustrated, disappointed. Own your emotions.
- Put it in perspective. When we’re in the depths of a slump, it’s easy to feel that it’s all doom and gloom. But it generally isn’t as bad as we’re making out. Missing a week of training is frustrating, but it’s hardly the end of the world.
- Put a positive spin on it. Sick? Use the downtime to catch up on your favourite novel. Injured? Think what you can do instead. Catch up on some stretching or extra core work, for example.
- Control what you can. Make a list of things that can control. Focus on this. So you might not be able to train, but you can control what you’re eating. You can’t control whether kids get ill, but you can enforce a hand washing / vegetable eating regime. (Well, in theory. I’m not sure I’ve succeeded at either of those!!)…
- Connect with others. When you’re trying to push through something, you might need support. Reach out to a friend who is objective, positive and solution-focused.
So there are my top tips. For my part I’ve done everything I could to speed up recovery. I’ve set some PBs at the gym and I’ve dialed in my eating so that I’m finishing the week lighter than I started it. (Doritos are back on the banned list)…
All is not lost…
