Welcome to episode three of BLOGASAURUS REX!!

If you saw the post that we made on Instagram, you’ll know that we have a puppy that’s going through some things; he has a bit of a knee/leg issue that we’re working out. But the reason that I feel it’s important to bring it up here is because it gets me thinking back to when I had my knee surgery oh, so many moons ago. 

Injury, rest and recovery are three things that tend to be seen in a vastly negative light and can lead to all kinds of secondary problems, whether physical, mental or emotional. I only have a couple of emotions, the main one being hunger, so let’s focus on the first two ideas and how they can affect you. And it doesn’t matter if you’re the everyday Joe and Jane, a weekend warrior or a high-performance athlete. 

Injury, beyond the obvious physical limitation that it provides, can start to pile up some often nasty side chicks, otherwise known as sympathetic pains. I’m going to use myself as the example because despite my preaching for proper and ongoing recovery, I’m the poster child for not doing as I say. I currently have a partial MCL tear at my left knee, and no ACL on my right knee. I run, play competitive soccer, walk with my dogs, cycle and hike in the mountains when we travel. But right now I’m struggling with some knee pain because I have not been rolling and stretching. 

When I first had surgery I was lucky enough to have my good buddy Darryl Thorvaldson (shout out to Joint Effort, here in Winnipeg, even though he is now a firefighter… Jenn Persaud is also an absolute rockstar) beat the ever loving crap outta me for seven months in a ‘return-to-sport’ program. This was actually the moment that I thought about making health and fitness a career, or at least a something. Darryl was able to teach me the ‘why’ behind all of the exercises and get me back on the pitch in better shape than I had ever been. 

Icing on this success story was somewhere around the fourth month of therapy, when Darryl said, “... and you really need some core work. Let’s work that into your routine.”

Waiter!! Three slices of your humble pie, please. 

This was a re-focusing of my inability to run and jump and play with the other boys. The play was directing my attention away from what I couldn’t do and on to something else; on to my weaknesses and taking the opportunity to improve those areas of my fitness while everything else continued to fall into place. 

Like a 1980’s Puerto Rican sensation, let’s think about that for  a hot Menudo. Can’t do bicep curls to sculpt your guns? Work on legs and balance and flexibility. Can’t run? Then walk. Can’t walk? Then crawl. Someone famous once said that about voting… So did Chris Rock in that movie where he dies and gets reincarnated as an old white guy. 

This slides us into my next point about injury leading us down a dark path; whether you get a long case of the “ho-hum, f%$& its” or you start to suffer signs of actual depression. It’s a real thing. I had a real tough time after tearing my ACL for the second time. Soccer was (and is) my big outlet for a lot of things and it’s a true passion of mine. Take that away and you can’t help but start to slip a little. Refocusing myself (after eating a few tubs of gelato) wasn’t easy and it took the encouragement of a loving wife, but I did get there. I do play still and I am in great overall shape. I’m 40 years old and I play soccer with a bunch of punk kids ranging from 20-30 years old. 

So what do we do when things go south and we get hurt? First and foremost, if you can, see a sports doctor, athletic therapist or something in that world. They aren’t experts for nothin’ and they will offer you the absolute best direction for your injury and road to recovery. After that, you actually have to do what they tell you and you have to keep doing it. 

So while you’re down, don’t be out. Take the opportunity to focus on the weaknesses that you have. You’ll come out the other side better for doing it and you can thank me later. Or Darryl. Thank him, instead. 

-v