How to cope with an injury

The chances are very high that almost all triathletes will have experienced an injury at some point in their tri lifetime, leaving you feeling like your goals and pursuits have been stopped firmly in their tracks.

Being injured or unwell is a tough place to be, especially if you’re the type of person who wants to train frequently and sets targets to meet – i.e. most triathletes.

As a physiotherapist, I’m not only a point of advice for people, but also a listening ear to their thoughts, feelings, and concerns.

When advising patients, it’s very tough to be the bearer of bad news, adding to their disappointment when I recommend that they shouldn’t do a race, or they need to rest from training for some weeks.

However, working together is key, and often it doesn’t mean stopping – it just means modifying! Below are my top tips for coping with an injury.

How to cope with an injury

Get clarity

Firstly, get a clear understanding and education from a health professional about your injury, what has happened and how best to manage it. It will help you to have a clear guide about what you need to do to look after this injury correctly.

Perseverance

Try not to look ahead too much into the future and take every day as it comes. Some days will be better than others, and even when you are making progress you still will have days that are hard – that’s completely normal.

Be present in how your injury is on that day and focus on completing any rehab exercise programme that you have.

Keep a positive mindset!

Keep positivity in the forefront of your mind and try and work with your injury; believe that it will get better. Think on it as it is teaching you something about your body, something to work on in the future.

For example, ‘my knee strength needs to be better, this will help me to have a stronger faster run in the future’.

Add some enjoyment!

Swap your normal training session for something else you enjoy doing, maybe another hobby or spending time with friends. Or if it’s exercise you enjoy the most, find something that doesn’t aggravate or cause you pain.

Eat well

Stick to a well-balanced diet to help with your general wellbeing. Your body will then have the nutrients that it needs to recover from the injury, and you will decrease the overall amount of inflammation in your body.

Studies have also shown that it can help with your mood and will keep that positive mindset.

Get a good night’s rest

Sleep. It’s the one most essential function that our body needs. It’s when your body goes to work and helps to repair and recover itself from that injury or illness.

The stage of ‘deep sleep’ is critical for cellular repair of tissues and restores function to the immune system.

Set new goals

You may not be able to achieve your previous goals, so reflect on what you would like to achieve in the short and long term. This will help you to keep a focus and assists you with that positive mindset.

But keep your goals realistic and achievable, and remember your body will not forget the past training that you’ve put in – muscle memory is a real thing – you just need to ease yourself back in slowly.

Top image credit: Getty Images