A few weeks ago, I injured my back boxing – badly. My left hand is numb and feels like I hit my funny bone – all the time, all day and night. It kinda sucks. I can’t squat, deadlift, run or ride a bike. These are things I really miss, but it’s going to be a few months, at best. That said, I have learned some very interesting things from this injury.
- I had to completely change my mindset – quickly. The week I injured my back, I still squated 310lbs three times. Then, three days later, I failed getting my deadlift to 350lbs – only made it to 275lbs. Lighting pain was shooting up my back in two places, but I was in a growth mindset. I was in a heavy week of training where my mind thought I was going to break person records. But, I figured out quickly that if I kept this mindset, I would become even more injured. I couldn’t walk right for two days. I had to take a step back and create new goals. That was very difficult mentally – depressing even.
- I had to learn to experiment again. I have mentioned this before, but when you simply can’t do something, you have to change your mindset. I almost killed myself squating 310lbs (three times I might add) with my back this way. To continue is madness and will genuinely cause me more injury, so I had to go back in the gym and experiment with things I didn’t ever want to do, like leg presses.
- I had to rethink strength training. I am a fairly strong advocate of the Mark Rippetoe method of Squatting. It moves the most weight with the most muscle mass over the biggest range of motion. Thus, it is the most efficient time splent in the gym. That said, I can’t do it. But, I can leg press 410lbs, ten times, do back extensions as a separate exercise, and do pull-ups without bothering my back. This gets me close, but moreover it gets me thinking differently. This leg press is WAY more weight than I can squat. It is stimulating more quad growth, which is useful in Jiu Jitsu with my guard. Coincidentally, we are focused on guard for the next 6 months. Growth, not just recovery.
- When I hear guys at the gym talk about injuries, my ears perked up. I am a lot more empathetic. It wasn’t that I wasn’t sympathetic, but injuries just didn’t interest me that much. For that, I feel like a bit of an asshole. I also feel a bit wiser now. Probably, I will be a better day for this 🙂
I am not going to stop training because of this injury. In fact, everything I have read says you need the strength training to recover faster and better. I am still doing:
- Strength training 2/week
- Jiu Jitsu 2/week
- Yoga 3/week
Power lifting may be out for a while and I may never do boxing again (we shall see), but I am using this as an opportunity to strengthen my back (pull-ups, back extensions), up my Jiu Jitsu game (leg presses), and learn 🙂