Redemption vs. Revolt: Checking Your Response

Any nagging discomfort or injury that keeps you away from movement is frustrating. I’m mostly curious about how people react to these instances, however. Whether it’s a stubborn bout of tennis elbow or a serious debilitating (God forbid) case of sciatica, I firmly believe that the response should be the same. 

“How quickly can I get back to any and all restricted movement?”

It’s always confusing to me when folks experience an injury or persistent “itus” of some kind and promptly use that as a good reason to seize all movement. It’s as if folks compartmentalize movement with the gym. If you’ve got an elbow that prevents you from front racking a barbell, I challenge you not to summarize this scenario as front racks being bad for you. Think, rather, “Right now, I am the kind of person who cannot rack a barbell and that’s unacceptable. I’ve got to get back the capacity to rack a barbell (and do thousands of other things) ASAP.”

It’s a small, but profound difference.

When you untether movement from a gym-only-activity, you start to view movement as capacity. Who cares if you back squat 300 pounds, but I hope you care about being the kind of person who can squat 300 pounds.