BLOG #4 ROAD TO RECOVERY WITH 2XU

TRUST THE PROCESS & TAKE THE NEXT STEP

Standing at the top of my stairs leading out of my apartment, deep down inside of me, I felt a little nervous.  It’s hard to describe, a bit like when you add more weight to an exercise at the gym that you haven’t lifted before or not for a while. You’re a little nervous, unsure, yet excited to see if you can shift the weight…
I take one step down the stairs and then another.  I’m waiting for my Hamstring to scream with pain at me for taking these steps downstairs AND without the aid of my crutches. My Hamstring stays silent as I navigate my way down to the ground floor, and continue my walk crutches free for the first time in over a month.

The body is amazing.

It is resilient beyond belief at times, then fragile like soggy wet paper. I’ve experienced both ends of this spectrum, not only in my athletic career, but over the past few weeks on the Road To Recovery from my Hamstring surgery.

I went from needing both my crutches at all times, to using just one around the house, and then none. Some days my Hamstring told me I over did it, and other days it was happy with me testing out its strength.

When I started to add walking downstairs into the equation, alongside longer walks on flat surfaces into my daily routine, I had to break through the psychological barrier that ‘this was going to end badly,’ and not be overly cautious to inhibit my recovery.

For over a month, i’ve had pain, discomfort, and soreness reinforce certain movements and whenever I sit down. 

I needed to now create a new narrative around these movements & not be afraid of some discomfort in order to help with my Road To Recovery.

And this came from trusting the process.

“It’s only at the end of your my comfort zone, where’ll you’ll catch a glimpse of your true potential.”

We hear the term trust the process all the time these days, some say it’s simply a cliche. 

It is, unless you actually apply & live this phrase daily towards whatever you are trying to accomplish. Then it becomes your guiding light.

I know in order to progress in my Road To Recovery (or anything in life really) I needed to continually do just a little more today, than I did yesterday.

That started with using no crutches walking around at home during the mornings, and then all day. It progressed to using just one crutch to walk down stairs, to not using any at all. I started to drive short distances, and then for several hours for work.
My rehab program evolved, with some added pool based exercises that encouraged me to complete certain movements I haven’t done for over six weeks.

Right now, I barely use my crutches at all, only occasionally if I need to walk up a large flight of stairs.
With this progression, I’ve even stopped looking for them each time I go to move around. 

My crutches are not my crutch anymore!

What has allowed me to continually progress? 

Trusting the process of doing my daily rehab exercises, treating my surgical site & hamstring with massage & specific movement patterns, and believing the small amounts of discomfort I was experiencing each time I tried a new movement, exercise, or increased the amount I walked without crutches all was part of the process in my Road To Recovery.

You can only trust the process if you regularly complete the process…

READ BLOG 3 OF MY ROAD TO RECOVERY WITH 2XU