Introduction

In 2019, I was bench pressing when the feeling that most lifters dread hit me like a bullet. I knew instantly it was bad.

It was a routine session, and I was in the final week of a 12-week peaking program. What should have been a comfortable set of two reps with 185kg quickly became the opposite. I had been nursing a bit of tightness in the left pec for some weeks now, and no amount of mobility and stretching helped. Although this should have been a massive red light in my head after 30 years of lifting, I'm still a meathead at heart and decided to push on and deal with it at the end of my program (mistake number 1).

So on the fifth and final set, which should have been an AMRAP at 185kg, I lowered the weight under control, and I could feel the left pec was even tighter than before. Instead of keeping my line, I adjusted my elbow to try and alleviate the pressure (mistake number two). The bar came to my chest, and I pressed it no problem, but here is where I should have left it (mistake number 3).

The tightness was very evident now, and it was only getting worse. I lowered the bar for a second rep, and as it left the chest, my elbow flared out due to the tight pec. Also, as I pressed, there was a very audible tearing noise. All the power drained out of my arm, but my spotter could not take the weight. I held it in a paused position about six inches above my chest. At this point, I realized I was in trouble and had to get that bar off me. Somehow, I managed to throw it off to the side and fell to my knees, clutching my chest.

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For so many years, I have seen countless pec tears. I have always prided myself in avoiding them until the ripe age of 45. Getting one now was a real kick in the buttocks, but it's a miracle I lasted this long considering the years of training.

After examination, it was a partial muscle tear within the tissue itself. Firstly, this diagnosis means that the doctor can't operate because he can't stitch actual muscle tissue—you can only reattach ligaments and tendons. Luckily I hadn't detached anything off the bone or from the muscle itself.

I can still use the pec, but it will be a very long road back to full strength both mentally and physically. Exactly how do we deal with the mental side of injury, and more importantly, how do we get over the mental hurdles it creates when getting back under the bar?

Why Do We Care So Much?

I get asked, "Why do you care so much?" a lot, especially from friends and family outside the sport. They say, "maybe you should quit." If we quit every time we got hurt in any sport, many people wouldn't be left doing it. So, why? Why do we care so much about training? Now I can only speak for myself and my clients over the years, but I'm going to try and answer this question.

1. Identity

You've heard the expression "I am who I am." Well, this holds true for any professional athlete or even serious amateur. They put their heart and soul into the sport they have chosen, they've sacrificed time, money, sweat, and tears to get where they are, and it becomes who they are. So, lifting has become who I am, and I know it's the same for most of my clients. If you take that away, you especially take away who they are. Agree or disagree, it's a personal choice, and if it makes that person happy, who are we to tell them otherwise.

2. Self-Worth

The biggest driving force for any athlete is getting better, constantly improving, getting positive feedback, and achieving their beliefs. These are all things that will lead to a positive feeling within, a feeling of self-worth. Everybody loves a pat on the back, to be rewarded for doing well, and to have that feeling of admiration from our family and friends when we achieve our goals. These are all powerful motivators and ultimately make us feel special.

3. Stress Relief

There are two sides to stress relief. One side suffers from a stressful lifestyle, and sport or exercise is their saving grace. It's their release from the rat race they live and work in, and they recognize that fact, so getting injured puts an immediate holt on their release and only compounds the stress further. The other side thinks they have no stress in their lives and only really discover stress when forced to sit out due to injury. It's then they start to understand how much training was protecting them from stress.

How To Deal with the Aftermath

You are going to be overwhelmed with feelings of internal and external loss.

Is the injury going to keep you out of training for a short while, or is it career-ending? You will ask yourself, "Who am I?" Many athletes have been competing and training since an incredibly young age and believe their identity is what they do. "I'm a bodybuilder." "I'm a fighter." If they think that this is a career-defining injury, then they'll question who they are.

In my case, I knew it was serious enough to stop me from competing any time soon. I knew it wasn't the end of the road by any means, so I guess what I am trying to say is focus on what you can do instead of what you can't do.

There will be a vacuum in your life in some way as a result of an injury. You are no longer going to be able to train the way you did, or you'll no longer be able to work towards that competition you had your eye on. How we deal with this is especially important in how we come back from it.

The feeling of independence and invincibility that most athletes enjoy and pride themselves on is suddenly lost. They are now relying on coaches, physios, doctors, etc., to help them on the road to recovery, which many athletes will hate as they have always been the master of their journey. Vulnerability will creep in.

Athletes love being better than someone else in their field. Watching others move forward while you stand still drains self-esteem and self-worth.

So, how do we deal with all these feelings and not get broken by them?

Embrace the Pain

Feelings of despair and loss are totally normal. If you want to kick start your way back to full fitness, then embrace them and use them to help you move forward in your rehab process, both mentally and physically. As with any loss, the athlete may go through several stages related to mourning, remarkably similar to the famous five stages of death: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

Denial is probably the most common in all sports. Athletes downplay the injury and convince themselves it's not that bad. In some cases, they try to train through it, which ultimately makes it worse. Denial is followed by anger and intense feelings of "why me!!!" as they try to speed up the recovery process or stick a band-aid on the injury to "get back out there."  Don't forget the internal reasoning we recite every time we have a setback. We say to ourselves, "If I just do this, I can work around it," but this only leads to prolonging the injury and slowing the healing process. Depression sets in to affect your sleep, appetite, and general mood. Until we reach that final stage of acceptance, the feeling that it is what it is will come to fruition and all we can do now is fix the injury.

2-in-1 Fix

There are many ways we can start to cope mentally after an injury. Below are just some of the tools I used to get back to where I was mentally ready to begin pushing heavy again.

  1. Let yourself be sad because there is nothing wrong with being sad and pissed off when you are side lined through injury. Bottling up your feelings will only take you longer to start healing. Feeling is healing.
  2. Would've, could've, should've are useless emotional responses to an injury. You can’t change what has happened, but you can change what’s going to happen. Let’s focus on the what-now and will-do statements.
  3. Set new goals. Chances are you're going to be back to 100 percent eventually, but its not going to happen overnight. Focusing on being as good as you were will only lead to short term frustration. Create more realistic goals and eventually these goals will lead to getting you back to full strength. Do not think of it as starting again or being back at square one but more about new goals and improved performance.
  4. Postive Mental Attitude (PMA). Who remembers the old TV ad for Persil washing powder, with Kris Akabussi? What was true in 1995, holds true today. Nothing good comes from negativity, so it's up to you. No one can do it for you, so you need to believe it is going to happen for it to happen.
  5. Do not rely on others to do the healing for you. You need to take an active role in your recovery. Do the rehab the physio tells you to do and don't overdo it. Remember, your body will only heal when its not put under stress. Overtraining in a bid to get back quicker will only grind you to a halt and you will have to start all over again. Put as much emphasis in your recovery as you do for training.
  6. BE PATIENT. I can't stress this one enough. I know it’s frustrating, I know its ruined your plans, but rushing back will only prolong the healing process and lead to reinjury further down the line. The goal is to come back better and stronger than you did before the injury. One thing I CAN GUARANTEE is that its not going to happen overnight. Strength comes in many forms, and having the strength to hold back and be sensible could end up being your biggest battle you ever have in your sporting life. Make it your biggest strength too.

Summary

Any injury, be it temporary or permanent, will always be a massive disruption in your training or competitive career. It will be physically and mentally painful, but following the points laid out in this article will help heal those emotional scars and rebuild your body.

It's also important to remember that once you're back training or back out on the field, the memory of that injury will play on your mind. The fear of re-injury can make you focus on what could happen rather than what should happen. Fear of an injury is perfectly normal, but replaying it over and over in your mind can make you feel tight and tense. Try to focus on the positive and the present situation. If you have completed your rehab and feel 100 percent fit, focus on the task ahead instead of worrying about what could happen. Focus more on becoming a better athlete, learning your trade, and avoiding previous mistakes.

Injuries are part of training. If you've never been injured, you're either lucky or just not pushing yourself hard enough. Injuries WILL happen; it's what we do about them that makes us champions.

If you're still struggling to overcome these feelings, talk to someone who has been there and come out the other side. Feel free to drop me an email at simon@physicallyfit.co.uk as well because I've had my fair share of injuries and hospitalizations. I'd love to hear your story and help if I can.

Twenty-plus years in the fitness industry, Simon works with bodybuilding, strongman, powerlifting, boxing, mixed martial arts, rugby, and football clients. As a competitor, Simon has competed in the British finals as a bodybuilder and placed in the top-five in strongman at Europe's Strongest Man, The World Championships Static Monsters, and England’s Strongest.