This is about wrestling, but it applies to bodybuilding as well. Knowing the difference can save your ass down the road.
Are You Hurt or Injured?
By Katie Downing
Getting hurt is an inherent part of wrestling. No one gets through a season on the mat without getting banged up, bruised, sore, exhausted, pulled too far, or jammed too hard. It takes a certain amount of mental and physical toughness to deal with pain during training. Unfortunately, injury is also a part of the sport for many wrestlers. Injuries may permanently leave their mark on a body, take a wrestler off of the mat, or end a wrestling career. It takes a different kind of toughness and perseverance to work through an injury.
When something's giving you trouble during practice, you must determine if its an injury or something that's hurt. If you're injured, your job is to heal and to follow the plans set out by trainers and doctors. If you're hurt, you've got to find a way to deal with it so that it does not hinder your wrestling. We've all had those days where it seemed like everything hurt, and it feels like you can barely move. There are days when the whole team is going to feel that way, and if pain, soreness, or discomfort gets in the way of practices, wed never make any progress in our sport. We've all had those partners who whine and complain, take forever to get up after each takedown, and stop for recovery breaks every other minute during practice. Don't be that wrestler. If you're hurt, but its not something that is going to take you off of the mat, then no matter how badly it burns, it does no good to let it slow you down in practice. A coach may have told you to never let your opponent know when you're tired. The same goes for soreness and hurts. If there is something you cant turn or pull in certain areas, let your partner know. Other than that, no one should ever be able to tell if something is hurting on you. Talk about it, stretch it,
ice it, or massage it after practice. You cant fix something that hurts during practice, so there's nothing you can do about it but deal with it and stop it from taking away from your practice.
On the other hand, if you are injured, your job changes from working through practices to working off the mat to heal your injury as quickly and thoroughly as possible so you can get back to the mats. I've had two shoulder surgeries myself, and I've seen many other wrestlers go through major rehabilitation programs over the years. I know how painful, time-consuming, and mentally draining rehab can be. There are a few things I may have to offer for you to keep in mind as you deal with an injury. First I want to make it clear to young wrestlers that, unless you plan to quit wrestling because of your injury, then rehab is in no way time off from your training. Wrestlers have to be as dedicated to rehab as they are to wrestling practices, and still have to find ways to train with intensity even when they cant be on the mats. There are always alternate workouts you can do on the side of the mat, on the bikes, or in the weight room to keep yourself in shape and in something close to wrestling condition.
Although having to spend time off of the mat may make you appreciate every moment of a wrestling practice, it may present bigger mental and emotional challenges than you've ever faced on the mat in practice. Its easy to feel like you're falling behind everyone else every moment you cant be on the mat, but you cant let yourself think that way for too long. Its going to be hard, and it does not mean that you are weak because you have a hard time dealing with being off of the mat. Your job isn't less challenging or intense or as important to your wrestling when you're off the mat, it is only different. You have to stay focused on the things you can do to stay conditioned and to keep making progress in your rehab, not the things you cant do or wish you could be doing on the mat. It wont do you any good to get bogged down in the negatives. Instead, you can still train at full speed in a new direction that involves rehab.
Sometimes it will be really hard to be in the room watching practices when you cant take part in them. Again, its all about what you choose to focus on during that time. You may feel better about being off of the mat if you challenge yourself on something every day off of the mat. You can work on quickness, strength, watching video, or endurance. When you're on the sidelines during practice, you have a unique opportunity to learn technique from a more objective viewpoint. You can still watch coaches teach technique, and you can visualize in your mind exactly how it would feel for you to do the move yourself. I actually did a gut wrench better when I came back after my first surgery because I had spent four months doing the move in my head, and imagining exactly how it would feel to do it right, rather than feeling over and over again how it felt to do it wrong like I had done so many times on the mat. When you watch practices, you also have the chance to see how other people do moves a little differently than you. One little thing you see may be the key to a move that you've been missing and never seen before. You can also let everyone else learn things the hard way. You can see which motions or reactions cause trouble for other wrestlers. You can learn what not to do and changes to make in your own wrestling by watching your teammates make the mistakes. Usually in training, you get two points of view for each move you learn-your coach's and your own. When you have to watch practice, you can see each move done dozens of different ways by your teammates. Its a blessing in disguise to be off of the mat because you'd probably never get to see as wide a picture of each move if you weren't forced to see it from the sidelines.
Another thought process that is not good to dwell in is the one that focuses on the negatives of other wrestlers. If you are really itching to be able to wrestle, but you cant, it is hard to see other people slacking off or goofing around during practice. Its easy to think, how can they slack off when Id love to be able to work twice as hard, but I cant. Don't go there, it doesn't get you far. Shift your focus back to the things you need to work on. Visualize yourself as someone's opponent whenever they go live, and imagine what moves you'd do according to how you see them move in practice. If its hard to stop thinking about the slackers, then start to cheer for your teammates who are working hard.
Finally, there will be days as rehab drags on and on that you just don't want to do it at all. You don't want to do the same old exercises, you don't want to go to the training room, you don't want to go watch practice, and you don't want to see anyone. This is a mental game you never have to face when you're wrestling on the mats, but its not too different from having to deal with those days when your body hurts and you don't feel like practicing or going hard. Just like on the mat, you have to find a way to get your job done, and to tell your body and mind that you can do it. Remind yourself that each thing you endure during rehab gets you one step closer to the mat again. When you get back on the mat, keep your goals for each day small at first. Don't feel like you have to make up for months of training in one practice. Your job in rehab isn't over just as soon as you start to wrestle again. Your job isn't to fix everything about your wrestling just because you've had a million things in your mind that you wanted to be able to do on the mat over the months. Your job is to make sure you stay strong where you were injured, to get your body back into wrestling condition, and to slowly get back your timing for all of your moves. Don't think of it as a step back if your timing is off or if your moves don't feel good at first. They will be a little rusty when you get back, but your body will remember what it feels like to wrestle quicker than it seems at first.
Wrestlers have to train their minds to deal with the daily grind. We have to deal with soreness and stiffness, burning and bruises, and jammed and pulled joints. And this is every day! Sometimes, wrestlers also have to face injury and rehabilitation. Injury presents a whole new set of challenges. Injured wrestlers have to deal with the pain and fatigue of rehab, while also dealing with the mental and emotional stress of being off the mats. Wrestlers in rehab have to dig deeper to find a way to stay positive and to keep focusing on the things that help them get closer to their goals. If wrestling causes injuries, it also develops qualities like mental toughness and tenacity that help wrestlers get through rehab.
