Resiliency

By Michael Krueger

I have a client who is really gung ho and motivated–or not. She’ll work hard through every workout, get in extra cardio, and be really meticulous about her diet. Her progress will be amazing, and then she’ll fall off the wagon for a couple of weeks. Her enthusiasm never fails, but her long-term discipline and consistency leave a bit to be desired … but she always comes back.

一切都很好...

When it comes to fitness, maintaining continuity in your habits is probably the key to long-term success. Always putting forth maximum effort during exercise, eating well, sleeping enough, and making the effort to care for your mental and emotional health are what the pursuit of fitness is all about. Getting in your scheduled workouts week in and week out instills in you a sense of purpose and confidence that will serve you well when the time arrives that work, relationships, or money issues threaten to derail you from the pursuit of your goals. You understand that fitness has become such a major part of who and what you are that no matter what else is going on in your life, you still unabashedly and unapologetically get in your workouts and maintain your healthful habits.

When you are in the groove and making progress, going to the gym or out for a run is a pleasure. The thought of something disrupting your routine doesn’t enter your mind. You don’t think about injury or illness. Why should you? Life is good. You don’t think about the way the unpredictability of life can have a way of overtaking and overwhelming you. You don’t think about debilitating injuries, personal problems, missed workouts, insufficient sleep, eating badly, thinking negatively, or anything else that can turn your world upside down; but you should, because sooner or later it’s going to happen.

Eventually everyone will run up against an obstacle that is so daunting, so strong, and so devastating that it crushes you. It might be an intensely physical event such as a serious injury or an illness. It could be the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, or the dissolution of a relationship. Sometimes it’s nothing in particular, simply an accumulation of a million little problems, all the hurts and insults to your body and spirit that wear you down until you just grind to a stop. Everything you’ve worked for begins to slip away, and life doesn’t look so good at that moment.

发生了什么？

It is important to understand what caused this unfortunate set of circumstances. Sometimes it’s obvious, such as when you suffer an acute injury. This should be the simplest setback to come back from, but that is not always the case. A lot depends on the how and why of the injury. Was it an accident, or did it come from the wear and tear of repeated activities over time?

事故中遭受的急性伤害可能是轻微的或威胁生命的。从扭伤中回来，骨折几周或一年或更长时间，可能只需要几天的时间。显然，您要做的第一件事就是治愈。由于您在受伤之前身体健康，很强，因此您在康复方面已经领先了。

康复过程完成后，您将进行物理治疗。治疗对任何人来说都是令人沮丧的经历，但是对于一个曾经活跃的人来说，这可能会很糟糕。努力做即使做简单的事情也可以使您立即成为一个疯狂的人。康复涉及旨在将受伤的身体带回正常运转状态的小型运动。艰难的部分是，在受伤之前，您要以最高的健身水平运行，现在他们让您坐在球上卷曲两磅的手重。它可能令人沮丧，您可能想尖叫，诅咒和戒烟。

好吧，克服它。做需要做的事情，以便您可以尽快回来，并取得最佳的长期结局。不要着急，不要忽略它，跟随并按照您的告知。如果您需要一些帮助，让您的受伤及其后果，请与可以提供帮助的人交谈。Don’t try to tough it out alone; it won’t work, and it will only make things worse in the long run.

Focus on doing the physical and mental work needed to get healthy, and it won’t be long until you are ready to resume your previous workouts and get back to your fitness program and your work; and then life will be good again.

积累的损坏均受伤nt in cause but the same in treatment. Long-term runners and lifters will sometimes develop chronic overuse injuries. Firefighters develop some of these same injuries, since many of your activities involve repeating movement patterns over and over. Shoulders, knees, hips, wrists, elbows, and backs can accumulate a lot of damage over time. The worst aspect of this type of injury is the denial that it is happening. At first you just want to “work through it,” insisting it will be fine. The reality is that continuing to abuse an injured joint will make the problem bigger and the recovery longer and, in some cases, impossible. Tendonitis can easily become a ruptured tendon. Nonspecific back pain can become a chronic problem and cause more acute nerve damage over time. Seemingly minor shoulder injuries can become debilitating and even require surgery.

The annoying little aches and pains that accumulate over time can often be healed by the judicious use of ice, anti-inflammatory drugs, and simply taking some time off. Unfortunately for long-term fitness athletes, “taking some time off” isn’t so simple. We have an image of ourselves that doesn’t include inactivity for any reason, including a little pain. We will limp through run after run, insisting that “it’s getting better.” We don’t like to surrender our program, our workout, or our goals to anyone or anything and that includes injuries, illnesses, doctors, therapists, or common sense.

好吧，克服它。做需要做的事情，以便您可以尽快回来，并取得最佳的长期结局。不要着急，不要忽略它，跟随并按照您的告知。如果您需要一些帮助，让您的受伤及其后果，请与可以提供帮助的人交谈。不要尝试一个人努力。它将行不通，从长远来看，情况只会使情况变得更糟。（我告诉你治疗是一样的。）

但是，有时候，问题不是身体上的，尽管第一个真正的迹象可能是您感觉不对。当您的心理/情感游戏在厕所里时，请跟随您的身体健康，而且很快就会补充。重要的是要以急性或慢性伤害的方式治疗这种不适：获得适当的帮助。

最后要解决的问题是，当您只让几乎没有日常事件使您脱轨时。这些事件也不是非常重要的类型。相反，他们可能是意外的午餐邀请，与朋友下班后的啤酒，由于下雨天而取消的跑步，或者因为健身房很忙而进行保释。您知道的下一件事，您错过了一周的锻炼。当这些错过的几周经常发生时，他们确实开始对您的健身造成损失，更重要的是，在您的学科上。很快，您开始将它们串在一起，突然之间您错过了整整一年。

这是一个直接的问题，因为它不涉及伤害您需要康复或需要克服的不适。你只是懒惰。因此，下车，重新开始。设置一些界限，以避免问题的复发，设定一些新的目标，很快您就会回到游戏中。

你总是可以回来

In many ways resiliency, the ability to adjust and recover, may prove to be far more important than all the hard work, consistency, and program planning that you have put in over the years. As I said, eventually something is going to smack you down. That’s when all the resolve, discipline, and determination that you developed during those years of working out will definitely come in handy; when you need them most, when you need to come back.

生活的事实是，我们最终都会动摇，正如他们所说，“不是你被撞倒的次数。这是你回来的次数。”

迈克尔·克鲁格is an NSCA-certified personal trainer. He got his start in fitness training while serving in the United States Coast Guard. He works with firefighters and others in and around Madison, Wisconsin. He is available to fire departments, civic organizations, and athletic teams for training, consulting, and speaking engagements. He has published numerous articles on fitness, health, and the mind-body connection and was a featured speaker at the IAFC’s FRI 2009 Health Day in Dallas, Texas. E-mail him at MKPTLLC@gmail.com.