I have two examples in my life that clearly illustrate the point of this newsletter.

I had one injury where I completely rested it, and I had another injury where I didn’t.

The outcomes speak for themselves:
• Broken collarbone: rested it. Back after 6 months
• Maisonneuve fracture (broken leg & torn ankle ligaments): attentive rehab from day 2. Back in 7
weeks

So what did I learn from this experience?

That resting only makes you weaker.

It’s not the answer you are looking for.

Resting only makes you weaker

Based on the specificity of an injury, there will be a certain period of rest.

But it’s WAY less than you think. Way less.

Stress = stronger over time
Rest = weaker over time

Just like if you stopped going to the gym, you would get weaker in your lifts over time.

So we want to start moving and loading the injured area safely as soon as possible.

The problem with always resting injuries isn’t just that you will return much later than you could have.

This excessive care ends up becoming fragility training in disguise.

What you thought was helping you, was actually hindering you.

attentive progression over resting

1) We Get Stronger Through Exposure Not Avoidance 

The human body & mind get stronger through exposure, not avoidance.

Think of it like a patient overcoming a fear of needles.

The patient overcomes it through small graded exposure over time, not by avoiding needles completely.

If he avoids it completely (aka resting it), he will never overcome it.

It will plague him and hold him back for the rest of his life. And it’s the same with our body.

We use gradual exposure through moving & loading the injured area, instead of resting and avoiding it.

2) Movement & Progressive Loading 

The specificity of your injury and other factors will influence how this would look in a program for you.

But the overall goal remains the same:

Slowly & progressively load the injured area safely.

For my torn ankle ligaments, I knew adhering to the science of the human body would work. But the results blew me away.

After 7 weeks of safe movement & progressive loading, I had gone from the hospital bed back to the gym & Jiu- Jitsu. When I should have just been coming off crutches.

All done safely and progressively. And not exceeding a pain level of 3/10.

Listening to my body each day: toning it down when I overdid it slightly, and upping the intensity when I was adapting & getting stronger.

3) If You Can’t Do What You Want, Do What You Can

When we are going through any obstacle, there is always an opportunity in it. And injuries are no different.

When you are injured, there is always something you can do. You just have to train yourself to view life through this lens.

Broken leg & torn ankle ligaments?
• Can’t do lower body training
• CAN do more upper body training

I could do 3 upper body sessions a week instead of 1 or 2.

I made quicker progress on those than I would have without this injury.

From this strategy and not dropping off upper body, I hit the handstand pushup the following year. When it might never have happened if I did drop off.

Rest & Get Weaker or Move & Get Stronger

When you get an injury, there are only 2 options:
• Rest & get weaker
• Move & get stronger

I’ve lived both of them. And there is only one way for me to handle injuries from here on.

Attentive progression over resting. Moving and loading the injured area as soon as possible.

Listening to my body and understanding when to push and when to pull.

And getting on the small gain train towards regaining my Physical Freedom as quickly as possible.

We all have the same biology, the same ability to adapt. The only difference is how we use it.

If you need coaching and guidance through the process, that’s what I help clients with in the Physical Freedom Program.

Don’t Settle,
Mark