Redemption vs. Revolt: Checking Your Response

Any nagging discomfort or injury that keeps you away from movement is frustrating. I’m mostly curious about how people react to these instances, however. Whether it’s a stubborn bout of tennis elbow or a serious debilitating (God forbid) case of sciatica, I firmly believe that the response should be the same. According to Sanderstead Osteopaths, sciatica and back pain are probably one of the more common issues we see patients with.

“How quickly can I get back to any and all restricted movement?”

It’s always confusing to me when folks experience an injury or persistent “itus” of some kind and promptly use that as a good reason to seize all movement. It’s as if folks compartmentalize movement with the gym. If you’ve got an elbow that prevents you from front racking a barbell, I challenge you not to summarize this scenario as front racks being bad for you. Think, rather, “Right now, I am the kind of person who cannot rack a barbell and that’s unacceptable. I’ve got to get back the capacity to rack a barbell (and do thousands of other things) ASAP.”

It’s a small, but profound difference.

When you untether movement from a gym-only-activity, you start to view movement as capacity. Who cares if you back squat 300 pounds, but I hope you care about being the kind of person who can squat 300 pounds.