I learned some valuable lessons after a series of injuries

I learned some valuable lessons after a series of injuries. So it’s safe to say that I turned something bad into something good and that’s an art. Most people feel devastated when they realize that they’ve got an injury. They can’t cope with the thought that they’ll be out for a while but it’s not the fact that they can’t train that stings. It’s the fact that they suddenly have tons of spare time and they have no clue how to use it. It’s all sad but it’s all true as well. 

I’m obsessed with MMA like many of you might or might not know. But the downside of the sport is that you can suffer from tons of nasty injuries. It all started with a kick on the heavy bag about 2 months ago. I felt some pain in my knee and multiple people told me that I might have torn something. I was able to train again after a week but this was just the start of the series of injuries. By the way, spraining a finger or toe doesn’t count as an injury. It occurs from time to time. I had a blocked neck not long after that and was out for another week, I was lucky that I could go to an osteopath who helped me a lot these past months.

Injuries and the fact that the mind is stronger than the body

I got back to training and I could spar but the right knee still didn’t feel right.  I got hit with a soft kick on the left knee in sparring and I felt a lot of pain. Twice the inflammation, twice the fun. I kept on training the grappling part since I’m attending a seminar with Robin Gracie (a member of the family that founded Brazilian Ji Jitsu). It wasn’t fun in the beginning but I survived. I worked so hard the past couple of months and I didn’t want to miss it. There was only one option for me; I was going to attend the seminar no matter what. I hated the thought that I couldn’t attend it or that I had to watch it.

But I didn’t visit a doctor despite all the injuries

Most people would have visited a doctor but doctors would tell you to rest (surprise surprise) and give you some pills. I don’t want to take anti-inflammatory pills since they don’t solve the issue. They could even make it worse over time. You see an inflammation is a sign that your body is healing and those pills take the inflammation away. So these pills take away the solution instead of the problem. You’ll injure yourself again in no time. Just look at some athletes, they get injured over and over again because they pop pills all the time to get better. I’m not visiting a doctor unless I have too and those moments are rare.

The solution for the injuries was on my blog

My blog is not like all the others and this is just another example that proves it. I have to give credit to my osteopath, he did a great job. But I have put together an anti-inflammatory stack which I used for the past days. The only thing that I added was the cat’s claw after my trainer recommended it. It consists of:

• cat’s claw (buy it here)
• turmeric (buy it here)
• MSM (buy it here)
• Magnesium oil (buy it here)

I wasn’t surprised that things got better after I introduced turmeric to the stack since it’s a very powerful and healthy herb. It turns you into a complete powerhouse. After a while, I heard that inflammation heals slowly because tendons don’t have a lot of blood circulation. So I went out and bought a new bottle of magnesium oil since magnesium improves blood flow (source). I sprayed 5 times first thing in the morning on my legs and the place where I had the inflammation and 5 times at night (for each leg). Magnesium oil is a natural alternative for steroids.

You can still train despite a series of injuries

Most people go to training and stop as soon as the coach says that practice is over. But these people lose it when they’re injured. Those people are bored but they don’t get why. They suddenly have tons of spare time and they have no clue how to use it. I used my extra time wisely. I focused on upper body training since I couldn’t train the lower body. But I also focused on perfecting my punches since I couldn’t kick. I had to do it at a slow pace in the beginning since sudden twists with the legs were painful.

But the one thing that separated me from all the others was that I read tons of books and I finished on myself (I’m revising it at the moment). I focused a lot more on mindset since that’s just as important as technique. Tremendous power rests in your hands so it’s better to keep on doing what you did instead of wishing for a new chance tomorrow. You can come up with tons of excuses but there isn’t one excuse valid enough to justify the fact that you’re lazy. You’ll never better yourself as long as you come up with excuses. Stop making excuses and just do it.

Don’t be lazy

Most people neglect the fact that a good mindset and great performance go hand in hand. Most people prefer to be comfortable and watch television all day. Yes, I still stretched every day; I just had to adjust it so that I could do it with being in pain all the time. I want to outwork the others even when I’m injured because I’m addicted to the process. There’s nothing more addictive than hard work. It just puts me in the zone and that’s where I’m at my best.

So I just break the rules and beat the rules.

Yes, I still do what I love and love what I do.

I just love being myself because there’s almost no better feeling in the world. My biggest fear remains my biggest drive. I just don’t want to be normal and follow the herd as most people do. How about you?

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Till next time

Alex

 

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