Earlier this year a fascinating study highlighted the importance of optimism and its correlation to the success of heart attack recovery.¹ The study concluded that heart attack victims who displayed the most positive and optimistic outlooks were half as likely to suffer another heart attack, die, or require surgery in the four years after their heart attack as those who displayed the most pessimistic points of view. The deeper meaning behind the study is the metaphor associated with it – those with the most open hearts were best able to heal their physical hearts.

Countless studies have supported such a mind-body connection and the importance of a positive mental attitude (PMA) where it comes to health and healing. But it’s more than just a “can do” attitude that matters. As any good practitioner or mechanic knows, it isn’t just fixing what’s broken that’s essential. Ultimately, getting at the root of the problem is what matters. As the heart attack study points out, dissecting the emotional construct of our physicality is at the crux of wholeness and healing.

When it comes to health and fitness, I don’t believe in quackery or magic pills and potions. I have strong words for those who profit on false hopes without a basis of sound science. That said, it is not far-fetched witch doctor stuff to submit that the mind affects the cells in your body, in the same sense that what manifests in the body affects your state of mind. The human body is not simply a series of mechanical parts like a car, and we shouldn’t treat it like one.

The Body as a Metaphor

Thinking of the body as a metaphor is a good first step to establishing a deeper mind-body connection. For example, I recently injured my hamstring while I was performing a sprinter start as an exercise. I felt an immediate pull and partial tear of the muscle.

Some weeks later, as I was well into my physical rehab process, I had an appointment with a spiritual advisor. I mentioned the hamstring injury and she asked me where in my life I was ‘hamstrung.’ I responded by acknowledging a feeling of being torn in two directions in one area of my life. It then occurred to me that maybe my injury was more than just a random physical occurrence. Perhaps my body was subconsciously trying to send me a message about my life.

“It is not far-fetched witch doctor stuff to submit that the mind affects the cells in your body, in the same sense that what manifests in the body affects your state of mind.”

Admittedly, looking in to the murky abyss of emotional trauma isn’t as easy or clear-cut as analyzing the physicality of our aches and pains. But to ignore the emotional component of our wellness is akin to looking at only half of the equation of health. Deep down many of us have that nagging suspicion that somehow the body and mind are fundamentally and completely interconnected.

Yes, accidents and random occurrences are part of life, but perhaps they too have a deeper meaning. In many cultures and spiritual traditions, it’s accepted that the physical affects the mental and that the mental affects the physical. Friedrich Nietzche famously stated, “There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophies.” Yet many of us look everywhere except to the body for answers.

Metaphors for the Body and Questions for the Mind

To dig a little deeper, here are several metaphors for the body and possible key questions to consider.

Neck and Head

• The meaning: Your neck literally holds up your head. Neck problems point to a metaphorical problem in holding your head up high.
• Think of the phrase: “Headache”
• Ask yourself: What is a headache in my life? Where am I lacking confidence?

Shoulders

• The meaning: Outside of anatomy, another definition of shoulder is, “to deal with or accept something as your responsibility or duty.”
• Think of the phrase: “Shouldering the load.”
• Ask yourself: Where do I need to accept responsibility in my life?

Upper Back

• The meaning: Problems associated with the upper back metaphorically correlate to burdens outside of your own control.
• Think of the phrase: “Stabbed in the back.”
• Ask yourself: What (or who) is holding me back?

Lower Back

• The meaning: I read an interesting book some years ago titled Healing Back Pain by Dr. John Sarno. Sarno contends that it isn’t bulging disks or inflammation that are the root cause of back pain, but instead ‘compressed rage,’ or what Sarno refers to as Tension Myositis Syndrome (TMS). Though Sarno’s hypothesis and treatment methods are not accepted by the mainstream medical community, in a peer review study, treatments of TMS showed a 54% reduction of pain, which outperformed other psychological interventions for chronic back pain.
• Think of the phrase: “Bending over backwards”
• Ask yourself: What burden(s) am I carrying around that I’ve repressed or not yet dealt with?

Hamstring

• The meaning: Another definition of hamstring is “to damage or ruin the force or effectiveness of someone or something.”
• Think of the phrase: “To get strung up.”
• Ask yourself: Where am I hamstrung or limited in my ability to be effective in life?

Hips

• The meaning: Hips have everything to do with flexibility and mobility. The metaphor here is obvious.
• Think of the phrase: “Shoot from the hip.” (As in not thinking something through.)
• Ask yourself: Where in my life am I inflexible?’

Knees

• The meaning: Knee injuries are one of the most common sports and fitness injuries. According to Fox News, knee injuries comprise 55% of all sports injuries and approximately a quarter of all problems treated by orthopedic surgeons.⁵ Of course, we know the knee is the pivotal joint that allows for movement between the femur and the tibia. Metaphysically speaking, knees are similar to the hips. They represent flexibility and the ability to bend in a given set of circumstances.
• Think of the phrase: “To be knee deep in something.”
• Ask yourself: Where am I rigid and unable to bend in my life?

Achilles

• The meaning: Perhaps the most famous of all body metaphors is the Achilles heel. To look deeper at the meaning of the Achilles, look no further than your own strength. It is sometimes in our greatest strengths where we can expose our greatest weaknesses. For instance, will power is an incredible strength, but can also be a crippling nemesis.
• Think of the phrase: “Achilles heel.”
• Ask Yourself: What is my greatest strength and also my shortcoming?

Feet

• The meaning: Physically speaking, it’s difficult to move in life when your feet are injured. Metaphysically speaking, standing with both feet on the ground has everything to do with having a solid foundation.
• Think of the phrase: “Putting the right (or wrong) foot forward.”
• Ask yourself: Where am I not taking the right steps (or where am I taking the wrong steps) in life?

Emotions in Relation to Health

Ask your doctor if they feel that fear, love, anger, and optimism influence your health and wellness and I can guarantee their answer. As studies from prestigious institutions like Harvard, the Mayo Clinic, and the British Heart Foundation (BHF) substantiate, the mind affects the body.³

Injuries must be physically addressed, but in order to truly heal in the long run, we need to acknowledge the role of our emotional construct. The emotional meaning behind an injury might provide insight in to the root of what ails you. Looking at your injury as a metaphor can help you do that. The body serves as wise teacher on our journey to health and wholeness if we listen to it.

More like this:

• 7 Reasons Your Injury Is Not Getting Any Better
• Injury Risk More Closely Related to Sport and Gender Than Fitness Level
• Avoiding Injury: How to Train Safely for Years to Come
• New on Breaking Muscle Today

References:

1. Steptoe, Andrew, “Optimism and Recovery After Acute Coronary Syndrome: A Clinical Cohort Study” Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine April 2015, vol. 77.

2. Kubzansky, Laura D. PhD, “Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? A Prospective Study of Optimism and Coronary Heart Disease in the Normative Aging Study“, Journal of Psychosomatic Medicine Nov/Dec 2001.

3. Press Release: “Research suggests optimistic attitude can reduce risk of heart disease in older men“, Harvard School of Public Health, November 2001. 

4. Sarno, John E., “Healing Back Pain: The Mind-Body Connection“. Grand Central Publishing, 1991.

5. Sabrina Rogers, “Top 10 Sports Injuries”, Fox News June 19, 2009. 

Photo courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post What Are Your Injuries Telling You About Your Life? appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

The only problem was that in order to get the thoracic joint to stop being so pissed off, I had to sort the neck and shoulder issues out first – essentially reverse engineering the order of my injury. In order to do that, I had to stop all of the exercises I enjoyed training (pull ups, rows, any kind of press, even goblet squats for a while). I had to give my body the chance to heal. Now, with the guidance of an excellent physical therapist, I am almost there.

It has been a long time coming, but below I have developed a list of the five most important lessons learned as a result of this injury. My hope is that if the time comes for you to deal with an injury, you can reflect upon the wisdom of injured trainees like myself and keep yourself from losing too much ground.

Lesson #1: The Meaning of Patience

There are two approaches to an injury: training through it or doing everything necessary to get it healed up and prevent it from happening again. Unless you are Lebron James leading the Heat to a game seven in the NBA playoffs, you probably should adjust your training program to reflect your injury.

This means if a movement causes pain, then don’t do it. Training through an injury will only lead to further compensation, which will lead to yet another injury down the road. The human body is a clever beast. If you push it, it will find a way to do something, even if it is the wrong way of doing it. Find the sweet spot in your training where you can work on strengthening the areas that don’t hurt, while removing anything that will give you problems until your injury has healed.

Lesson #2: Focus on Things You Can Do, and Eliminate Those You Cannot

Keeping a positive attitude can be hard when you get injured, especially if it is your first injury. All of a sudden, that feeling of invincibility is gone. It’s easy to be like a turtle and retract back into your shell, fearful of doing anything. But you don’t need to be afraid, because unless you have a back injury, it’s likely that you will be able to keep training something.

Figure out what you can safely do by focusing on one training variable at a time. Test an exercise, and remove it if there is pain during the movement or if your body gets sore in a bad way later on. Listen to the signs your body sends you. In a few training sessions you should be able to narrow down the exercises that work and keep them organized in a way that will promote balance in your body. If you have trouble letting go of your favorite exercises (I’m looking at you, squats and bench press), then move on to lesson number three and then come back to this one.

Lesson #3: Remain Humble and Switch Off the Ego

When I developed my neck and shoulder issue, I fought it at first. I thought I could push through and was determined not to back off on training for fear of losing my strength. When my problem continued to worsen, I knew I had to stop and seek help.

I remember saying to myself, “I used to be able to do this [insert exercise/weight here], but I did it unsafely. I need to back off, re-learn the correct way, and start the strength-building process again.” I took my advice. I stopped doing the things that hurt me, and focused all of my energy on the movements I could still do without pain, even though my brain fought me every step of the way. Humbling myself was hard, but I can honestly that I am stronger now because of it– both physically and mentally.

Lesson #4: Train at Your True Level, Not Where You Want to Be

Many people enjoy training in groups. Boot camps, CrossFit, and various group personal training sessions are offered everywhere. The presence of friends and training partners can be excellent motivation, but they can also act as pressure to push your body harder than it is physically ready to go.

If your form breaks down under heavier load, it’s too much. If you are so sore you can’t move the next day, it’s too much. I am quite guilty of this, too. In college I was a 400m sprinter on the track team. I was pretty good, but when it came to strength in the weight room, I couldn’t compete with some of the bigger, older, and stronger sprinters. I still tried to keep up and I developed some bad habits in my squats, deadlifts, bench presses, and pull-ups that contributed to my shoulder and neck problems down the road.

To combat this tendency, I started tracking every set, rep, weight, rest period, and sometimes my emotions in my journal. That way I could mine it for information later on, to remind me what worked and what didn’t. Only then did I truly learn how to train at my level, and not where I wanted to be – or where I used to be for that matter.

Lesson #5: Trust in the Process

In this case, the “process”refers primarily to the healing process. When healing, I learned it wasn’t necessary to do a lot of different exercises. In fact, the fewer exercises I did, the better I became. Chalk one up to the “great at few versus mediocre at many” theory. Due to the laser-like focus on healing in my personal programming, identifying the hurtful training variables became that much easier. Ultimately, this knowledge allowed me to improve upon even those movements that were not counter to my healing process.

As awesome as it would be to live life injury-free 100% of the time, we don’t live in a bubble. If you fall victim to an injury, whether in the gym, in a car, or stepping off a curb wrong, don’t push through it. Find quality help, follow through the healing process, and learn what you can do in order to prevent it from happening again.

Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.

The post Strength in the Face of Injury: 5 Lessons Learned appeared first on Breaking Muscle.