Why Is Working Out So Hard After Experiencing Injury and Pain?
Unpackaging the Link Between Brain, Body, and Damaging Physical Fitness Habits
Our bodies and brains are habitual, and this makes it extra hard for us to return to working out after an injury. We must re-adjust our thinking and break our unhealthy habits to get back to exercising how we used to. This is especially true if we have experienced pain because of our injury.
Why is it hard to work out after pain? The nature of habit
Some things we do consciously. Like eating dinner in front of the television. We know we’re doing what we’re doing, and it becomes habitual to do so.
Other things we do subconsciously. Have you ever finished your commute home from work, come through the door and find you can’t remember the journey? Your brain takes over, and you switch off from everything peripheral to your task. Pain can be a little like this.
“Our bodies are very habitual and can be very stubborn. It takes a long time to change,” explains Mallory Reilly, Strength Coach and Occupational Therapist at Reload. “Our bodies will fight us on change… Our bodies are focused on surviving and getting us from point A to point B. Sometimes we aren’t going to adopt the best habits in life because of this.”
It takes a lot of energy to change, yet our bodies are focused on conserving and preserving energy – finding the easiest and least strenuous road; for example, driving to work instead of walking or cycling.
So, if you find yourself asking, “Why is it so hard for me to work out after injury?” the answer is that you have formed new habits and your brain and body are showing their stubborn side. Their focus is on the short-term conservation of energy, while you know that exercise is crucial for long-term freedom from pain.
So, why is it so hard to work out like you used to after pain injury and pain?
“We kind of work like machines sometimes,” says Mallory. “We always want to be efficient, so we’re very stubborn to change. For this reason, it can take a long time… it’s also about what you believe, the experiences you are having, and what you are remembering… that’s the mental health, anxiety, depression… your self-talk. It all matters.”
Every person’s journey is unique
Transitioning from injury to fitness is not easy. There is no quick fix. If you go on a diet to lose weight and do so quickly, you’ll often revert to type just as quickly. Those old habits return, and so, too, does the weight.
Mallory describes successful change as a journey.
“I remind my clients it’s about the journey. Nobody wants a quick fix. Those who have been on a crash diet, for example, get to their goal weight and realize they have had a horrible time, they feel sick, and they’re not any happier.
“If you go through the journey, that’s how you grow as a human. That’s the whole point. It’s growing in yourself, building a relationship with yourself, and developing the relationship with people in your community as you go through that.
“It may take a while, but it’s worth it because of all you learn and the life experience you build.”
How fear of pain can make it harder for you to exercise
Our brains respond to the messages that our bodies send to them. Depending on these messages, our brains then communicate how to move. This is especially true if we experience chronic pain.
Our brain will say, ‘Hey, when you lift that weight, it sends a shooting pain through your arm. So don’t lift the weight, stupid!’
So, we stop lifting that weight. And even when the injury has cleared up, we are still fearful of lifting weights and might avoid doing so. We expect the pain to come, and therefore become afraid to do the things that are part of us. The ‘what-ifs?’ start to rule us:
‘What if I get injured again?’
‘What if I push too hard?’
‘What if I should trip and fall?’
These feelings can be so strong that we find it impossible to change our habits – it’s the link between pain and performance that makes it so hard to overcome the fear of injury in sports.
When Mallory talks about how pain can affect your mentality toward physical movement and fitness, she talks from years of personal experience. For many years, though from the outside you’d never know it, Mallory has been battling a chronic pain issue in her arm.
“I couldn’t play the guitar like I used to, I wasn’t able to play golf… I had to stop doing all the activities that were part of my identity.
“I had to change the stimulus that my body was going through, to deal with my anxiety and mindset. That’s really helping my chronic pain issue. For example, I can do a zillion push-ups, but suddenly they were hurting me. It wasn’t my ability, but my anxiety. I was afraid of feeling the pain.
“You must know there is a solution. It might take a little trial and error to find it, but you must give yourself time. Believe me, it’s worth it.”
Addressing fears to form positive habits
Is the fear of pain holding you back from becoming your real self again?
This is what we find in many of our clients.
Therefore, our experience tells us that it’s crucial to learn from the outset what is holding you back. After all, we can only address your fears by learning about your fitness fears and what it is that scares you.
In your first assessment, and regularly throughout our sessions, you can expect us to ask about your confidence to do things, and what movements scare you. We’ll reflect on how these fears translate into your everyday life – then we’ll help you to learn about safe starting positions for you.
Our approach always starts with a deep understanding of you, and how your experiences are shaping your approach to physical fitness, and then we help you develop confidence with general physical preparedness (GPP).
As you progress, you’ll find that you have more positive experiences in the movements that are currently restricting you. With each positive experience comes greater confidence and less fear of pain.
And throughout, we’ll provide the education that helps you understand what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how it will help you to improve your physical fitness by simultaneously tackling those mental blocks.
“If you’re told not to move your knee and you’re scared, you’re letting yourself know that you can’t move your knee,” Mallory says. “If you have a positive experience with somebody that you trust, you learn that you can move your knee. That’s the experience you need to replace the old negative experience that is stopping you from moving your knee.”
Don’t allow your habits and experiences to hold you back. Start your journey to a pain-free peak of physical fitness today, with a complimentary fitness assessment from Reload PT.
