A couple weeks ago, I pinched a nerve in my neck. It was seriously one of the most painful weeks in my life. I know – I probably sound like a wimp, but it was seriously a deep shooting pain for days. At first, I thought I pulled a muscle from lifting weights in the gym. I applied heating pads, icy hot and sucked down Tylenol every chance I could get. After a few days went by, I finally figured out that it was much more than a muscle – it was a nerve issue. It was so painful that I missed work and couldn’t even leave the house. The thing that wrecked me the most was my workout routine.
I’ve had a strict workout routine for months now, and missing even a few days can be detrimental to the flow. I ended up missing 7 days. I was devastated. I felt like everything I had been working for was ruined. I had come so far and made so much progress just to arrive at a dead stop. There were so many times I wanted to just go and fight through the pain because I didn’t want to fall too far off the grid but my husband made me wait. I had to heal completely before I could go back in.
After what seemed like an eternity, but was only a week, I went back. The first day, I spent the entire time walking on the treadmill. It pretty much felt like I wasn’t doing anything at all. I was used to lifting weights!
After that, the days passed by and I felt like I had just completely lost all of my motivation. Getting up early to go in felt like such a struggle after I had slept in for a week. I had to find a way to get my motivation back, so here’s what I did.
- Get That Mind Right – The most important thing is having a positive mindset. Mentality is everything and the longer you let “you get to you” in your head, the longer it will take you to succeed. Changing my mindset about my circumstances and situation immediately gave me more motivation and grit to get back on track.
- Set a Goal – My goal was to be lifting weights again by three days back into the gym. By setting my goal up front and being clear about exactly how and when I was going to meet that goal, I had sometime to work toward with a strict timeline. I was lifting again within three days. 🙂
- Get a Support Partner – Support is so, so important. My husband was/is my support partner because we work out together every day. He was the one pushing me to meet my goals, and he was also the one to tell me to take it easy when I was overdoing it.
- Remember Peak Moments – Remembering where I was before the pinched nerve gave me so much motivation to get back, and be even better. Remembering where you were before your circumstances is a good strategy to get back up and at it!
No matter what, you are bigger than your circumstances. Always. Be positive and give it time. You’ll be up and at em’ again in no time!
(Belle was also my #1 supporter, as you can see. 😉 My first night back at the gym and I was SO ready to go.)
P.S. – Snag these super cute and comfy joggers here.
