Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 08:34:16 -0600 (CST) From: Keith Hobman Subject: Re: Strength_List: fear Mike wrote, >Has anyone out there overcome fear? I never had it before. Last year I had >surgery for a ruptured disc, I have a bulge on another that was not repaired. >Training has been going well but the weight hasnt been near max until >recently. Evrything feels heavy because of it. I have worked thru other >injuries before I.E quad tear. the difference I think is in a muscular >injury, you have instant feedback, With a disc injury, you dont know until >its toast. Four weeks until the state meet and am not expecting big numbers >but a restart. Have to force myself to get under the squat bar. Anyone else >been there? Yeah, I'd be lying if I didn't admit to a certain amount of fear after injury. Okay, sometimes a lot. Most injuries are like that, they are toast. The problem with a disk is there is little warning to go on and, of course, it is a very debilitating injury. FWIW, here are some things that helped me. 1. Give yourself time. Don't worry that it will take some time to return to where you were. Set a reasonable schedule and if you feel it is too soon - put it back. Take a long term approach. 2. Analyze your technique. Choose techniques which minimize potential for injury. This will mean lifting a little less initially, but thats okay. Work the weak points in the new technique and the lifts will come up. 3. Maintain a positive attitude. Do some mental training which focuses on you lifting the weights and enjoying the thrill of competition. Don't allow negative thoughts in. 4. Add prehabilitation exercises to reduce the chance of injury. Reverse hyper come to mind for you. Also, read Louie's article that was posted recently. It took him a year and a half and look how he made some thing positive out of it! 5. Its okay to have some fear. You'd be stupid if you didn't. You've suffered a bad injury and you can expect you don't want to do it again. Your mind translates that into fear. Give yourself some time. Listen to your body as much as you can and give it time. As you start handling larger and larger weights you'll get that confidence back. Keith Hobman Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada