Overcoming Setbacks
Setbacks can feel like an uphill battle. Overcoming them feels like you’ve climbed a mountain.
Setbacks come from life . . .
Since I started Legally Fit, I’ve had the chance to have some amazing and enlightening conversations with some of my readers. Many of these talks have had a common theme that revolves around the struggles you’ve had with fitness when experiencing setbacks. The setbacks you’ve shared have come in many forms from injuries to working too much, having children, getting injured, or going through health issues. In other words, they come from life. Over the past 10 years of my journey, I’ve had my share of them too.
It used to be that when something got in the way, the first thing I would do is cancel my training. For several years, I did my workouts in the evening after work. Working late was (and still is) common, so many evenings involved workouts that were missed. Getting sick – even just a sinus cold – was another workout missed. As I mentioned before, getting injured was common, and the injuries led to more workouts missed.
Don’t let setbacks set you back . . .
Then, in March 2018, I had an injury that I thought was sure to put me on the sidelines for weeks, as I broke my foot while working out. Incidentally, I’ll note that I was so preoccupied with work at the time that my mind wasn’t singularly focused on that workout. I was thinking about all that I had to get done afterwards when I lost focus and stepped the wrong way.
When I got the diagnosis that my foot was broken, I texted my trainer and told him we’d be off for a few weeks. He said, “you have tonight off, but I’ll see you in the gym on Thursday.” For the next few weeks, he designed workouts that took all leverage off my foot but still worked in all the strength training that I normally did. Then I got my doctor’s permission to put my walking boot on the pedal of my Peloton and ride the bike lightly. It was a bit cumbersome, and way less intense than I was used to, but I was doing much more than I had even imagined I could do. The huge lesson learned was, don’t let setbacks set you back.
Even so, not every injury or illness is the same, and some require time off. In late 2020, I had a health issue that ultimately needed surgery. I spent nearly two weeks in the hospital, and I could barely move out of bed when I was home. It’s hard to feel like you are winning the day when you can’t do anything other than lay down and catch up on Netflix shows (mine was the entire series of The Crown during those weeks). But I was doing what I was supposed to do. The key was to listen to my body and my doctors and be ready to adjust again as things improved. That same year I also watched other loved ones battle cancer and come out stronger. So besides being lucky and grateful, I was inspired. But it was the lessons from my broken foot that set the stage for how I dealt with all of this. Take a day to deal with it; get back on the train tomorrow.
Through all of this, it took time to return to where I had last peaked. My illness had been creeping up for several months, and it was interfering with how hard I could go. I was doing my best to maintain, but when you aren’t improving, you are probably declining. So at that time, declining as little as possible was winning the day. That’s hard to come to terms with when all we want is progress. But as I’ve said before, “embrace the journey!” It’s not linear. While I was going through this, it never occurred to me that doing what I could – as little as it was – would carry me past my recovery still with the momentum of a locomotive going in the right direction.
Get help . . .
As I mentioned in the beginning of this post, setbacks come in many forms besides just illness or injury. One saying that I’ve always tried to live by is that you never know what someone else is going through until you are standing in his or her shoes. For those with deeply personal struggles, I can only encourage you to seek the help you might need to get past it – whether medical, mental, or motivational. If you feel like you don’t have the resources, look online for what may be out there that you don’t know about. I’m lucky to have had great friends, family, colleagues, doctors, and an amazing trainer (who became more of a close friend than anything) to be there with me through my toughest moments. The help you need is somewhere out there too, and just seeking it rather than running from it is winning!
Find inspiration from heroes . . .
I take motivation from other’s stories, but I never had to look far for inspiration. No one was more inspiring than my late grandmother – my Bubbie. She was a survivor of Auschwitz, raised a family under a dictatorship in Romania that falsely imprisoned her husband (until she rescued him), and she shared her story with the world. Remember, winning the day is about much more than fitness. And even on my greatest days, it’s examples like Bubbie’s story that at least make me wonder whether I truly did all I could to win mine.
Find inspiration from your heroes. Bubbie is mine.
Heroes overcome setbacks. When you overcome yours, you will be a hero to others – whether you know it or not.
See the long game . . .
To all who have shared their stories with me over the past few weeks, the common theme that you’ve expressed to me is a renewed understanding of the long game here. Take it one day at a time, and just try to win the day. Sometimes you won’t feel like you won it, but trust me, you did!
Aaron