Gains’o’clock ep. 3 - steps to a healthier You - “Injuries & Sickness”
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying “Its not if you get hurt, its when.” Associated with working out, martial arts, or other physical activities. If not, you just did - so now you can’t say you haven’t heard it! Well, I figured this was the perfect time to write a blog post regarding injuries since…guess what? I am injured, quite severely, currently. For those that know me closely know that I have had some neck injuries over the years. And last year, in 2023 the night I arrived at my deployed location in the middle east, my neck was injured on the job. I was helping un-do a pin that was stuck on an Aircraft cargo trailer. No one could get it undone, so I stepped in and got the pin out which opened up the trailer’s vinyl-like screen and all the luggage came pouring out, to include hard cases with weapons in them. One of the weapon cases hit me square in the base of my neck on my right side. It just so happens I’ve had problems in that area and the weapon case falling on it exacerbated my problematic neck to the point I had to visit the medical facility that day.
First day on this deployment, blam – hospital. I’m sure my peers and leadership thought highly of this random dude showing up and getting hurt. Nevertheless, I pressed on with the deployment as normal, took some ibuprofens the doc gave me and pretended I was okay. For months before I was actually okay. That’s the glamourous side of life you don’t always see from these online figures. Icing my neck every second of every day, turning to talk to people like batman, yea…all the things.
Fast forward a year and half later, I was working out with my wife and I was WARMING UP for Lateral Pushdowns on the cable machine. Something tweaked in my neck/trap area on my right side. Next thing I know, I can barely move. I tried to suck it up, like I always do, but ended up being unable to this time. I couldn’t complete my workout at all so I left, in defeat, took some Ibuprofen and plopped a sack of frozen peas on my neck.
The next morning, I woke up at 0400 and considered driving 1.5 hours away to the nearest English speaking emergency room…but I figured it would be a bad idea to drive in my condition. You know…not being able to my move my head, or my right arm…these things might inhibit my driving some. So, I just got up, put several ice packs on my neck and trap region to completely numb any possible feeling so I could exist without wanting to headbutt a rusted nail from the excruciating pain.
A few hours goes by, my wife wakes up and knows I’m in pain. She offers to drive us all to the emergency room but I couldn’t even answer her because I was working on holding back my tears from the pain. She knew what was up, she yells out “Girls, get dressed and grab something to entertain yourselves, we’re driving to Landstuhl!” I wanted to argue the point, but that’s probably the first time I had tears come out of my eyes from pain since…I was a kid maybe? So, she knew it was serious. Sometimes we, as men, try to act all tough but sometimes we have to put the barriers down and allow for some outside entity, like our spouse, to assist us. I don’t like admitting that in writing, so for the purposes of this article – I did it for science.
It is the week after our visit to the Emergency Room as I am writing this. I say all the above to say that it is hard not to get down in the dumps when you are injured in a way that prevents you from doing many things you enjoy. More importantly, for me, some of those activities help keep me centered such as weightlifting, BJJ, rough housing with the kids, and any other physical activities I do on a daily basis. Its super easy to develop a negative thought process and dwell on it day in and day out. I say this because I am living it right now, even as I write this. Today has been the worst pain in a while, so these words are about as close and as real as I could get. But I still push on, sometimes pretending I am okay those I care about most. My kids know dad isn’t 100% right now, but that doesn’t give me an excuse to not do anything with them, ignore them, be grumpy etc. Sometimes, as parents, we sacrifice a bit of ourselves to pour into our kids – at least I do. Dad will play “Daddy Monster” as we call it just for a little bit today, even if I am suffering from the pain.
This goes for other aspects of life as well, not just injuries. You have to learn to adjust and do what you can. What did I say is the single most important part of a journey to a healthier you? Consistency! Yes, that’s right. Just because you can no longer run 7 miles every morning, or squat 495 pounds for reps, or whatever…consistency just means keep going.
This is my challenge to you - Keep going. Even if you can only walk for about 5 minutes without serious pain or fatigue. Great – do 5 minutes today, and 6 minutes tomorrow. Every day become incrementally better and in the long run you will have developed habits that form a lifestyle of legend. No one cares about your excuses – just do better. That sounds harsh, but sometimes you have to be the voice inside your head that helps keep you on track. Keeps you accountable. But most importantly, keeps you healthy.
“No Excuses – Only Progress” – Kris AKA Iron Dad
Iron Dad
