Come back stronger: After Covid-19
Does COVID have you skipping the gym? Feeling unmotivated, having a hard time focusing, or lacking creativity? With the current events, how can we stay on track, or get back on track when there seems to be a certainty that we will be derailed again? Losing progress or gains can be discouraging!
At the moment everyone is experiencing different challenges while the world contends with the COVID-19 pandemic. We’ve all experienced ups and downs throughout this past year. Like many others, I struggled with the lack of motivation, depression, anger, frustration, unhealthy eating, restlessness and insomnia. As I’ve practiced my own coping strategies, I am thankful for my background in athletic therapy—it has given me an awareness of the human body, its systems, and how it performs and recovers. This in turn allows me to be intuitively aware of what my own body needs, be it to increase my water intake or electrolytes if I am feeling lethargic, or to know when I need a rest day, instead of pushing through my workouts. It has allowed me to rehab a running injury and start mountain biking and slack-lining to build my strength, balance, and allow me some time for meditation while I recover. Not to mention the pure enjoyment of playing outside.
These times require a pivot, coping skills and a fresh perspective. I am very excited to be able to help you attain some of these skills and awareness around your body and exercise. If we look at the big picture these negative feelings are unavoidable and at some point they are going to rear their head. The important part is to consider your coping mechanisms and whether they are healthy. Are you binge-eating because you are stressed? Can you not leave the house to go to the gym because of crippling anxiety? Or maybe over-exercising is your response to stress or anxiety. Coping mechanisms for stress are crucial, if the outside stressor is outside our control, we have to manage what we can influence—Exercise, eating well, adequate hydration, and healthier bedtime routines are all within our control, and can make a world of difference.
When a stressor this massive (global pandemic anyone?) is impacting our day to day lives the first things to go are proper fueling/healthy eating, sleep and exercise. The irony isn’t lost that these are the practices that help us combat this negative stress! If we can boost one of these the other two should naturally follow.
As an Athletic Therapist my goal is to help you boost the exercise and physical activity aspects of your life. We want to get back on track, because when we do we feel physically, emotionally and mentally better.
Athletic Therapy is not just treating the injury it is about treating the person as a whole. How can you be in your peak fitness if you cannot sleep? Without proper sleep your body cannot recover after hard workouts and the same if you are not fueling properly or if you are stressed about a friend or family member? All of it is connected so we as practitioners are treating much more than just an injury since these outside stressors will greatly impact the healing of your injury.
Athletic Therapy is a great idea for everyone, but during COVID it may be what you need to kick-start your active lifestyle or to maintain or motivate what you are already doing. Here are some of the things we can work on during a session whether you are a seasoned athlete or just starting a fitness routine for the first time:
1. Creating short term/ long term goals specific to you
2. While we create your program we will identify barriers that could keep you from these goals
3. Create healthy coping mechanisms and routines
4. Education on Performance and treatment while recovering from an injury
5. How to find a sport or activity that fits for you and creating a fitness program
Athletic Therapy is an as well as, an addition to, and not an instead of. The goal is to work together as a team on your goals, to get you where you want to be in your fitness sport or lifestyle. Not every program will have the same format, everyone has individual goals and interests. The true key is you enjoy what you are doing, so that it can be a part of your lifestyle and not just another passing fad.
-Cate
