It’s no secret that staying consistent on your fitness journey can take work. So when an injury or illness comes along, it can be hard to balance the line between recovery and maintaining our gains. Knee jerk reaction, we freeze and stop all activity. We bemoan the loss of all the headway we’ve made on our journey and proceed to comfort ourselves. It’s a slippery slope.

Don’t beat yourself up. You aren’t by yourself. We all have these thoughts. NO ONE is immune. It’s okay to be in your feelings for a second, but then come up with a plan. Use the trainers at your gym as a resource. If there is something we love to do is help people break through obstacles.

As a fitness instructor, and a person on a journey of her own, I struggle with fears of losing progress. That fear led me to putting off going to the doctor after I twisted my ankle about a month ago. It was a careless accident stepping off a treadmill. I didn’t ignore the injury, but I also didn’t seek treatment immediately. Well, post doctor visit (one month later) I’m now in a boot with orders not to exercise. Now, I could AND DID have a pity party, worrying that the progress I was making was going to stall. I was sad that I wouldn’t be able to row and I ❤️ rowing. The horror! 😲 How was I going to work through my mind’s daily negative self talk if I couldn’t work it out at the gym? Then I started to spiral - it wasn’t pretty.

I’m glad to report the pity party ended. I took a deep breath or three and cleared the fog. Even though I have to eliminate exercises that require ankle flexion/extension or high impact there is a whole realm I can explore. My world righted itself again. Now, is it the same, no. However, it is an opportunity to focus on movements I don’t pay too much mind to.

It’s all about perspective.

When we experience what we perceive to be setbacks, we can focus on the negative OR we can shift focus on what we can do and continue on our path.

Remember, you aren’t alone. Things happen to the best of us. Pívot according to the situation. Use resources available to you. Don’t be shy. Make friends with your coaches, I promise you a judgement free place. We want to see you succeed.

Journey on!