How I Went from Injury to Competition in Just a Few Weeks (Twice)
It's basically a matter of load management, positive attitude, and luck.
FULL DISCLAIMER: I am not a medical professional or physiotherapist, nor am I necessarily imparting upon you direct or actionable advice; I am speaking only from my personal experience. Take this as you will, but definitely see a medical professional if your injury is severe.
On November 7, I set foot on the platform once again. Whilst I came a tad short of expectations (don’t we always?), I managed to pull 700 pounds, which was my primary goal. 6 weeks earlier, I was nearly immobilized by a freak hamstring tear and could hardly walk.
It was business as usual: performing Romanian Deadlifts, nothing extraordinary in weight or exertion, when I felt a burst ripple down the back of my thigh. Afterwards, intense agony would strike, seemingly at random intervals, when I would take my leg through a full range of motion. In that moment, I was not sure if I would be able to put together a total in 6 weeks, but I was still determined. I’d been down this road before: during prep in 2020, I busted my hip, in what was perhaps a less acute but equally debilitating injury, very close to my meet (ironically) scheduled for November 7. I still managed to put up a PR total back then, as well.
Juggling the psychological and physical stress of meet prep can be a tall order in and of itself. Piling an injury on top of the stack just blows all of those feelings up several magnitudes. While I certainly chalk up some of my timely recoverability to luck, I have also refined my approach to rehab training over the years. In conjunction with working with a coach and perhaps a physical therapist, here are some of the ways I have strategized my approach to rehab, especially when time is of the essence.
Doing Nothing Won’t Help - Make Adjustments Instead
In 2016, I tweaked my lower back performing a standing overhead press. While I wasn’t crippled, the main variations of all big-3 movements felt pretty horrible. Between that and a flurry of other attenuating circumstances, I took it upon myself to sulk for 8 weeks and then ramp training back up over the course of 4 subsequent weeks. I spent a total of 12 weeks recovering from an injury that was relatively minor.
Hindsight is 20/20, and when it came to injuries in subsequent years, I readjusted my strategy. In most instances, rather than completely eliminate an exercise or training all together, I would try to accommodate my injury to the best of my ability. Here are a variety of potential strategies to pursue:
Taking current movements to a shorter, painless ROM and progressively increasing towards full ROM over time;
Introducing variations of the big 3 that don’t aggravate your injury (i.e., switching to a squat variation that demands less knee extension if your knee hurts);
Experiment with isometric, tempo, or pause variations;
Warm-up more conservatively, taking small jumps in weight;
Try and uncover whether low volume, high intensity or the converse is more aggravating, and lean into that modality.
The aim should be to progressively inch towards normalcy on a regular basis (weekly in my own circumstances) when possible. Depending on your timetable, you may have to experiment with quite large jumps. For instance, I went from squatting in the mid-3’s to the high-4’s in a matter of days. That being said, the overall framework will be highly contextual and individualized. It wouldn’t hurt to get a second opinion from a coach or physiotherapist who can help you craft a well-considered active rehab regimen, rather than take the doctor’s advice at face value and stagnate in bed for 6-12 weeks.
Maximize Recovery Outside of Training and Rehab
Although I continued training to the best of my ability within the evolving constraints of my injury, I recognized that the effort spent outside of training was equally as important. This meant sleeping a regular, adequate schedule, lowering unnecessary high-impact activity, ensuring that nutrition was on point, and keeping calories at least at maintenance level were of the utmost importance. It is safe to presume that a calorie deficit, poor sleep, and poor overall nutrition will negatively impact the course of rehab in much the same way it impacts general recovery in the gym.
Clearing Misconceptions About Injury Prevalence
Depending on who you ask, injury prevalence in powerlifting is either extremely low (usually based on data), or extremely high (generally based on anecdote). Most studies, such as this one, classify an “injury” as a total impediment to lifting or competition. The aforementioned study estimates 1-4.4 injuries per 1000 hours of powerlifting, which tracks with what I have seen elsewhere and is actually quite low compared to other sports. Take, for instance, this systematic review analyzing non-American football (soccer) players: the overall injury rate was around 8.1 per 1000 hours; quite high for what is largely a non-contact sport. However, when you adjust the criteria a bit to include injuries which don’t necessarily impede training, injury prevalence in powerlifting is much higher. This survey of 104 Swedish sub-elite powerlifters found that 70% of participants self-assessed as currently injured, while 87% claimed to have experienced an injury within the last 12 months. 16% of the injured group had completely refrained from training.
In other words, much like my own experiences, you may seem to experience frequent or nagging “injuries”, so to speak, at a frequency that doesn’t necessarily align with the data in the first study or several others. While this may be indicative of a greater problem with your training, health, or nutrition, including and especially load management, there is also a strong possibility that you are not far beyond the norm. Smaller yet inconvenient injuries may be an inescapable facet of training for just about any athletic endeavor, but they don’t have to be the end of the world. Taking small strides, working with a coach to manage load or analyze your movement patterns to reduce the likelihood of these nagging injuries, while also improving your recovery patterns (sleep, nutrition, etc.) outside of the gym are your best bet in this regard.
Don’t Be Consumed by It — Be Patient
It can be tempting to become consumed by feelings of angst, imposter syndrome, and hopelessness. After dreaming up the perfect prep, the impeccable game plan, for weeks on end, it can feel especially devastating to have your whole plan derailed by the hands of fate. It’s important to recognize that it’s not your fault, stay focused on the task at hand, and leave all options on the table. Depression and psychological feelings are demonstrably and scientifically shown to reduce or impair odds of injury recovery. Even if you’ve lost this battle, you haven’t lost the war; things will get better, and you will have another shot to chase your goals.
Most importantly, recognize that it usually doesn’t need to be a zero-sum equation, particularly in powerlifting. I wasn’t willing to rule out any options until the very last moment. At some points, I even considered switching to bench only, push-pull, or putting it off to another meet down the line. Luckily, my fortunes began to shift as the meet approached. By 3 weeks out, I knew, when I was able to pull my meet PR with relative ease and low pain, that I was going to be able to put something together. Yet still, if I had to make some concessions in the short term to keep moving towards the long term aim, I’d have been willing to do so. If I had sulked and bemoaned my woes in hopelessness instead, I might not’ve recognized that the opportunity to compete was still there, and might’ve instead missed out on a memorable day and a meet PR.