I’ve gotta confess that, from a health and fitness viewpoint, the last six weeks or so hasn’t been good for me. First, the shoulder reconstruction stopped me running and bike riding as I religiously do 3 or 4 times a week. Then a week long bout of gastroenteritis pulled me up in my tracks… and I wouldn’t have dared run! In fact, to be really honest, this last week or so I’ve found it hard to greet the day with my customary “f-a-n-t-a-s-t-i-c”. But I’m almost back to being a million dollars and looking forward to getting back to running and biking. It’s been a pain not being able to do so.
When you can’t do what you love, the pain of not being able to is an excellent motivator.
Here’s another aspect of how pain is a great motivator in this story from a chiropractor friend of mine, Dr Michael Powderly.
When people are in severe pain, they’ll usually do something about it….at least when the pain gets bad enough!
Unfortunately, when the pain is gone, people’s motivation to look after themselves often disappears too and they slide back into pain. Matt (not his real name), a client of mine, recently found a powerful way to motivate himself to not only get free of pain, but also to lose weight and compete in a 100 km endurance event.
In February this year, in spite of chronic pain and injury to his feet, ankles, knees, hips and lower back and regardless of being 30 kg over weight, Matt entered the 100 km Oxfam Walk. Now he was committed! As he put it, he’d “lit a fire” under his butt!
The Oxfam Walk is a team challenge event with 800 four man teams racing 100 km up and over the Dandenong Ranges. With each team’s finishing time determined by its slowest member, Matt was petrified about letting down his team-mates. It was all the motivation he needed!
When Matt consulted our office 8 weeks before his event, he was ready to do whatever it took to be fit for the race. Matt did everything asked of him. He kept all of his appointments; he did his corrective exercises and took prescribed supplements.
Eight weeks later, Matt and his teammates completed the 100 km race in 23 hours and 40 minutes, that placed them in the top 20%.
By the way, Matt hasn’t finished “lighting fires under his butt”. He now plans to race the Melbourne half Marathon in October this year!
(Dr Michael Powderly m 0432 952 867 e office@instinctivechiropractic.com)
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