Five Steps for Dealing with Major Setbacks

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Two years ago I suffered a pretty traumatic injury.  Recovering from that injury forced me to completely overhaul my perspective on both my training and, to some degree, on my life as a whole.  In hindsight — as is often the case — the injury was a major blessing, but back in December 2022, the very idea of adjusting to my body’s new normal felt overwhelming.

Many of you can probably relate to those feelings.  I think anyone who’s truly committed to lifelong lifting will, at some point, run into a serious setback.  If you’re dealing with one right now, you probably feel lost, frustrated, or depressed.  Here’s the good news: I firmly believe that, with the right approach, a serious lifter can overcome any setback short of actually dying.  I’m not exaggerating here; the human capacity for adaptation is literally the backbone of our success as a species.  

The trick, of course, is figuring out how to make the right adaptations so that you can continue to pursue your goals.  In the rest of this article, I’m going to outline a strategy to help you do exactly that.  I’ll make my coaching pitch up front: if you’d like personalized guidance through this process, shoot me an email and let’s figure out how to work together one-on-one.

Five Steps for Dealing with Major Setbacks

1. Check with your doctor.

This is a CYA (well, C my A) step.  If you’re sick or injured, talk with a doctor before starting any sort of training or rehab routine.  Here’s what to say:

“Hey, doc, I’m pretty serious about lifting weights — it’s a major part of my life.  What restrictions do I have in the weight room?  How about for other forms of exercise?”

If your doctor tells you not to do something, don’t do it!

Now, here’s the honest part: I think most doctors and physical therapists are close to worthless when it comes to helping you get back to action.  If I’d listened to my doctors when I got hurt, I’d have a spinal fusion by now.  But if you choose to ignore your doctor’s advice, please don’t blame me if that decision backfires.  You’ve got to accept the risks of an aggressive rehab for yourself.

Get bloodwork.

Most setbacks aren’t random.  With the exception of truly freak accidents outside of the gym — like getting struck by lightning, or hit by a drunk driver — setbacks are usually due at least in part to some underlying biological insufficiencies.  When you’re planning your rehab, start by identifying those insufficiency and developing a plan to address them.  

There’s literally only one way to do that: get bloodwork.  Anything else is just guessing, and that’s dumb.  Bloodwork by itself might not be sufficient (you might need further testing, depending on the issue) but it’s always necessary.

Here’s a list of the tests I generally recommend:

• Comprehensive metabolic panel

• Complete blood count

• Lipids

• Total & free testosterone

• Estradiol

• Cortisol

• HbA1c

You can order these at PrivateMDLabs or through Marek Health if your doctor won’t order them for you. I do not recommend Marek for consultations — only for ordering a la carte blood panels.

3. Figure out what you can do.

I spent a year training with Stan Efferding — a legend of the strength world not only for his numbers, but also his longevity.  Stan’s suffered his share of injuries, and his advice on recovery is simple: focus on what you can do, not what you can’t.  I love this advice for two reasons.  First, it shifts your perspective: in almost every situation, you’ll find that the list of things you can do is longer than the list of things you can’t.

Perhaps more importantly, it encourages movement.  As a coach, I’ve worked with many people who feel that if they aren’t 100%, they can’t train at all.  That’s a self-defeating mindset, and it’s virtually guaranteed to slow your recovery to a crawl.  In fact, I could write an entire thesis about movement’s ability to help heal injuries — but I’ll direct you towards this excellent paper by my friend Jason Shurley instead.

4. Build some side quests.

Once you’ve identified what you can do, it’s time to set some short-term goals.  This isn’t as easy as it sounds, at least not if you’re a serious lifter.  Chances are, you really want to get bigger and stronger — and if you’re injured or sick, that might not be realistic at the moment.  That’s okay!  Even if you’re not at your best, you can still set the groundwork for big progress when you are back up to full speed.

I’ll give you an extreme example: one of my friends once ruptured his Achilles tendon.  If you’re at all familiar with physiology, you know that’s a nasty injury.  For the first few weeks, even walking is a struggle.  So this guy set an apnea goal.  He trained himself to hold his breath for several minutes at a time, increasing his willpower, patience, and tolerance for hypoxia in the process.  Breath holding might not sound like much, but I’d wager those are three of the most important skills for any athlete — and you can bet he put them to good use once his ankle was healed up.

You probably don’t have to get quite that extreme, but you need to set measurable, achievable, and relevant goals during your rehab.  You might need to get creative here, and that’s okay.  Simply having a goal will help you to progress much faster that you could otherwise. Next week, I’ll share an article that will help you with this step!

5. Commit to the process.

When I was a little kid, my whole family would drive to the beach together for summer vacation.  It was only a four-hour drive, but I’m sure it felt a lot longer to my parents — especially because every five minutes I had to ask them how much farther we had to go.  To be fair, I think most parents expect that their kids are going to be impatient on a long car ride, but I’m still grateful they didn’t just leave me on the side of the road halfway to the Jersey shore.

Here’s the thing, though: you’re not a kid, and you’re not on a car ride — you’re on a rehab journey.  No one can tell you how long it’s going to take to complete your recovery, and if you keep asking, you’re only going to drive yourself nuts.  Instead, you need to adopt a process orientation and accept that getting back to full speed is going to take however long it takes.  That mindset is crucial, because significant setbacks will demand every ounce of patience and willpower you can muster.

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I want to end this article on a personal note.  If you’re struggling with a major setback, you’re probably dealing with at least some emotional blowback, too.  That’s normal, and it’s okay — but it doesn’t make the process any easier.  You might do yourself a lot of good by talking with a friend, partner, or counselor so that you don’t have to deal with physical and emotional pain at the same time.

And if you need help with any of this, again, don’t hesitate to contact me for coaching!