Will Tidball Talks About Recovery From Injury

Hi Everyone!

I hope you have had a brilliant first month of the year and have started 2022 with a bang.

Today’s blog is going to be a bit different to some others as we are going to be focussing on ‘recovery from injury’. This is an interesting topic for me as I have never really sat down and thought about it. When I get injured I just go straight into thinking about getting better.

Luckily enough for me in the past I have never had any super bad injuries touch wood! The worst I have had to date is probably a broken ankle from a crash in a race. It was the first day of the race so in order to start the next day if I was deemed ok by the medical staff I had to finish. As a result I rode the last part of the race with one leg and then went to get x-rayed. Looking back it’s a good story but probably not the most sensible…..

To me, recovery from an injury is both physical and mental, the second of those often being the hardest part.

To me these are the steps of recovery

Diagnosis -Finding out what has happened and how to get it better

Acceptance – Accepting mentally and physically what has happened, how you are going to have to train differently and letting yourself accept that lifes going to be different for a while.

Rest- Possibly the hardest part. Letting your body heal and come to terms with the traumer that has happened. It is important to not cut this short as this may leave you taking backward steps later on which can be even more frustrating.

Rehab- Doing the exercises needed to strengthen what you have injured. Aswell as for me keeping the body ticking over this for me often involves swimming.

Ride- Getting back on the bike and fit again

Race– Performing back to my level I want to be and achieving what I can.

I am super lucky to be supported by a professional and private set of doctors and physios.

However I hope by reading this it can help you in your recovery next time you need it.

Have a great February!

WT1066