In January this year, I had a shoulder reconstruction after dislocating my right shoulder during a footy training session.

The surgery part of it is quite easy. You go into hospital, get put under anaesthetic and you wake up and basically have a new shoulder.

It’s the next 6-9 months of rehabilitation that’s the hard bit. It’s not only physically challenging, but also incredibly mentally tough, too.

To go from being at an elite level of fitness and strength to not being able to move your right arm for 6 weeks is a huge mental struggle. Or it was for me anyway!

The blessing in all of this is that I feel like I can relate a lot to my clients, who are going through their own physical rehabilitation/transformation experience. To get it right, takes time. Sometimes you can’t see the results straight away, even with all the hard work you put in. Some days you have to work extra hard to stay motivated to do the things you need to do to get you the end result. You have to remember why you want to get to your goal so badly, especially on the days where you feel like you’re never going to get to get there.

It can be frustrating, rewarding, exciting and scary all at once! And that right there, is transformation.

My initial challenge

In the first 6 weeks post operation, I was on a lot of medication, not only for pain but for inflammation. This is a massive hurdle for me, given my past addiction. (You can read more about that here).

Also, as I injured my right arm, I wasn’t able to write properly. I had to learn to use a fork with my left hand and I couldn’t prepare my meals, wash up, or basically do anything useful for 6 whole weeks.

Throw on top of that, the fact that I wasn’t able to exercise at all, and that initial period post-op was one of the biggest mental hurdles I’ve faced.

But I got through it.

I have really supportive family, friends, teammates and clients. They made my days brighter! Surround yourself with positive people and they really can make a difference in your life.

Slow progress

Due to the type of dislocation I had (SLAP tear), as well as being in a sling for 6 weeks, my range of motion was lacking. I couldn’t really lift my arm at all, as all the strength from it was gone. To get to the point where I can lift my arm over my head has been a really slow process, and there are days where I didn’t feel as though I was getting anywhere at all.

I’ve constantly measured my range of motion and it’s only now when I actually stop and compare where I started from I realise just how far I’ve come!

So remember, even though there will be days where you feel like you aren’t progressing, just stop and look back at some old photos or think back to how you used to be – I’m sure you’ll realise that all the little disciplines you’ve put into place are absolutely paying off.

(And that’s why we recommend taking a before photo!)

Priorities

I knew from the outset that I was going to lose a lot of muscle mass, and that’s the way it had to be. I just had to accept that. We all have to make sacrifices sometimes to get what we really want. My priority is to have a strong, stable joint, so the focus of my rehabilitation had to be on that.

Sometimes we get so excited about achieving lots of different things with our new-found energy and enthusiasm, but that can cause us to be so overwhelmed that we focus on nothing and get nowhere.

Choose a goal and put everything you have into achieving that – that’s it!

So many lessons from one split-second injury back in January.

But would I change it? No way!

It’s always our biggest challenges that bring us the greatest rewards.

Want to work with me? Why not give our ICE Sessions a go! Get 7 days of training for free and experience our amazing community, fun games (also known as workouts) and lots of laughs. Learn more here!