Perspective on injuries

I tore my rotator cuff a few years ago in, shall we say "an athletic endeavor", and had to have the supraspinatus tendon re-attached to my humerus. It kinda sucked at the time, but it's all better (actually, better than it was pre-tear). I was surprised at the comments I got that I was "too young" to tear my rotator cuff, and that it normally happens to older folks when they slip on the ice or something.

Similarly, when I was active in hapkido, one of my classmates had been told by a doctor "you're involved in a martial art - expect to get injured sometimes".

It got me thinking - most everyone sustains injuries at some point. Mark Rippetoe has said "Accumulating injuries are the price we pay for the thrill of not having sat around on our asses", but that's not quite accurate.

Those of us who are more active get injured picking up heavy stuff, falling off rock faces, wrecking our bikes, etc. Those who are sedentary break their ankles when they step off a curb wrong, or slipping on a wet floor. Or they die sitting on the sofa watching tv.

If I'm going to get injured, I want to have a good story and some fun memories to go along with it!

The other side of the coin, however, is that we can't have multiple activities we're willing to get injured for. I have a few people working out at DEFY! who use CrossFit as an adjunct to their primary activity. CrossFit is an excellent training program for fire, police, hockey, martial arts...you name it.

Where I, however, might be willing to push hard enough in my workouts that I strain, pull, pop, or otherwise put-out-of-commission some body part (not saying I WANT to do that, but it happens on occasion), a firefighter or hockey player needs to reserve any injury-time for their chosen field, since they will get injured at some point doing them!

Take-home point: know the risks of any activity you're doing, weigh them against the risks of NOT doing anything, and decide where your priorities are!