Aligning Work with Expectations

We’re all guilty of it. Expecting things to get better without doing anything to help.

When I got back from a trip to Asia this past November, I realized that I had somehow injured my right shoulder. Depending on what position I put my shoulder in, I would feel a pinch and a jolt of pain. Even small movements like pulling the blankets over me at night sent a shock through my whole body. I don’t know how it started or when. The whole time I was away I was exercising and never felt even mild discomfort. So the only thing I could think of was something happened on the plane, or I grabbed our bags in an odd way and that set it off.

In the 3 months since I’ve been back, I’ve continued to exercise, while being careful to avoid any movements that hurt or aggravate my shoulder (a lot of running, skiing, and kettlebell swings). But I’ve done nothing proactive. I haven’t used heat or ice. I haven’t worked on my shoulder’s mobility. I haven’t done any rehab exercises. My strategy has mainly been focused on not doing anything to make it worse, and hoping for it to get better.

But it hasn’t improved. And despite doing nothing to help it, I expected by now it would.

I like to use physical examples to make points about how we all live our lives. Exercise, training, physical pain, provide tangible examples that are easier, in my mind, to grasp. If you want to finish a marathon in a certain time, then there are a certain number of miles you’ll need to run each week. There are certain speeds you’ll have to run during training. And it’s very easy to see come race day if you put the work in and what went wrong or right.

Contrast that to something more nebulous like trying to get a promotion at work. You could be the first one at the office very day. Finish all of your projects on time. Hit your monthly quotas. Receive positive feedback on your performance review. And still not get it. What went wrong?

Back to my shoulder. I think a lot of us expect improvement without actually putting in the effort that is required to improve. Not because we’re lazy or unwilling, but because sometimes it’s just easier to wish a problem away, or believe that things will just get better. Or sometimes we think we’re helping, like I did by avoiding movements that aggravated my shoulder, when in reality we’re not.

My shoulder is one example. An achilles injury I suffered 7 years ago that I also never properly rehabbed, expected to get better on its own, and still bothers me to this day, is another.

For a time after leaving my job in 2018, I thought that my dream job was going to just walk up and pinch me, or that I’d meet someone who wanted to run with one of my many ideas. But none of that has happened, even though I believed it would.

It took a few years for me to realize that anything I wanted was only going to come true if I made it happen. The same way I’ve realized over the last few days that my shoulder isn’t getting any better on it’s own, and I need to work on it.

So for the last few days I’ve been doing light shoulder rehab in the morning. A few exercises before I start my day that have helped with other similar injuries. It’ll likely be some time before I feel any improvement, or get back to 100 percent. But at least now I can say that my work is aligned with my expectations.

What’s something you’ve been dealing with and expecting to get better, but looking back haven’t put the work into? How could you align your work with your expectations going forward to realize your desired outcome?

Workout Journal: An Approach to Injuries

The best injury advice I’ve heard is to back off to the point of no pain. If weighted lunges hurt, reduce the weight. If they still hurt, drop the weights and just do bodyweight. If they still hurt, reduce the range of motion (ROM). Still in pain? Reduce the ROM even more. The point is to continue doing the exercises that cause pain, but regressing it to the point where it doesn’t hurt. You don’t want to eliminate the movement, you want to build up your strength and ROM until the pain stops and you’re able to progress pain free.

I used this technique recently and found it to be very effective. My right shoulder has been bothering me when I put it into certain positions, and when I load it with excessive weight. Even though it’s weight I’m able to press, because of the injury, which is likely due to overuse, it causes pain. So I’ve mostly been avoiding strength training, but recently I’ve been jonesing to move some weights, so I did a workout the other day and used this approach to get through it.

Flat bench dumbbell press felt ok as long as I kept my elbows tucked in. A form and ROM modification. When I flared them out, just to feel the difference, even slightly, I felt pain immediately. So I kept them tucked, which put more emphasis on my triceps and front deltoids, and eliminated any pain.

Incline dumbbell flys were in my workout as well, and at first I planned on subbing them out for a gentler and more stable movement. But I decided instead to use the injury advice above. I reduced the weight by 10 - 15 lbs per dumbbell, and I greatly reduced the ROM. To the point where, especially on the first few reps of the first set, it barely looked like I was moving. But by the last few reps of the last set however my ROM had increased almost to normal. And I felt very little pain. Just slight discomfort.

It was my first time really putting this advice into practice and I was really impressed with how well it worked. While it made sense to me when I first read it, there’s nothing like experiencing it for yourself.

In a way I’ve been doing the same thing with my running. Running long and fast (attempting to anyway) causes me great pain because of a chronic injury I sustained a few years ago. But I badly wanted to get back to running regularly. So, I’ve embraced this idea and embarked on a new easier program. I’m running a 5k five times per week on relatively flat ground, with no emphasis on the speed at which I run. I’m just trying to push it right now to the point before pain. 5k seems to be that number and so far it’s working.

A body in motion stays in motion. When you start to avoid certain activities is when your body starts to break down. Avoiding certain exercises starts to atrophy muscle endurance, strength, and mobility. That’s why I agree that it’s important to proceed with the movement that’s bothering you, albeit in a cautious manner. Rest is for broken bones, torn ligaments, and open wounds from surgery and the like, that can only heal with rest over time. For everything else, figure out the limit of the movement and work on getting stronger and more mobile.