Picture this: It’s the 8th week in a row of your knee rehab program, and you just can’t stomach doing another wall sit for 55 seconds (5 seconds more than last week, woo).
“I miss that” you think to yourself as you look over at a person back squatting. “I wonder how much longer it’s going to take until I can do that again”. Your therapist says it’s not long now, and you can feel the gradual improvements each week, but it feels like it’s taking forever.
If you’ve ever felt like this, you are 100% not alone.
Rehab is HARD – it’s a long, unfun process that you HAVE to do (unfortunately, there’s no cheating it). So here are some tips to help survive the inevitable burnout symptoms that arise.
1. Recognise the symptoms
Like anything, the first step is noticing you are feeling jaded towards the process. Did I just have a bad day and that’s impacting my rehab sessions? Or, have I been feeling increasingly more and more disgruntled every time I come to the gym?
Chat with your therapist as the first point of call – they are your lighthouse in the storm. A good practitioner will help your find reference to where you are, where you were and where you want to be – sometimes it’s a matter of having someone help you zoom out to see the progress you’ve made, and how far you’ve really come
2. Maintain the fun somewhere
Whilst you’re rehabbing, there’s no reason you can’t set some training goals for other unaffected parts of the body. Maybe its a bench press PR, a swimming lap record or just hitting arms 3 times a week to help you keep your sanity alongside the knee rehab.
3. Use this time to branch out and try other hobbies
A lot of people’s identity is heavily tied to their workout routine, and that’s natural as it’s a big part of expressing our physical self. So, when you can’t work out like normal, it’s easy to feel disconnected. Using this time to explore other hobbies and activities, old or new, is a great way to reduce the frustration that builds in the gym.
4. Expectations
This is an important one. The expectations we set on ourselves will heavily dictate how we feel with our outcomes. Rehab journeys are long, bumpy roads – give yourself a break! You aren’t expected to heal like Wolverine, and it can take time for the body to feel like it’s back to where it was pre-injury. Focus on small rehab goals you can tick off easily that stack up week to week.
5. Lastly, community – have a good support network
It’s likely the feelings of rehab burnout will ebb and flow during a recovery process. Whether it’s friends in the gym, family at home, or your therapist, having people you can trust to vent to or talk about things is important. One of them will likely be going through, or has gone through, something similar and can empathise.
Rehab burnout is a very real thing, but hopefully this list helps you find a way through it.