I love Olympic weightlifting. I recently competed at an under 23 national competition in Perth. Unfortunately in my last clean and jerk, I went for a personal best of 145kg but felt a pop in my left knee as I caught the barbell. There was no pain during the lift; I got my 145kg PB. After I walked off the platform, my knee was sore; I knew I had injured it. Once back in Brisbane a physio confirmed it- I have a meniscus tear.
Fortunately for me there is a high likelihood of full return to Olympic lifting. This experience shook me, I am a person who was taking preventative measures to not get injured. It triggered thoughts: should I be doing Olympic weighting? Maybe I am not good enough? What am I doing this for? Has all this time I spent on this sport been wasted?
I’m sure many of you can relate to these thoughts when it comes to any area of life, where something doesn’t go the way you wanted it to. This is not the first time I have been injured, I have broken my left arm 3 times and had to go through a lot of rehab in the process. From previous experience it has highlighted the amazing ability the body has to recover and return to sport.
Though those questions were tough to think about, I view them as a blessing. It has reminded me why I started weightlifting. I started because I love the expression of power & mobility from the body. Many of you may have injuries and become frustrated with the lack of progression. Everything is an opportunity. With my knee injured I have more time to focus on study, I can work on strengthening my upper body, I can spend more time with friends & family; but I will return to the sport I love.
Injury and pain are not always the same, my knee hasn’t hurt much during rehabilitation but if I become negative about life them my pain would be far greater. Your mental state in how you handle these challenging times is very important.
It ties into self identity, I remind myself I am a great and valued person because of who I am, not what I do. If I associate my self worth with weightlifting then when that is taken away so is my self worth. You are not what you do, you are an amazing and valued person and then you do things.
