Nov 10
30
On the comeback trail-considerations and pitfalls
We all remember that classic scene of Rocky Balboa on the come back trail…repeated multiple times. But the most memorable was the first transformation from the guy down on his luck and using frozen beef to punch his way back to sporting glory. Rocky symbolises the resurrection of the down trodden and frail former alpha personality; from self doubt and pain to strong,dominant and victorious
What on earth are you banging on about Rocky for JC?
I’ve taken on quite a few athletes recently who are on the comeback trail. All share similar characteristics:
-Very successful in their professional career
-Good sporting success at some stage
-Injury or illness that has gradually diminished what they can do sporting wise
-All would fit into the “A” type personality- they like to control, plan, need structure and process, goal driven etc
-All struggle with the fact that injury/illness was unplanned did not fit with their need for personal achievement at all levels
So how do we approach comeback? Anyone who is over 40 feels like they are on a come back each morning they get out of bed 
I see so many people when they get to this point (early 30’s actually) who cant see a way to continue with sport successfully so they give it away all together. In particular the alpha types with their ingrained “goal setting” behaviour if they cant plot their “improvement” in a linear fashion then this is difficult for them to process. In their corporate lives if the sales go down you restructure, fire the sales manager or close the product line. This is great for product line 5672 but you cant close out the product life cycle of your own existence and introduce a new one can you? (Buddhist jokes aside)
Depending on your sex and genetics there is a point where your body’s natural production of growth hormone and other regenerative hormones starts depleting. This slows recovery considerably. The vast majority of people have had to committ to 8hr plus of daily seated activity by this stage. This poses a significant challenge to attempting to retain the ability to move at speed
Furthermore the skeletal system has some parts that have finite lifespans (in particular some of the anti friction and cushioning components (save using all the complex latin which invariably the next orthopod that reads this piece will laugh at). Most of us have had some kind of trauma – collision, breakage, wear and tear or the most common one- carrying too much weight. This leaves permanent damage to some parts
The two most common problems I see as athletes attempt to come back is that they are carrying some kind of long term injury and the fact that it just plain “hurts”- muscles and bones
So whats the plan of attack? Lets acknowledge a few essential things and stuff that people get wrong
-Excessive focus on how one “used to” train
Most of us inherit our training philosophies from our high school or university coaches or our peers when we were last “on fire”. Often how you trained as a 20 year old footballer or a 28 year old Olympic distance athlete and being able to smash yourself every day is just not practical. But we see so many males in particular unable to update their approach to the age of their body -result lack of consistency and frequently injury
Excessive Focus on Results Rather Than Participation
Part of becoming a mature age athlete is recognising that you are driving a vehicle with more km on it. A 1950 Ferrari will go friggen fast but only if it has a lot of maintenance -there are not too many mechanics around who know how to do it-and you cannot expect to go it that hard every day. For that you buy a new M3 and thrash away all you like. The good news is triathlon is not a race every day. You only have to get the Ferrari going 5-6 times a year a top speed- so there is plenty of opportunity to still get results but one has to be a lot more selective. An older athlete needs to learn how to enjoy just being out there. Invariably this will mean getting overtaken frequently in training or beaten in races by younger people. I see so many guys who just cant let it go and have to win the Wednesday pissing contest- but are constantly injured or tired, fighting it, taking every session with gnashing teeth like they would unpleasant medicine- they never last.
Finding a balance between being too soft and too hard
Most of us have been exposed to the HTFU/harden up style coach..ie If it hurts just push through it approach. The converse to this is those who believe that you should never train through pain or discomfort. Modern health professionals must dispense this advice and it is very good advice for 98% of the population and for them (they’ll get sued otherwise). Its also an epidemic in modern life that people just cant face physical discomfort and need a pill, a personal trainer or an excuse to take it away……..where do we find the balance?
I think you have to look at both hemispheres. Lets take arthritic conditions for instance, osteoporosis is extremely common in adult population. It happens because of wear and tear, accidents, sporting age or just being unhealthy (weight, diet etc) . The outcome of this is that peoples bones have lumps and bits missing which makes movement painfull. So what do you do if you have arthritic pain (I do)? Do you stop moving if it hurts or do you push through a bit. What I have experienced and read is that if you keep working the mobility and against a bit of pain you can actually slow down the onset of these limiters. You can stop those nodules of bone forming and fibrous scar tissue remaining. We have to be sensible and tune into what are Docs are telling us but I think its good to recognise the opportunity to be different from 98% of the population who will give up
They will not attempt “a comeback” or attempt stretching their sore hammy each morning “because it hurts too much for them” . Their training mates dont seem to do it (even though they need to) and they think they look alright/run alright “for their age”. The dont want to face accepting they have a structural defect that needs to be fixed long term. This is the price of a comeback that they wont pay. If it were a crack in a beam in their house they would be freaking out- but because its hidden under skin and the latest Assos kit they stretch it over their belly and ride off in denial.
On the other end of the spectrum you have those that just want to charge back into everything. They go from no running to 5x a week for 10 weeks trying to tick off an Ironman program because their ankle has been “fixed” by the surgeon and only a softc^&@ would give up. These same people tend to specialise in racing about once in 5 years and each time they “come back” its with another 5kg on board. Each time they come back they continue to smash away attempting to regain the former “hardness” of their 20’s or early 30’s. These guys sometimes squeeze out a couple of months of good results before disappearing back to the retirement bench and kitchen again. Not a good long term health model.
Part of a successful comeback is recognizing whether you are too hard or too soft by nature. Adjust to find the middle ground
Rehabilitation outside of straight repetition?
Riding is the best thing to improve your riding correct? Want to swim better just swim more? Want to get back to running …just run right? Yes the principal of specificity applies- these are the most relevant activities. But now of this reflects the quality of how we perform these activities
Sit back on your local park bench and observe people running buy-you’ll get the usual cross spectrum of people- A teenager running loose and free, a young footballer smashing fast repeats looking strong, now here comes Fred…
Fred is wearing two knee braces and a footy jumper (he played at a high level in the 1960’s) Fred shuffles through 25 k every Sunday morning. Every step hurts- he barely lifts his feet off the ground-you know the type. Just smashing it out and suffering. Now here comes Suzy the middle age mother – she has no glute strength and no hammie flexibility- she runs bent over in the middle and looks terrible. She once ran well at school and damned if she needs coaching or help in the gym- she knows running and her body-she just needs to do more of it and stay away from the Tim Tams (thats her story)
Now here comes another “type” the middle age triathlete- his technique is better than these two but his back hurts, his stride is short and he cant run any quicker than 6mins a km. Ned,lets call him runs 6x a week but never faster than 6m/k. Ned survives 40km running weeks training for his “smash my mates” week at Noosa but never improves his time. Why?
Ned,Fred and Suzy just keep running- as older athletes they haven’t recognised the need to do rehabilitation or something different. They cant run naturally like the teenager any more. If you had a car that old you would do an overhaul right?
The best thing for Ned might actually spending some time doing running drills. Maybe not running every day/resting more. Maybe doing some shorter runs at difference paces. Spend some time in a yoga class or the gym. Not more of the same just hoping that something will come good- praying for the magic comeback.
So before you attempt a comeback use your head- approach it with some structure and science. Find a balance between being hard and soft. Be open minded to training differently.
