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Training usually teaches us how to get stronger. Injury and surgery can teach us something harder: How to keep going when strength looks nothing like it used to.
After shoulder surgery, followed by months of illness, I learned how quickly momentum can disappear when movement is taken away. Strength, energy, confidence and even your sense of identity can unravel faster than you expect. What caught me off guard was not the physical recovery, but the mental one.
During that period, my depression deepened. My OCD became louder and more relentless. Without the structure and outlet that training gave me, my thoughts spiralled. I found myself trying to cope in ways that did not serve me, including harsh self-talk. Not because I wanted to sabotage myself but because I was struggling and trying to quiet the noise.
This is the part of injury and recovery we do not talk about enough. When movement stops, coping mechanisms are exposed. If training has been your anchor, losing it can feel like losing your footing altogether. That is also why I have stepped away from personal training for a few months. Not because I do not care, or because I am done but because I need to put myself first. Recovery is not just physical. To come back well, I needed to give myself the same permission I so often encourage others to give themselves.
That is why pre-habilitation matters more than we realise. Not just for injury prevention or physical outcomes, but for resilience. For knowing your body. For trusting yourself. For having enough internal and physical capacity that when life interrupts your routine, you are not starting from nothing.
Pre-hab is not about being unbreakable. It is about building movement capacity, strength, confidence and self-trust, before things get hard. It is about knowing you can adapt, even when your usual tools are taken away.
Mindset matters just as much. There were days when everything felt heavier than it should have. On those days, progress looked like getting out of bed, asking for help and letting others carry me when I could not carry myself. That mattered as much as any training block ever has.
If you are heading into surgery, coming back from injury or quietly navigating something heavier than you let on. I hope this reminds you of this: strength does not disappear when you stop moving.
It changes shape.
If you or someone you know is going through something similar, I am always happy to chat, or you can reach out to a Les Mills Personal Trainer for support.