Where is My Mojo Part 3 - The Comeback

In the previous 2 posts, I spoke about a couple different ways we can lose our mojo. Mojo meaning our desire and drive for an exercise program. It can be hard to regain your mojo, once it is lost, and sometimes Life makes this more difficult by throwing a whammy at us, bringing our momentum to a grinding halt. Maybe it's a long vacation, a series of short vacations or an injury that may take more than a couple weeks for recovery. For a lot of people, coming back from such a long layoff will seem daunting at best, impossible at worst. Here are a couple of ways to counteract those feelings and get back on track:

Know That Your Hard Work Is Not Lost

The sense that you could work on something for a period of time, toil over it and then lose everything that you have worked for is just gone is a terrible, disheartening feeling. If you've ever forgot to save something on your computer, you know what I mean. It's more than just the time it would take to redo what you've lost, it is a major psychological blow. When it comes to physical activity though, no matter how long the layoff, none of the training you've ever done in any sport, or even just physical activity in general, is ever lost. Muscles atrophy, sure, skills can decline, absolutely, but it's never all lost. You are still in plus territory, even if other things occur like weight gain, age, etc. Your chances of getting back to a good routine are much statistically higher than someone who has never started BUT don't let that knowledge allow you to put off your comeback!

Avoid the Spiral

Unfortunately, our brains are not always helpful during any kind of a layoff. They tell us things like, "Ugh, I feel so out of shape" and "I used to look so much better and now, I've just let it all go', "I'll never get back to where I was" etc. etc. The sad irony here is that for many of us, telling ourselves these things doesn't actually bring about a call to action but quite the opposite. It discourages us and defeats us, making it harder to get back into a program. This is the same with dieting for many of us too. We have a bad day where our diet restrictions are broken, we feel terrible about it, then we eat those feelings. It can be very difficult to change your self-talk, especially negative self-talk but here is one trick I learned that actually worked surprisingly well for me: Tell yourself to shut up. Immediately. Immediately being the key and I'm not joking here either. Here is an example:

"I used to look so better and now, I've--STOP!"

"I'll never get back to whe--STOP!!"

Literally yell "STOP" in your head as soon as you feel those thoughts creeping in. Don't entertain the thoughts, don't even let your mind finish saying them. Just interrupt with a resounding, powerful "STOP!" And your brain likely will stop, at least for a second. But when it starts up again - STOP! Okay, okay, but here it goes again and STOP! Keep yelling that, the instant you feel the thought. Don't wait even more than a split second. Don't consider these thoughts on any level. Nipping them in the bud like this can actually work. It's almost like when you feel the hiccups coming on. If you hold your breath immediately, you can shut the hiccups down. If you wait too long, you are stuck with hiccups for a while.

Stay Mentally Engaged

There are some good things you brain can do for you doing the layoff. It can stay mentally engaged with what you were doing and want to get back to some day. So if it's boxing, watch boxing videos on Youtube. Watch different fighters. Read about boxing. Read about fitness training in general. Just because your body can't do it, doesn't mean your brain can't. But won't that just make it worse on you? Make you feel worse for NOT being about to exercise while it still occupies your mind? That sounds like a negative, not useful thought so.....STOP!

Most of this is mental. It really is. We tend to divide our lives into chapters, of sorts. If you are doing something like boxing and really into it for a while, that becomes a chapter. But if you take a long vacation, are rehabbing an injury, or just are away from boxing for a while, that chapter tends to close. Doesn't mean you can't start a new chapter but if you are able to stay mentally engaged, there is less of a hard end to the original chapter and thus, getting back into it feels more like a continuation, rather than a full restart.

Some Physical Engagement Too

Taking those examples again - a vacation, an injury or life change that prevents you from doing your normal exercise routine - there still may be ways to stay physically engaged. In the case of an injury, of course you want to clear all of this with your doctor. Maybe you can get a walk in? Maybe you could bust out 5 push-ups? Or 10? In the case of boxing, maybe you can practice footwork only. Anything you can do to keep some form of physical activity in your life while still unable to do your regular exercise routine can be very useful, for both body and mind.

Beware the Double-Whammy

Let's say you, after that long layoff, finally make your comeback and get back to your exercise program. Woo-hoo! Congratulations! I know it was not easy. Instead of being rewarded by The Universe for your impressive achievement, it immediately throws another curveball. Like maybe you just got back from vacation, ready to get back into the swing of things, and then bam! You get sick. Or something unavoidable happens to prevent you from returning to your old routine/exercise program. The ol' double-whammy. It happens far more often than it should. And it very well may happen to you.

So what do you do about the double-whammy? If this DW is truly unavoidable, you have no control, that is true. But it is one of those cases where even though you can't change the thing itself, you can change the way you think about the thing. My recommendation is to simply laugh. Picture those little creatures from the 80s game show, Press Your Luck, that were actually called "Whammies', if you remember them. Laugh because this is Life just trying to mess with you. It thinks it will stop your comeback but haha, you're not going to let it. Nice try, Life. Sure you may not be able to resume your routine for a little while longer and yes, that sucks, but you will ultimately triumph. This will be a blip on the radar, as I sometimes say. Instead of letting that negative self-talk creep in, shut it down and try some positive self-talk. Your laugh is a laugh of superiority because you know you cannot be stopped. And that no matter how hard life hits, you're going to just keep getting up over and over again.

Boxing is full of great comeback stories. The one most refer to as "The Greatest," Muhammad Ali, was unable to box during his prime physical peak years. He left as the champion, came back years later, and then lost his first big fight back. But he kept coming and reclaimed his belt, cementing his legacy of one of boxing's best, most beloved fighters. And I can't imagine he had a lot of negative self-talk going on in his head either. In fact, Ali was the first person I recall in any sport who called himself the Greatest. He said it over and over again. Whether it was true or it wasn't, he believed it and I can't imagine he could have achieved what he did without this kind of positive self-talk. Try it for yourself!