ACL rehab
staying motivated

Tips to stay motivated during ACL rehab

Getting injured is an emotional stress as well as a physical one. ACL Rehab can be hard and demanding, you must be prepared. It’s important to stay motivated!

There are many stages in the road to recovery and as everyone’s situation is different, this reflects in a broad variety of rehabilitation and treatment needs. ACL rehab is sometimes quite tough. An ACL recovery goes through ups and downs and you are going to face yourself both mentally and physically. How do you make sure you are always as motivated as possible? What are some tips for this? Here you will find tools what can help you stay motivated.

recovery expectations

ESTABLISH SMALL GOALS

Small goals such as a weight goal for squats in the gym, or improve your 200m/2km/5km run time. It is important to have realistic expectations and celebrate each step toward recovery. It can be hard to see this progress so consider making a journal or chart for each day. Chart the number of steps taken or other milestones.  Be thankful for each small victory to maintain a positive outlook.

SMALL AND SMART GOALS

Your goal is sometimes far, and it is hard to measure it, feel it and fully understand it. Setting smaller goals along the way can be very helpful, especially during your acl rehabilitation when it is very hard to measure your progress by yourself. Example: sign up for a fun run.

Also putting your goals according to the SMART methodology can bring big benefits.

  • Specific
  • Measurable
  • Assignable
  • Realistic
  • Time-related

This method is widely used for goal setting in business development. Why do you not use it in your rehabilitation process?

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WATCH MOTIVATION VIDEOS.

WATCH A MOTIVATIONAL SPORTS MOVIE OR DOCUMENTARY

Videos about the ACL injury from the moment it happened to the operation, the rehab & the comeback. These videos can be experienced as “shocking” but they also provide a lot of interesting information.

acl videos

FIND AN ACL BUDDY 

It takes a level of focused personal discipline to recover as quickly as possible. However, it is not something you have to do alone. If you are going to physical therapy, try to make a friend with someone who is going through a similar experience. You are less likely to skip a session if you have a friend who notices you are not there.

TAKE A BREAK

Having unfamiliar pain and stiffness can be discouraging. Instead of dwelling on your discomfort, try doing something to take your mind off your troubles. Listen to your favorite music, try reading an exciting novel or watching a movie to have a break from your recovery effort.

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CREATE A MUSIC PLAYLIST.

UPDATE YOUR MUSIC PLAYLIST

Music can be a good motivator. Have you noticed that often there is music playing in the background in the physical therapy clinic? Choose your favourite track or make a good playlist for exercising, and you will see how it can improve your mood and give a positive effect on rehab.

Team acl spotify

GOOD HABITS AND ROUTINES

Nobody is motivated all the time. You don’t want your ACL recovery to be threatened every time your enthusiasm drops. Good habits and routines can help with this. That means keeping a regular schedule, eating and exercising healthy, and spending time with people who support your recovery.

HAVE YOUR REHAB PLAN WRITTEN DOWN ON PAPER ER TICK OFF SESSIONS

Like a ‘to do’ list.

TALK TO YOUR PHYSIOTHERAPIES AND FIND WAYS TO SPICE YOUR TRAINING PROGRAM

It can be as easy as changing up your gym routine.

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CREATING AN VISION BOARD OF MOTIVATION

CREATE A VISION BOARD OF MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES AND PICTURES OF THE GOALS OR SPORT YOU’RE WORKING TOWARDS

Vision boards are effective because they are a visual reminder of your intentions and shape your thoughts and actions. Vision boards give you a clear direction for where you want to go in several areas of your life. They allow you to visualize what goals you want to achieve.

Visualization is one of the most powerful mind exercises you can do.
What’s the big secret to creating a vision board that works? It’s simple: Your vision board should focus on how you want to feel, not just on things that you want. Anything that inspires and motivates you can you put on your vision board.

acl rehab vision board

WRITE YOUR REHAB JOURNAL

If things are going well for a while, you have probably made progress that you haven’t noticed yet. Take the time regularly to realize how far you have already come. What have you done recently that wasn’t possible three months or a six months ago? Don’t forget to count each day you sober as an achievement in itself.

HAVE A DAY OR WEEK OFF-TRAINING IF YOU NEED TO TAKE YOUR MIND COMPLETELY FROM REHAB

Refocus and start fresh the next day or week.