Latest / The ACL Athlete Podcast / 116 | One Key Factor That Sets Good vs. Great ACLers Apart

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116 | One Key Factor That Sets Good vs. Great ACLers Apart · The ACL Athlete Podcast

• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome everyone to the ACL Athlete Podcast.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: This is the podcast where we talk about everything related to the ACL, whether that's the injury itself, the rehab process, return to sport, and more.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Ravi Patel, performance physical therapist and coach.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Between myself and fellow guests and experts, you'll learn through the lens of the patient, the healthcare professional, and the coach.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: The goal of this podcast is to equip you, the athlete, with the education to make the best informed decision about your care and your ACL journey.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for joining.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's dive into today's episode.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: What is up, team?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: We are back with another episode 116, one key factor that sets good versus great ACLers apart.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: So what is it?
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: You could have the best surgeon, you could have the best physical therapist, you could have the best coach, the best program, the best support system.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you're probably thinking, yeah, that's pretty solid.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'd definitely take those things.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um yeah, I would too.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: These are awesome resources.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're not utilizing these resources, if you have the best ACL program that potentially exists on the planet, side note, there's not one.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if there is one that exists and you're not doing it, then it's really not the best program.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: And so a lot of this kind of comes back to the ACLer and the work that they are doing and putting in that is truly going to moot the needle and is going to help set the good versus the great.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And while not everyone is going to fit perfectly into this, and we'll talk about factors here in a second, but there are a lot of things that we can't just reduce down to one specific thing of why that is, because each person's context is so different.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: But I do want to say that after us working with hundreds of ACLers, with seeing the people who absolutely crush it versus those who maybe just get by, or they're just like, this is good enough, or they don't really get to that end goal of clearance and getting back to 100% themselves.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: Outside of the external factors that could play into this, the one thing that can play into this is having a very specific goal and an end destination versus just kind of being vague with what your goals are.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: And there's nothing wrong with just wanting to get back to normal and to being 100%, if you will, and just be active.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: There's nothing wrong with that.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: And we've got plenty of ACLers who want to do that.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: But what we do is we try to dive specifically into their goals and the things that just kind of drive them and that give them their why.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then that way we can make sure that we connect those pieces to why it is that we're going through this process.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because as you guys all know, it's so freaking long and you're gonna burn out at some point.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: There's not a single ACL or that works through this process that doesn't have some ebb and flow of a burnout.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just because of how long it is.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: When you're looking at nine to 12 plus months, it's just going to be a lot.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And as a coach and physical therapist, we have to be aware of when these situations can happen and also talking with athletes, understanding why that is that it can occur.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: You know, sometimes we'll see there's a honeymoon phase of the post-op where people will be like, all right, I'm gonna do this.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe it's not as smooth, or maybe they're just having to just continue to keep working on things.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: It really is like a part-time job to some degree to just kind of constantly be focused on working on this ACL rehab.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: I've done two of them, trust me.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I totally understand where this goes and how it feels.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And there are many times where I felt this, but a lot of times we'll sometimes see where people are kind of in that three-month mark where they're just like dreading, like continuing to work.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so it can really ebb and flow.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is where I want to really get specific on what that key factor is, and it's the specific goals, and that's what really helps us to see these ACLers who really do keep pushing forward, and sure, they might even get burned out in the process sometimes as it comes to them.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: But we got to stay ahead of these things and we got to continue to anchor to their goals and their why.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, this is not an absolute or perfect reason, as everyone's got their own different factors that play into this, such as even own personalities.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like sometimes type A people tend to be much better because they're on top of things, they communicate well, they don't like to leave any details out, but sometimes it can also make them hyper focus on things.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: So there's always different personalities that cater to this, maybe people who are more chill, who are maybe a little bit lazier by personality, don't want to do things as much.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: You know, personality plays a lot into this.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then you have life circumstances, you might have kids, you know, you might just have a busy schedule with work.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Context is so important within this.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then there's history and complexity of the injury itself, the surgery, so many different layers to this, etc., that I can't just say with certainty that this is the only reason why.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: But if we look at the history of the people we've worked with, the people who show up, who do the things, who end up getting to that end process, I think having a very specific target, a specific end destination helps them so much.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we see them get to those goals a bit more versus the people who are like, yeah, I just want to be active.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little less focused, and there's maybe not as much drive towards those goals.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the thing that I want to focus on here today because when we look at our history of ACHELLES we've worked with and talked with, from the youth athletes to the older athletes, the people who do the best are those who are focused on getting back specifically to something.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: Their goals are more concrete, works even better when there is a healthy pressure of a timeline.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I know I talked to you guys about timelines, you know, trying to get back to something in three months or six months.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: It just depends on if it's feasible for your case.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, if you're talking about more high impact, more dynamic, more demanding things for the ACL, like cutting and pivoting, then you're looking at nine plus months.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's just the reality of what the research is.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: And that helps to frame the expectations.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: But knowing that maybe there is nine to 12 months plus where you're gonna be working, but maybe at that nine month mark, you're like, I'm gonna set something here and try to achieve it.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's a competition, maybe it's a season, maybe it's a run of some sorts.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot of people that we talk to where we're just like, hey, like let's let's see if we can dial in something that is gonna be more tangible than like I just want to get back to this eventually.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: Because then it's just an arbitrary time point.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And what we end up falling to actually is this concept of Parkinson's law.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And Parkinson's law is essentially you just kind of fill up the time you have available to do the said task or thing.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: And this is very common in whether it's school or whether it's in work.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: It's something where, like, let's say, for example, you have a project and it takes three days to do it versus three months.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: Well, if it's in three days, you're probably gonna get it done.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then if it's in three months, you'll probably fill up that time of three months to really work on it or maybe procrastinate, prep for it, do some research, and then eventually get it done.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: But it kind of lingers as a project for three months instead of getting it done in three days, which is actually the real time frame that it probably would have taken to get it done, anyways.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_00: I am so guilty of Parkinson's law with work.
• 8:10
  SPEAKER_00: It is so tough, especially when you're trying to build your own schedule and trying to time block and things like that.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: Things just flow over.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so you have to have deadlines and you need to be targeted.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of the same thing here.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: If you have time available, then you might not just be in a rush to kind of get back to the thing.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: But it can be a double-edged sword.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: You have to find the sweet spot, not too early and not too late.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where the smart goals or something that's realistic, that's very tangible, that is measurable with a time base, you know, all those things that we usually use as that framework is something that's important to anchor yourself to so you have something to motivate you towards to create some drive and to help dig into your why of why you're showing up and why you're doing all these things in your ACL rehab.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that I think can be interesting to highlight here is especially if your normal everyday life is not impacted as much, you can sometimes see almost that importance or that priority factor decrease a little bit.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: And what I mean here is that people care a lot post-op because their life is very much impacted.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are fresh, you're in pain, you're limited in range of motion, you're on crutches, uh, your daily life is very extremely impacted because you can't shower normally, you can't walk normal, you can't take stairs, you can't drive.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: There are a lot of things that are impacting your life.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: So then we have almost this kind of desire to work harder to make sure that we uh get back to our normal daily life.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: These are our activities of daily living.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then sometimes what we could see is almost like this kind of fade of importance sometimes if people do not have tangible goals at the end because their life daily lives aren't as an impact as they're like, uh, like, you know, if I skip this workout here, I'm okay.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'll just make it up later.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that ends up accumulating, and that's the thing that can almost like hinder you from making the progress that you want.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: And while this isn't always the case, this is something that we see with people who might not have the specific goals or something to aim towards.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why we're stressing the importance of why that can be so helpful.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: A specific goal and a healthy timeline to get there is important.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: We want that pressure.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: I think putting time on it is healthy to have certain expectations.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I think where we run into trouble is whenever there's a mismatch between the timeline and potentially what your true goals are.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is just kind of where protocols miss the mark of specific individual differences, as well as like what are the true qualities in this ACL rehab process that we need to build up.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: And we just kind of rush it in general, anyways.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you've got six to nine months to be able to prep yourself really well, then there's no reason to rush some of these pieces.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think sometimes we just don't focus on the right pieces to begin with.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's what can kind of make it tough a little bit.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: But having a healthy timeline, I think is important too, in order to make sure we are staying on track.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's a plan and we have a destination that we're working towards.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, this doesn't necessarily mean that you have to have a competition set or you need to be able to be ready by this specific date.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I do think help having something specific can help to just kind of set your sights on something.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it is something important to consider.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And the people who kind of come to mind to me are the people who are like, all right, I have this BJJ tournament that I want to be able to compete in by X timeframe.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: And they give themselves a healthy time frame.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about the expectations of where they are and what we kind of perceive in this process.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we just kind of like lay out some things, some long-term goals, short-term goals.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then even let's say, for example, ski season's approaching, a specific soccer game or a particular race or hike you want to hit, but it just needs to be targeted enough for you to have something that it means and something to dig into your why.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we even have some people who are like, well, I just want to run around with my kids.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, okay, well, what does that bring you?
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: And they're just like, you know, I just want to be able to like pick them up and chase them around, and that's awesome.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then we'll talk about like anything that's coming up with their kids, whether it's like a sport or practice, you know, playing soccer with them or kicking with them.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: We start to tie these things towards some tangible goals versus it just being a bit more arbitrary.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: Then it allows you to feel like you're setting your side on a true destination, like a GPS system.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine you get in your car and you're trying to go somewhere and you don't really necessarily have point B.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like you're at point A and you're just trying to figure out what point B is, but you're just kind of like, uh, it's it's somewhere in like Georgia.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know where, but we're just gonna have to keep driving for it.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Or is it going from, you know, Folkston, my hometown, to Atlanta?
• 13:06
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, cool.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: Can we get even more specific to that?
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, yeah, I want to go from the Okie Funoki swamp in Folkestone to uh Fox Brothers in Atlanta, which by the way, amazing barbecue place in Atlanta if you ever come here.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: But with that said, we have a solid point A and a solid point B.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And with that, we can also calculate the traffic.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: We can understand what the roadmap's gonna look like.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: And you know what?
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: If there is gonna be traffic, or maybe there's a uh roadblock or something that comes along the way, a barrier of some sort, we can take a detour and get a re-estimation of time.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: But if we're just kind of like we're gonna go to North Georgia, it's a bit vague and it's gonna be harder for us to lock in an estimation of time and also kind of the roadmap to get there.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is the thing that can be helpful is having a specific goal or something surrounding a goal, sport, activity of some sort.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, having a realistic set of expectations where you estimate, let's say you're starting post op and you're aiming for nine to 12 months out, depending on the goal.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_00: Well, that can really be helpful.
• 14:11
  SPEAKER_00: And if you have these uh components with it, then you tend to be someone who has better outcomes, and that's what we see with our ACLers.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to have a specific target and the healthy pressure.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: You realize each day is important and you can't just procrastinate, especially when each step kind of builds on top of the next.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing that we see with these ACLers who do have these specific goals that they target is that they tend to also be better communicators overall.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: If they're aiming for something and they want to get there, then they communicate really well, they provide feedback, they're in tune and on the same page versus some people who maybe it's a little bit more vague, they don't have a time base, and the outcome is get there when I get there.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_00: And you might be an ACL or who's dealing with a lot of setbacks or complex knee injury.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: You still might have something set up and more specific.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: And sometimes I know when you have multiple setbacks, it's a little harder to get in tune with this because you don't want to keep setting yourself up for disappointment.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: But that's where working with someone who's a really good guide, a really good coach, and a good physical therapist is gonna be helpful because they can help to anchor some realistic expectations, set up some short-term goals to help build towards long-term goals, but it's still gonna be very important regardless of your situation.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I understand that you just want to like lower the blow by not necessarily having any specific goals, but I still think it's very healthy to have them and to have time set on them.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: So then that way you can work towards them.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you don't hit them, it'll still put the pressure on you to work hard.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then that way you can even move the goalpost or that target a little further than what you expected, but your goal is to still get there.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: So if you find yourself stuck, dig into why that is.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: See if you have a very specific goal.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: If you do, then that's awesome.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't, then create one.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Find something that you can anchor yourself to that feels like a very solid point B, and one that's going to excite you to show up and do the work, one that creates a healthy amount of pressure of time, and one that forces you to communicate because each conversation, each day, all the details are going to be important to hit that goal.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so this is something that time and time and again I wanted to share because we see this with our ACLers who are the great ones and who make it through, even if it takes them much longer.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: We've got people who are a year out, two years out, who have had such a heck of a problem and they might not have come to us initially, but that doesn't mean they're still not working really hard towards these goals.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: We have I have one person in particular in mind, she's two years out.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: She had a complex, complex knee issue, and it's been a hard, rough journey.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: And for her, she has been setting her sights on one particular goal.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And even though she hasn't been able to hit that in the understood timeline of a nine to 12 month timeline, she's still aiming for it.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's something that's keeping her going and is helping her to continue to make progress, even though it's been a hard, rough two years.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: She's getting there and she's slowly seeing that through and through.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, this is something that I wanted to help share and to communicate to you guys because I think it could be a very helpful thing that we don't think about.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And we just don't want to get by in this process.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: We want to get back to better than you were before.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's our goal with our ACLers.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's the goal that I teach all of you to make sure you strive for.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be just good enough.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: Don't settle for that.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're here on earth for a very short period of time.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Work really hard, strive towards something that you care about that gets you out of bed every day.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: I know all this stuff is cheesy, but at the end of the day, that's what this is for and that's what's important.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: So go get after it with this.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: Find a very specific reason why.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And make sure if you're the person who's standing in the good versus great column, put yourself in the great column and be proud of that and make sure that you're aiming towards a reason why you're trying to do that versus just settling for good enough.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: We're not here for that.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: Not at the ACL Athlete, not on this podcast.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: So keep working hard.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: If you need anything, you know where to find us.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: This is your host, Robbie Patel, signing off.