Latest / The ACL Athlete Podcast / 100 | Forward Thinking & Backwards Planning for ACL Rehab

Transcript

100 | Forward Thinking & Backwards Planning for ACL Rehab · 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.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: What's up, guys?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: In the spirit of the holidays and the new year and Christmas, we're gonna start off with a little joke.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: What do you call a snowman with a six-pack?
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: Abdominal snowman.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: Another one.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: What does a gingerbread man use if he breaks his leg?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: A candy cane.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we just have to lighten things up because we take life too seriously, and ACL rehab can have its ups and downs, and there can be a lot of downs.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that that was a filling for you as we round out this 2022 year.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: And today is also our hundredth episode.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: And when I first started this podcast, I was like, I don't know what's gonna happen.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: You guys have heard me before.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: I thought my wife was gonna be the only person to listen to this.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And now we get messages every single week from you guys talking about how the podcast has helped you in so many different situations.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: So so thankful to be able to do a hundred episodes so far, and we've still got many, many more to go.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_00: So pumped.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: And it's pretty cool that it timed up with the last episode for the end of the year, and so that is just perfect.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that's gonna bridge us into what the topic for today is, and that is forward thinking and backwards planning for ACL rehab.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so last week, if you tuned in, we talked about reflecting.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: We really did a look back on the year of 2022, and so you can almost look at this as like a one of two-part series.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are listening to this, go back and listen to episode 99 where it's looking back in your ACL rehab, as that'll be really helpful to step into this episode, episode number 100.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: So do me a favor, go do that.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's basically a year in review, and even if you're listening to this later on in 2023 or beyond, it'll still apply so well.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: So go do that and then come back to this episode.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are going to be all focused on what's ahead 2023.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: And this is always fun because we get to dream, we get to think about our goals, we get to kind of round out this year and kind of feel almost like there's a chapter that is ending, and we get to start a new year, especially as we've seen kind of COVID take over the past two years, which is still so crazy to look back and think, but now we feel a bit freer, less restricted by that.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: And we are in this for our own personal journey, our ACL journey to grow ourselves and be the best humans we can be, right?
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: And so we are looking at 2023, what lies ahead, our goals, and with the momentum to hit the year hard, and typically the new year's resolutions are coming around.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: You guys are getting set potentially for making these resolutions, maybe getting into the gym more, eating better, maybe it's going on more walks, or maybe it's working less.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many things that we're gonna hope that we learn from 2022 that we're gonna hopefully change or aim for in 2023.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so this episode is all focused on action items of thinking about how you can go about your 2023 and for what you have ahead to plan and to have things laid out and to be able to have pivoting options in order to make the most of your year ahead.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I want to talk about is that we have this tendency to go all or nothing, especially when it comes to the new year and new year's resolution.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so my recommendation here is to do that reflection that we discussed in episode 99.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Then sit with those exact same buckets and areas and think about what the goals you have set for 2023.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then when we're thinking about these, don't try to do them all at once.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: So don't try to do the all or nothing of like, all right, I'm gonna go a perfect diet and I'm going to go to the gym five times a week and all these things, especially knowing how you're coming into the year and what your normal habits are.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I have personally done this the hard way over the years where I try to chase everything and try to crush it at the beginning of the year, and you do this all or nothing approach, and then what comes to mind is this Confucius uh phrase, which is the man who chases two rabbits catches neither.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: So what ends up happening is that you end up trying to do too much and you end up chasing a lot of things, or you might even burn yourself out, and then you'll end up missing some pieces to it, and then that all or nothing approach will kick in.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so if you're like, all right, if I've already kind of broken this habit, might as well just kind of break it.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: A good example of this is when people want to eat healthier, so they start off with that intent and they do the all or nothing.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna eat healthy all day, every day, and then they crave that cheeseburger, or maybe it's the cheesecake, or maybe it's a cookie, or whatever it is.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: And at the end of the day, life is short, so enjoy those things.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_00: So don't ever think you need to eat healthy every meal seven days a week.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there are definitely rules to this, and it even helps your psychology for this.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: But most people will go really hard and they will not allow themselves to indulge in anything that they love.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens is that they end up choosing the cheeseburger or the cookie, and then they think, well, I've already broken the habit, so since I can't be health all healthy, all or nothing, might as well not do it.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then the habit kind of trickles, or it might be I'll start on Monday, or I'll start next week, or I'll start in a month, and then months go by, and then you're like, How did I get here?
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: So instead, just eat the cheeseburger or eat the cookie or cheesecake, then go back to the next meal with the same goal of just making sure that you are staying steady towards that goal of what you want to do, which is eating healthier for a number of reasons.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: Think about why.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: That might be because you want to cut down on some weight or you might want to build some muscle or recover in this race ACL rehab process, or maybe it just makes you feel better.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: But don't let that habit break, and that all comes back to planning.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so set realistic goals and get focused on them and set a realistic plan from those goals, and don't think to have this all or nothing approach.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if you do break it, get right back on track as quickly as you can.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: This all brings me to the title of this episode, which is forward thinking and backwards planning.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And this is something that I heard from Nick Bear of the Bear Performance Podcast and Bear Performance Nutrition.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: He is an awesome dude.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: I respect the guy a lot, and he puts out a lot of really good content, and their their company itself does really well in terms of promoting just human beings and performance.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: So check them out if you haven't.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: No affiliations whatsoever.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: Just love a good brand and love a good company whenever they're doing good work.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: But Nick Bear is this guy who was an army ranger, and now he's this like heck of a crazy hybrid athlete who runs this company.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: And he used this simple framework that I loved a lot.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of us do this naturally.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_00: And it's actually how us at the ACL athlete how we plan with goals with the company and business, with development, and especially with each of our athletes in ACL rehab.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And the thing that we usually term this is called reverse engineering from the end goal.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a pretty common thing you will hear in different spaces of basically having a goal and reverse engineering from that goal to know how you need to get there.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: You guys have heard me talk about it before of trying to find your point A and your point Z, and then having that next point, which is point B, to get you closer to that goal.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a lot of different ways to think about it.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_00: And the way that I want to bring this episode to light is to give you a little bit more of a tactical approach and feedback with this framework of forward thinking and backwards planning.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: So you forward think and then you backwards plan.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So forward thinking, so thinking about the year, the months, the week, the day of what it's going to look like, and your goals you have set.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's what these are anchored to.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then you're gonna backwards plan.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: So the same thing as reverse engineering to make sure you've built a specific plan for what's ahead.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I actually like this a lot with goal planning.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: For example, you're going away on a vacation for a week and need to forward think about your goals and that vacation you'll be on.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: So that's gonna change your schedule and how that impacts those goals and how you have to backwards plan for it to still try to move forward towards those goals, but you're gonna have a change in your schedule and your routine and things to come.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: And the other thing I like with this is also for the day-to-day.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: So let's take, for example, it's a normal week in 2023 coming ahead.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: You're back into the normal routine, you're forward thinking, you have your normal work week, or maybe it's a school week, except you have a few meetings with your boss, professor, whoever it is.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: So that's gonna come onto the schedule that are kind of outside of your work hours.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe you have to go to a doctor's visit or you have some sort of errand run, and that's gonna take a lot more time than you think.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: So that's gonna, you know, occupy some time on a specific day.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, and you're going out of town on Thursday, you had training and your ACL rehab scheduled for maybe it was Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and you realize because of these meeting times, the doctor's visits, and being out of town from Thursday and on is going to significantly impact your week and especially your training, which is therefore going to impact your progress and getting towards your ACL goals.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: How many of you listening to this feel very familiar?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: You're like, all right, I had this this week ahead and I was going to do all this stuff for ACL rehab, but what ends up happening is that the week gets in the way, you had to pivot your plans, which is happens all the time.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: But it's one of those things that could have potentially been avoided or easily adjusted if we had a plan in place from our forward thinking.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But then we need to backwards plan to make sure those items don't continue to stand in the way.
• 11:49
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's adjusting the days you typically train, maybe it's the time on those days, maybe you end up finding a gym on the weekend while you're away from Thursday to Sunday that you can go to.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_00: This also plays into maybe your nutrition because of the uh doctor visit and the meetings and being away, your nutrition is going to be impacted.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you are having a certain set of calories you're taking in or protein.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have to like pack an extra meal.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't really know that unless you knew that those times were being changed, and you could only know that from forward thinking about your week and your day-to-day.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: This also follows into your recovery, your stress, all those different pieces, and being able to essentially be able to be planned out for all of those things, and the better you'll be able to stay steady with your goals.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: The easier it also is to be able to pivot if needed, and especially if anything unexpected happens.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I love this because it can be applied across so many different scenarios from the year planning to more so I love it for the week to week and day to day, because that's where it's really going to matter, and that's where it's easier to fall off and let these things repeat, and then all of a sudden you find yourself realizing you only hit it one time that week, or you might have skipped certain meals, or you might have lacked on your sleep.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: So this allows you to plan appropriately, and of course, knowing that things are never going to be perfect.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can plan and plan and plan, and you might not be able to adjust some of the things like the certain meeting, or maybe you had a late dinner with some friends, and then you also had an early morning the next day.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So there are certain things that you're not gonna necessarily always be able to predict.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but as long as you have a plan and you're able to backwards plan from knowing how that day or that week's gonna be, it's gonna help you a ton.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're probably wondering why am I focusing on this?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Why is it so important?
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: This is so obvious, Ravi.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you why.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: This ASale rehab process is built upon win after win after win.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's those micro changes that move the needle.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's the small changes that move the needle, it's those small little improvements and those days where you show up and do the exercises and you're present.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And sure there might be days where you go through the motions that happens, but it's the days where you show up, you knock out those sessions, and this is gonna be just so big for this ACL rehab process.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's not just one big session, it's those sessions compounding after one another.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: So it might feel like it's easy to miss a session here or there that moves you further away from your goal, and that's why we're here, right?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: To get to your end goal and to be better humans, better athletes, to be able to do the things that we love.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: And it's all about having these frameworks, having these specific mindsets, and being able to audit and readjust.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_00: And the end of the year, the beginning of the year is the perfect time to do this because that's where we have the most time to be able to slow things down and readjust and make sure that we set our foot right for the following year.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: This is where those 1% build up each and every time you decide to do that session or have the right nutrition to support that, for example.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So do me a huge favor, do your reflection, and then start setting in your goals for the following year and think about what it is that you want to accomplish.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then think about the big picture and then break that down into smaller buckets and then break that down into smaller buckets, and then think about how it is that you can achieve that by dividing and conquering, and then see how you can utilize this forward thinking and backwards planning for your month, for your week to week, and especially even let's say today and tomorrow.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'll give you guys a clear example.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: My parents are coming into town for Christmas tomorrow, and so we are going to have a change of our schedule, and so I'm having to plan for my final day of work for this week, right before the holidays, and we're coming in, and we have to make sure that we hit those buckets that we need to to make sure that we can go into the weekend with ease and not feeling like we missed anything, and so that's coming down to forward thinking and backwards planning about even just that specific day.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, shout out to Nick Bear for this concept and just a simple framework for us to apply.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you're in the middle of your ACL rehab process, if you are listening to this in June of 2023, I hope that this is helpful for you to be able to replan and to just kind of reshift your focus and thinking about okay, why isn't it that my plan isn't working?
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: And thinking about, well, is it because of my schedule or because I'm not prioritizing certain things?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_00: So this could be a very helpful approach to just plan out your week and to plan out your days, and then make sure you're reverse engineer or backwards plan from that.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: And finally, to close out this episode and this year, thank you guys so so much for a great 2022.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: There has been so much growth, there has been so much failure, and I've learned a lot, and I still have so much to learn, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you and all of the support and to think about a hundred episodes and what we just have coming down the pipeline that we're so pumped to finally release here very, very, very soon.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: So keep your eyes peeled on this on the socials for the ACL athlete, um, also at ravipatel.dpt.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Especially next week, we're gonna be launching some things, and it's all to focus on you ACLers, how we can support you, how we can help you, and that way we can get you to a solid end goal and for a solid 2023.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: So here's all of you.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: I will see you in 2023.