Injuries are an inevitable part of being an athlete. Although physical activity is the best thing you can do for your health, look at any athlete and you will see a list of injuries worthy of Wile E. Coyote. However, great athletes tend to transcend these injuries and often deliver their best performances under less than optimal conditions. During Kobe Bryant's recent 40+ points per game rampage, he had a knee injury that made it questionable whether he would play in the next game. Pete Sampras won a five set match against Alex Corretja despite having the flu and throwing up on the court. How do these athletes do it and what can we learn from them?
First, when you are forced to leave your sport while you are recovering from an injury, take it as an opportunity to upgrade your mental software. Spend the time you would normally be practicing and read up on your sport or activity, analyze footage and do whatever you can to learn about your injury. A little over a year ago I had a pretty severe back injury that left me unable to play tennis for the entire spring season. During my down time, I learned everything I could about proper technique while lifting. I read several books on weight training and everything I could find on the internet. This research paid off in a very big way. After this period of down time, I came back to my lifting armed with more knowledge than ever before and to my surprise, I quickly regained my strength and then some. Not only this, but I approached every workout with a great amount of respect and care. I also learned about back injuries, so that I could take care of my own and learn how to prevent them in the future. Since then, I have lifted properly and carefully and I no longer have any back pain. My spine is stronger and even more flexible than it was prior to my injury.
Second, if you are sick and do not have the energy for a full workload, scale back and just train for neurological efficiency. Prolonged illness can really sap your energy, rendering high volume strength programs and strength-endurance training pretty much impossible. However, experienced lifters can maintain and beginner's can often gain strength while just doing a minimalist strength training program. The key to this program is making every rep count. Since you do not have the energy to work hard, you have to work smart, which means attention to proper form is critical. These workouts should be an educational experience in teaching your body to maximize its ability to generate tension. As an example, last fall I came down with a mild case of pneumonia. There was simply no way I could train hard and heavy. To make matters worse, I pulled my right hamstring at the beginning of this illness. I was left with very few options, so I decided to train my standing military press. I did a few low rep sets spread out through the day or just a short density training workout, lasting about 5-7 minutes. Despite being extremely tired from having pneumonia and not sleeping well, I was actually getting stronger in the press. About three weeks after I started taking antibiotics, after a month without, I finally started feeling better. I was ten pounds lighter than two months prior, but that did not stop me from setting a PR in the military press. I managed to press the 2 pood for one rep with each arm. This is something I had never done before, even when I was heavier.
Third, if you have to compete, conserve your energy. One thing you tend to see in sick or injured athletes is that they tend to be less emotional than normal and they work more efficiently. Rather than wasting energy celebrating minor events with a victory dance, the sick athletes tends to just go from point to point nonchalantly. The focus is on execution, not getting caught up in the moment. With a more business-like approach, many athletes find they can tap deeper into their mental reserves and actually think more clearly and perform better. All athletes are different and situations tend to vary depending on the injury, but when the stakes are high, the great champions tend to find a way.
Fourth, coming back from a period of detraining is often a slow and frustrating process. The only real key is to forget the past and focus on what you can do right now. Take each day as an opportunity to make a small step forward. If you try to jump right back in, it is very easy to cause further damage, delay the healing process or burn yourself out. If you have not trained for a while, you will have a diminished work capacity, so it will be much easier to overtrain. What would have been a pretty routine workout in the past will be much more difficult initially, so give yourself plenty of time to build yourself back up. Keep in mind that it is always easier to get back to previous levels of strength than it was to get there in the first place, so do not be discouraged if you feel like years of hard work have just gone down the drain. Muscle memory is a very powerful ally in your recovery, so stay positive. Additionally, you will be retraining yourself, armed with the experience you gained from the first journey and all the things you learned during your break from training.
Lastly, injuries should be expected, but should not be an expectation. You should strive to create the safest training environment possible. Toughness is not learned through getting battered and bruised, regardless of what some muscle helmet will try to tell you. When you are learning new skills, always make sure that you have a way to bail out if things go awry. This means, do not attempt to bent press the 2 pood for the first time if your dog is sitting nearby or you happen to be working out in an art gallery. Try new techniques outside, where you can drop the kettlebell without having to worry about damage to yourself or your property. In fact, it is a good idea to practice missing lifts, so that you will have more confidence in your abilities to practice safely with heavier weights. Having a safe environment also allows you to train better. When you are lifting something heavy, what happens when you lose your balance? You lose your tension as well and invariably miss the weight. Loss of balance can be caused by an unstable surface, but more often it is caused by fear reactivity. If you are training for the freestanding handstand pushup, try it with a wall in front of you so that you don't have to worry about crashing forward. Even if you never use the wall, it is just comforting to know it is there. When an unfortunate injury does happen, seek proper care as soon as possible. Do not bother finishing your workout; it can wait for another day. Heal quickly, train safe and good luck!

This article was partly inspired by Mike Mahler's recent story about recovering from a severe case of pneumonia. You can read his story here.