This was a phrase I heard yelled across the field in my college football days fairly regularly. Playing 1-AA generally meant that practices were a little more aggressive, even during the season, on Mondays and Tuesdays. So be it offseason or in season, there was always a chance to get banged up, not unlike training heavy regularly.
So, inevitably, when someone went down, 'ol Timmy as we referred to him (he wasn't a coach or a character that deserved our respect to be completely honest, but that's a different story), would yell across the field, "Jeez (insert teammate's name here), always on the turf. Are you HURT or are you INJURED? You know you can't travel if you're injured."
Despite his inability to connect with players, he had a point. There's a difference between being hurt and being injured. If you play football long enough, you're going to get a little of both. And if you train and compete long enough, you're going to experience both pain and full on injury.
The difference? Being hurt means just that - something hurts, but doesn't prevent you from moving through a full ROM or training, even in a modified manner. Being injured means something is legitimately fucked up.
So think 'tweaked my hamstring' vs 'tore it off the bone.' Or 'my shoulder hurts when I do this' vs 'I dislocated my shoulder.' Or 'my back is tight' vs 'I can't bend over to tie my shoes without severe pain.'
What prompted this was a Facebook post to a powerlifting federation page that came across my feed. Something to the effect of, "I dislocated my shoulder and am scared to bench heavy. Does anyone have any advice on rehab exercises I can do to strengthen my shoulder?"
This touches on both points - the guy was legitimately injured, and now is in the hurt phase. So what do you do if you find yourself in this spot?
First, don't ask Facebook. For fuck's sake don't ask Facebook for anything. Even restaurant recommendations.
Second, address the injury when it happens. Go see a professional - doctor, physical therapist, whatever you have access to.
Third, DO THE REHAB. This is the quickest path to get back to training hard (and thus getting stronger). You CAN work around some things, but if your car has a flat tire, wouldn't it be better to take the first available exit and get it fixed?
Now, if you find yourself hurt, as opposed to injured, then you have to do a cost/benefit analysis. Can you train the way you know you need to to get stronger? If the answer is yes, work around it. If the answer is no, see STEP TWO above.
If you're not willing to see a professional and you're not willing to do the rehab, then you're really not doing everything you can do to get stronger. I know that might not compute for some of you meatheads, but nothing will probably get through to you because you train to feel a certain way, not to legitimately be the strongest you can possibly be. And that, folks, is the difference between being the best and being average.
