Help me through this slump

Ok sob story to follow. First the bad news:

My training has been stagnant to regressive over the last couple years due to a bad groin pull doing BJJ, excessive program hopping, knee tendinitis, and recently an umbilical hernia mesh repair (listened to hernia podcast). The last couple months have been especially egregious with a lot of kids activities limiting my training time slots to one day a week. The worst though is that as, I think, part of my alcohol addiction recovery (clean 4 years in Sept) I’ve been drinking non-alcoholic beer and smoking cigs (about 5 a weekend) for the last few weekends while attending various alcohol laden functions like wedding receptions and such (I only smoke when I don’t drink, yeah wonderful substitution eh).

Per the knee tendinitis I got some really good advice from you here (x7 and x10 squats dreadful - Training Q/A with Drs. Feigenbaum & Baraki - Barbell Medicine Forum) and also from Dr Miles in the knee rehab template forum to focus more on the training process, both of which have helped me immensely.

Ok, now the good news:

The kids activities are winding down here in the next couple weeks so I will be able to get back to 2-3 days per week resistance training plus 2-3 days of conditioning. I’ve been sticking with the knee rehab template and the knee is doing better and I’m also seeing improvement in the movement loading, as well as a bit of hypertrophy. I’m enjoying the process and not stressing as much about weight on the bar which has really helped with my training anxiety. I think I’m finally getting to the point of a basic understanding of how to train effectively.

So…

Since you guys have helped me in the past I just need a little nudge to get me through this slump, away from the bad stuff and back full swing into the good stuff.

Thanks!

Hi there,

Sorry to hear about all the challenges you’ve had to work through over the past few years. It certainly sounds like you’ve found some good resources and taken advantage of them to get moving in the right direction more recently! The things you’ve learned, particularly about the training process, emotionally detaching from the weight on the bar on any given day, and other things like that will all serve you well moving forward. There will still be bumps in the road and setbacks you’ll have to deal with, but this is to be expected and nothing insurmountable. If you need further guidance or advice, we have a variety of options to chat with our coaches (as simple as a form check consultation), or a rehab consult (if needed), etc. Our Facebook group can also be a helpful/supportive environment.

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Thank you Dr. Baraki.

Sometimes just writing things down and especially getting a reasoned response back from someone I trust and respect in the field is enough to get me pointed back in the right direction. I appreciate the resources you provide and especially your personal response to this message. I just listened to the behavior change podcast and discovered some valuable tools I can use to help keep my path true.

Your time is greatly appreciated.
Jeremy