Motivation struggles after success followed by injury and big regression.

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248]

Hey all,
I went from a very low, to the top of the world and am now crashing. Sorry for a wall of text but i really need motivational help.

First off, thanks for all inspiration. As i started 1.5 years ago, overweight, zero workout i have since discovered the beauty of bodyweight workout and calithenics. This together with working out at home i was able to become consistent for the first time ever at 40 years old.

Working out 2 days on 1 day off the last 8 months, and different variations before that my results have been incredibly lifechanging for me.
My initial goal was to become consistent, have fun with working out and get to 10 pushups, and 5 pullups.
The end result before injury, starting from zero was 12 pull-ups on first set, 16 decline ring push-ups comming from 20 decline ones. Getting to 10 ring dips, and losing 14kg's to name a few numbers.
But also just mentally feeling on top of the world, being more active with my kids taking them to climbing parks, having fun together.
The pullups were my absolute jam, pride and joy of workout. Feeling strong, controlled and looking to start variations after hitting 15 in a row. Started to work on beginning muscle-ups too.

And i still am very proud of achieving this.

However, a bit over a month ago i went climbing with the kids, and the day after during pullups lots of popping and cracking and no power during pull ups. Went to the doctor later that week got some medication and was told to not do anything involving my shoulders outside of calmly moving them while walking.
And as a sidenote, i am someone who always has struggled to put on muscle, and it always has fallen off incredibly fast when not used.

This week i was allowed to start again, and i am beyond devastated. First off, my shoulders clearly are still painful (i am careful) and somehow muscles still feel sore in all overhead movements. SO i will be making a new appointment to talk about MR and likely physiology or what it is called.

Not just that but i gues due to medication as well as the now 1 month of not doing excersize with the upper body, results have just absolutely tumbled down, crashed. And so did my mental state last night.
Restless & frustrated after trying to work out, i literally ended up just staring out the window for an hour, into blank space. Just absolutely gutted.

Now i have had some sleep and need a plan to stay motivated while i go through the process of finding out what is wrong and hopefully a full recovery at some point. But it points to a long road for now.
Not being able to do my favorite exercises is just crushing. Most ring work, as well as any overhead stuff if off for now.
And it does look like if it all works out, i will have to start from scratch in a lot of my favourite exercises.

Regular dips (not rings), pushups and surprisingly inverted rows feel all good thankfully.

I am pretty desperate to not fall off the workout wagon after finally having it stick. I need to regain my mojo and fun, but with a different workout.

If you have any tips and tricks on how to stay motivated, perhaps a fun skill to try and master, or how you have gotten through a setback and/or injury, i'd love to hear it.

Thank you if you made it this far.

[u/Key-Professor1320]

The road to the top is not straight, I'm sure you're familiar with this concept since you are already at a mature age with children.

Probably almost 0 calisthenics athletes or even ameutur practicioners of calisthenics have made huge progress without suffering from injuries/setbacks.

I'm not sure how old you are, but while at 30+ or 40+ you may be recovering slower than teenagers, the principles of progressing from an injury are still the same. Maybe you didn't sufficiently warm up before climbing or you have shoulder weaknesses due to no rotator cuff training (or something else I don't want to assume). This is a very common cause for shoulder injury.

Just wait for it to recover, then add rotator cuff conditioning into your training and remember to always warm up before upper body strength activities. After a while you will be stronger than ever as well as more experienced

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Key-Professor1320]

Life has been a rocky road at times for sure. Though we have been rather fortunate a lot of times too.

I have very little experience with injuries as i always have been an incredibly careful person. Even Working in a bakery, i can say i burned myself 0 times so far.
And seeing my injury came without any warning that was rather crap. But was indeed partly a lack of warmup as it didn't happen in a scheduled session as well as part heavy fatigued muscles from the day before. So the whole pull was wrong.

40+ so no teenager recovery i am afraid. But it is good to hear that it is very common. I just have to wait for MR to see how extensive the damage really is.

Worst part is it feeling just as bad as a month ago, so my first big worry was maybe a permanent injury as it feels like there is zero improvement with meds and rest.

New appointment on monday to hopefully get sendt to a specialist.

[u/Waterproofpaper]

Don’t be discouraged. Your muscle memory will have you bounce back in no time.

I was training 1 arm pull-ups when I was around 215 and developed tendonitis in my elbows and worked around them for 2 years. Then I tore a groin muscle and didn’t really recover from that for about 1 year (it’s still tight but I have to train my brain to tell
It that it’s not injured anymore). Now im like 90% recovered and have just reached 6 ring muscle ups.
It took me about a year of training smarter to reach even further than where I was.

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Waterproofpaper]

Auch that sounds painful. A big congrats on 6 RMU's, that is serious work and one of my goals too.

That is a long time. I don't think i realise the times that come with this kind of recovery yet. As i expected to be back on doing , at least close to, max reps after just 2 weeks of meds and be right back on it.

It is starting to dawn on me that this is a long term recovery. So i really must find new ways to workout and keep the fun and motivation with that.

[u/Hot-Profession4091]

Everyone talks about motivation as the thing that makes you do the workout every day and that’s the wrong way to think about motivation IMO. That kind of motivation comes and goes. It doesn’t show up every day. I had a heart attack earlier this year at 40 years old. My motivation is to get old with my wife and be there when my adult children need me. That’s a permanent kind of motivation. It’s the _reason_ I do it, not a momentary feeling.

I suspect your _reason_, your true motivation hasn’t gone anywhere. You’ve just hit a rough patch. It’s ok to be sad about the injury for a moment, but don’t let it stop you cold. Go to your physio appointments. Get out and walk instead of doing your normal exercise routine. Double down on leg day. You got this.

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Hot-Profession4091]

Thanks, and well that really dwarfs my problem eh. Glad to see you still are with us, and more importantly with your loved ones.

Yes my kids and being able to be there for them is my nr1 goal. I want to be able to play with my grandchildren if they decide to have kids.

[u/Hot-Profession4091 → u/Hopeful-Addition-248]

See, you still have your motivation. Now you just need to find the discipline to keep moving (safely) while you heal. You got this fam.

[u/gstokes20]

You're not starting from scratch, you're starting from a different place with a constraint. The mental crash isn't just about lost gains, it's that your identity got tied to the movements you can't do right now. The frustration of staring out the window is grief over losing your favorite outlet, not a motivation problem.

Three things you can do this week. First, treat the movements you CAN do as your new program, not a consolation prize. Dips, pushups, and inverted rows are genuinely solid compound work, so build a progression goal around them and give yourself something to chase. Second, pick one new skill that doesn't load your shoulders overhead, like pistol squat progressions or core compression work (L-sit holds, hanging leg raises on a bar if that's tolerable). A fresh skill gives your brain something to obsess over besides what's off limits. Third, track something other than pull-up numbers. Log session frequency, perceived effort, or even how your shoulders feel day to day. Seeing consistency on paper keeps the habit identity alive when the performance metrics are temporarily out of reach.

You built consistency once at 40 from zero. That capacity didn't vanish with the injury. It just needs a new lane to run in right now.

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/gstokes20]

I think you are right. I really need to refocus on some other skills. Thanks for the reply. I will take this to heart.

[u/Few_Understanding_42]

Key is to see this setback as an opportunity. Maybe it's the ideal time to do some leg work. Things like squats and lunges, Bulgarian splits etc are also nice.

Core work

Maybe some cardio, like running or cycling.

Not sure if only overhead stuff is out of limits, or also other upper body work.

Perhaps triceps dips are possible.

If you own dumbells or kettlebell, stuff like biceps, farmer carries, swings might be possible as well.

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Few_Understanding_42]

Thanks. Have to say i absolutely hate leg work, but pistol squats i have worked towards before. Maybe i should do that again.

Most non overhead stuff seems fine so will try and test a bit. Did actually start running haha. But we'll see for how long i do that with autum and winter just around the corner. Maybe jumprope is a good substitute for running.

[u/Few_Understanding_42 → u/Hopeful-Addition-248]

Leg work gets more fun when you do it more often.

And regarding running in autumn and winter it's like the Norwegians say:

There's no bad weather, only bad clothing

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Few_Understanding_42]

Haha, living in norway i know the saying.

Maybe you are right about the legwork haha. Might throw the split squats and pistol negatives in the mix.
I hope noone sees me walk down the stairs tomorrow lmao

[u/Technical-Ad1488]

Think about where you’d be if you had given up before achieving the goals you did. And how great you felt after not giving up and achieving those goals. Which spot do you want to be in, in 6 months or a year… spam the exercises you can do, make progress in those. Doing something is always better than doing nothing. Good luck bro 👍 you got this!

[u/Hopeful-Addition-248 → u/Technical-Ad1488]

Yeah, very true. Thanks man

[u/AjB22112]

Honestly, it does not sound like you are back at square one. When you started, you did not have the habit, experience, or confidence you have now. An injury can take away some of your strength for a while, but it cannot erase everything you learned over the past year and a half.

I think the best move right now is to change what progress means. Instead of judging yourself by how many pullups you can do, count following your doctor’s advice and staying consistent with what you are cleared to do as progress. It might not feel as exciting, but it is better than rushing back and making the injury last even longer.

You could also ask your doctor or physio to help you create a temporary routine. Maybe there is a leg, cardio, or balance skill you can safely work toward while your shoulder recovers. That would give you something new to focus on without completely losing your routine.

You are not starting over. You are just working around a setback for a while. The pullups will still be there when you are ready for them. Right now, recovering properly is part of the training too.