Athlete Story
Athlete Story – Anna Viggedal
“Listen to your body”, as cliche as it sounds, it’s the most important diagnostic tool for any athlete. We are constantly pushing ourselves to strive for the best and work on our weaknesses, day in day out, 24/7. However, it’s extremely important to take a step back and pay attention to your body and truly listen to it.
To celebrate International Women’s Day today we’d like to share the story of a resilient female athlete and a strong woman, mentally and physically – Anna.
Anna is a CrossFit athlete & coach at Crossfit Nordic, and works full time as a designer . A long story short, at the 2019 French Throwdown, during the last minute of the final event, she dislocated her shoulder with the 45kg dumbbell overhead. She suffered a shoulder injury which was not first identified, but later turned out to be a much bigger problem than anticipated. She went through 7 long months of rehab before finally going through surgery – Latarjet procedure which resulted in over 9 more months of therapy and rehabilitation.
For any athlete who goes from giving one of their best performances in a competition to months and months of recovery, this can create a downward spiral, knocking you off your game, but not Anna. Although the recovery was progressing, she knew she would not be able to compete at the 2020 Crossfit Open. She allowed herself to lament but just as quickly picked herself up and decided that she is going to focus on the “things that she can do, not what she can’t”. Anna believes being able to express your grief and accepting the situation is crucial to developing a positive mind-set to her road of recovery. This is what pushed her through the month where she had her arm in a sling 24/7. She took this situation as an opportunity to focus on leg strength instead – something that she didn’t consider her forte – it gave a meaning to her rehab training. She lived by the mantra “when there is a will, there is a way”. Nothing can stop her.
As we all know, the year 2020 was not a very happening one (in terms of competitions/events, of course). So mentally it helps Anna to focus on her rehab even more. However, people who do go through months and years of missing out on competitions realize that the priority is recovery and take good care of your body. If you’re able to step back and take a break, you will get back stronger because like Anna says, “the body is a pretty amazing thing after all!” Sometimes, getting injured or suffering a set-back is the best thing that could ever happen to you. As it helps you to see things clearly as to what’s important and what’s not.
Possibly the most important thing you can do is be patient with yourself. As for Anna, her much needed time for healing and recovery resulted in personal growth and a greater appreciation for the sport. Therefore, for anyone suffering with the mentality of not “pushing myself enough”, take a deep breath today, relax, and listen to your body’s needs. Your body will thank you.
Those who know Anna, are aware that she is a fashionista when it comes to wearing a perfectly matching workout ensemble. She loves all the socks from our collection but states the Retro Collection is her favourite.
She loves Crossfeet socks because they are comfortable, durable and give good support to the feet without being too thick/warm.