Fix It So I Can Punish It

Here's the humanized version with timestamps:

Ever heard this one? "Doc, can you fix my shoulder so I can get back to tearing it apart?"

That's exactly what Bugs asked me last month. He wasn't joking.

Bugs' a 43-year-old software guy who lives for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Second shoulder injury in 18 months. Same story: did his PT, felt better, went right back to training five days a week, and... here we are again.

But here's the thing – Bugs didn't want rehab. He wanted permission to keep doing exactly what broke him in the first place.

Sound familiar?

This episode is about that messy space between wanting to get better and being terrified of changing who you are. Because for a lot of us, how we train isn't just what we do – it's who we are.

Timestamps: [00:00] The question that stopped me cold: "Can you fix my shoulder so I can get back to tearing it apart?" [01:00] Why most recurring injuries aren't really about the tissue [02:00] Meet Bugs: 43, software engineer, BJJ competitor, and repeat shoulder injury victim [03:00] The hard truth – most people don't want rehab, they want a reset button [04:00] When your sport becomes your identity (and why that's dangerous) [05:00] The shift: from surviving training to actually getting better at it [06:00] How Bugs learned to measure progress by how he felt, not how often he trained [07:00] Why volume and intensity are tools, not goals [08:00] My own wake-up call at 40 – when I had to choose between ego and longevity [09:00] The paradox of loving something that's slowly breaking you [10:00] Quality over quantity: what "training smart" actually looks like [11:00] Final thoughts: Let's stop fixing people just so they can break themselves again

The real question isn't "Can you fix me?" It's "What am I willing to change?"

If you've ever felt stuck between loving your sport and feeling like it's slowly destroying you, this one's for you.

Got your own "fix me so I can break myself again" story? I want to hear it. Seriously. Message me – I read every single one.

And if this hits home, share it with that friend who's always training through pain because they think recovery is for the weak.

Thanks for listening to Talking Rehab. Sometimes the strongest thing you can do is the smartest thing you can do.

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