4 | CrossFit Athlete Miranda Alcaraz: New Ways to Move

Every sport comes with its unique injury risks. But of course, athletes are humans living in the real world—and sometimes it’s incidents outside of training or competition that create injured athletes.

 

Miranda Alcaraz—a former high-level CrossFit competitor and now co-founder of thriving fitness community Street Parking—has experienced both types of setbacks, including a serious car accident and a torn ACL that happened in the middle of a competition.

 

Each has had a different emotional impact, though she used some of the same tools and techniques to approach her recovery—strategies she shares with other injured athletes who reach out to her, and in this episode.

 

Miranda joined us to discuss:

-How her diagnosis following her car accident was delayed—and the fearful moments that followed

-The difference it makes when you have trust in your health care providers (and how getting a second opinion helped her regain it)

-How her CrossFit training played a role in protecting her body, and how that knowledge fueled her

-How she regained confidence in her injured neck and returned to competing

-Why she knows her body will never be exactly the same—and what she does to address and accept that

-How she spent some of her downtime shifting her focus to addressing other weaknesses—and how that paid off when she returned to competition

-How hurting her knee was actually worse in some ways than breaking her neck

-Why she *didn’t* come back to competing after that injury—and why she’s grateful for the path she followed instead

-Why she values the experience and knowledge she gained through her injury experiences: “I can really empathize with people and I can help a lot of people know how to scale and sub and keep moving. It's made me a much, much better trainer.”

-The advice she gives other athletes about making a plan—in writing—for their comeback

 

Resources/links we mention:

Miranda on Instagram

Street Parking: website and Instagram

 

Thanks for listening, and please reach out anytime at [email protected] with questions, guest suggestions, or other feedback.

 

DISCLAIMER: This content is for educational & informational use only and & does not constitute medical advice. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your health-care professional because of something you may have heard in an episode of this podcast. You should not rely on this information as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult with a qualified medical professional for proper evaluation & treatment. Guests who speak on this podcast express their own opinions, experiences, and conclusions, and The Injured Athletes Club podcast hosts nor any company providing financial support endorses or opposes any particular treatment option discussed in the episodes of this podcast and are not responsible for any actions or inactions of listeners based on the information presented. The use of any information provided is solely at your own risk.