perspectives

Breaking Down to Build Up

Athlete: Brianna Jeanette Diaz

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WHO IS BRIANNA JEANETTE DIAZ

A question I get asked quite often.

On the surface level, I am an athlete, bodybuilder, a recent UCLA graduate and a personal trainer.

But on a deeper level, I am a learner, a dreamer, a Latina set out to revolutionize the world with my passion for fitness. I graduated from UCLA with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and minor in entrepreneurship.

My involvement in sports throughout my life has always served as the grounding force in my life. It would inspire me to gain the credentials to become a personal trainer, where I am able to provide the tools for others to encompass health and wellness as part of their lives as well.

 

HER ACL STORY

It was a tragic fall that would further reinforce the importance that fitness has played in my life.

During an intramural basketball game that (I like to say I was ballin too hard) I went up for a lay-up and fell, feeling a pop in my knee during the impact.

It was then that my powerlifting and bodybuilding career flashed before me, as I felt that the fall would be have much more repercussions than those I had experienced up to that point.

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After 3 days of extreme pain, doctor check ups and physical therapy visits, I was back in the gym. I refused to believe that anything seriously major was wrong with me, so I did what I could. I would train in the sauna as a means to get my heart rate working as if I did have total function in my legs.

It was then that I realized that this journey was one that, although would break down my muscles, would build up what is arguably the most important one; my mindset.

 

BRIANNA’S PERSPECTIVE

Many people would claim that my injury, and the muscle atrophy that came as a consequence, was all of my hard work “going to waste.” It was seen as if the smaller my muscles became, the more “pointless” my hard work was.

This was actually the exact opposite that happened following my injury and surgery. With the muscle atrophy that happened physically came muscle hypertrophy; in my mindset. It would force me to view fitness through a different lens, a lens that would be undiscoverable unless I had undergone the trials and tribulations that came with an impaired leg and a journey that would help me cope with it.

Without the breaking down of my muscles, I would not have built the one that would propel me to dream bigger and brighter.

As Martin Luther King Jr. claimed, “If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” 

So I kept moving forward. I never stopped building, I never stopped training. I couldn’t stop. I will never stop.

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I have all the tools in my toolbox to build the muscle that my ACL tear caused. But the real question became whether I had the right headspace to build my mindset and make this journey truly transformative. Build your mind, and your body will follow.

SPECIAL THANKS TO KEY PLAYERS IN BRIANNA’S RECOVERY:

  • All of my family, I love you all

  • To my dear friends that stuck with me throughout the journey, you know who you are.

  • To my high school coach, Coach Josh Baker, that instilled fortitude and strength throughout my years in school

  • UCLA Health Orthopedic Surgeon: Sharon L. Hame, M.D.

Instagram: @briannajeanettediaz
YouTube: Brianna Jeanette Diaz