Listening to your body: A habit of fit people
“Train hard or go home.”
“Pain is weakness leaving the body.”
This seems to be the ‘trend’ and I am all with training hard. There is no point in half a**ing anything. Not your job, not social gatherings and definitely not your workouts. Working out is a time for you to be in touch with your body, with each muscle and to make the most out of it. But it's a fine line between making the most of it and taking advantage of it.
I will not shame exercising. Ever. Please move your body. Do anything to make sure your body is healthy and functional for as long as possible. However, keeping your body functional and healthy also means listening to it. It’s not really our fault as we are surrounded by such mixed and extreme messages. Do we acknowledge the pain or do we push pass it? Are we being weak by thinking we need to rest or do we really need it?
The fitness industry has become so ruthless that we actually believe that rest is for the weak. Let me tell you something...if you don't learn how to rest you will one day find yourself weak.
So here's what to do:
- Do less when you feel tired: Note how I didn't say sit on your couch and don't do anything. I said do less. Let you energy levels and how your body feels dictate how hard you work. Knowing when less is more and that doing something is better than nothing is a great way to make fitness a habit without overdoing it.
- Rest when you are injured: When you become a fitness fanatic an injury can be real bad news and throw you off. You should never wonder if you should rest or train that muscle. You can train other muscles that are unaffected by the injury - if allowed by your doctor- but do not train that muscle until you are given the green light. Training when injured will make the injury worse and the recovery process longer.
- If it hurts, stop: If you feel sharp pain or discomfort when you are performing an exercise STOP. It is not cool nor does it prove strength to push through the pain and injure yourself. Stop the exercise and move on and maybe get someone to watch your form as it could be the reason behind the discomfort.
- Make time for sleep: Should I sleep or wake up early and workout? The answer isn't simple and depends on when you go to bed and if you are sleep deprived. A night of not enough sleep every once a while won't kill you, however if you keep sacrificing sleep to squeeze in a workout in the AM you will experience problems. If you have plans to workout in the morning and wake up feeling tired then please snooze and workout later in the day. Your body will thank you and so will your productivity during the day.
You might say, "My body never wants to exercise! I'm tired! Sore! Old! If I listen to my body, I'll never work out!" You may feel that way now, especially if you're new to exercise or just getting back onto the exercise wagon. Most likely, we feel this way because we've ignored our bodies for so long that we've lost the desire to exercise. As kids we called it playing, and it was fun. But as adults, it's a "work"out. But if you truly listen to your body, it does want to move and be strong and fit. Once you get in the habit, it'll tell you that more often—but also give you cues when it needs a little downtime from the gym.
Happy Healthy Living,
The Gymcess x
