I find there are two predominant personality types, those who push themselves to nearly inhumane limits and those who give up at the slightest pang of resistance or pain. This is particularly true at the gym, so I thought I'd share my thoughts as a health and fitness professional regarding when to stop and when to push through while exercising.
The first critical assessment that needs to be addressed is whether the resistance to working out is coming from the Mind or the Body. If it's the Mind: PUSH THROUGH! If it's the Body, well, we'll talk about that in a bit. Overcoming mental barriers may take a considerable amount of practice, particularly for those who are not used to exercise and have not yet made it part of their normal routine. The Mind dislikes change above all things. Think of any new habit that you've started or, still more difficult, trying to quit a habit. For most people the Mind becomes addicted to routine and even though we all know exercise is beneficial for both the Body as well as the Mind, making it a habit is extremely difficult and takes a phenomenal amount of will power, especially considering the starting up process can be a bit uncomfortable for the Body as well.
Nine years ago when I started my journey I would cringe, hell sometimes even cry, at the thought of getting out of bed, putting my puppy in his kennel so I wouldn't accidentally stomp on him, and popping in my Hip Hop Abs workout DVD. Somedays it would be my Mind begging me not to start up the same old 40 minute workout, which involved listening to a ridiculously flamboyant yet ripped instructor, Shawn T, and doing the hilariously ludicrous dance moves; other days it would be my extremely sore and fatigued Body. The irony that I was a 120kg white girl attempting to execute hip hop dance choreography to drop fat and tone my horribly out of shape body was not at all lost on me. I would often laugh out loud at myself, knowing I must look completely absurd. Yet somehow I pushed through. That tiny voice inside my brain that screamed "Please, for the love of God, your Body and your health, get your lazy ass out of bed and MOVE!" had miraculously won out. Some people aren't able to hear that voice however, and that's why personal trainers are extremely valuable. I am gladly that voice for others!
Over time as I stuck with it and started to see results that voice became even stronger. In the coming months I'd even look forward to my routine. Once I was under 80kg and confident enough to enter a gym I expanded my routine and started running, which again set my Mind to coming up with all sorts of excuses to stop and give up. This was when I came up with my 10 Minute Cardio Rule: No matter how much I wanted to stop, regardless of all the mental resistance or muscle soreness, I made myself stay on the piece of equipment, be it a treadmill, bike, cross trainer or row machine, for a minimum of 10 minutes. After 10 minutes if I still wasn't feeling it, I could stop. Nine times out of ten, however, after 10 minutes my Mind would quiet down and my achy muscles would loosen, glad for the extra blood flow, and I'd realise that doing the next 20 minutes wouldn't be so bad, especially if I was listening to a good playlist, reading an interesting book or watching a movie to help pass the time.
Now onto the Bodily aspect of this dilemma. As stated above, if it's run of the mill muscle soreness push through. People who think soreness is an acceptable excuse to cut out a workout, well, I hate to tell you but it's not. If muscles are sore get some blood flowing through them and move! Afterwards give them a nice long stretch and drink plenty of water to help ease the soreness. People new to fitness should expect some soreness, and so should people training towards a specific goal. For example, when I trained for my half marathon there were days I could barely walk let alone run, yet somehow I'd take to the road and bang out my 10 mile training run. How, one might ask? I knew if I didn't run I'd never reach my goal of finishing the race, and I really wanted to finish that race! Still better, when I pushed through and proved to myself I could run despite the soreness I felt like a champion. It gave me confidence that no matter how my Body might feel on race day I could accomplish my goal.
Like the Mind, the Body resists change. Evolutionarily it functions to maintain homeostasis, so changing it and reaching fitness goals takes effort and will definitely include some serious soreness and even some mild-ish pain. So here's my advice: Suck it up Buttercup! I have a lot of clients and they all put up little fights in various, and often humorous, ways. One likes to complain that they're getting really hot, to which I reply "Really?! Could that be because you're lifting heavy weights?!"Another repeatedly tells me that they can't do the movement or handle the weight while they are LITERALLY doing it, so I make sure they feel supported and encourage them to keep going. My favourite is when clients look at the weight I'm about to ask them to lift and tell me they can't do it without even trying! And guess what, no one has ever been completely unable to do what I ask of them. They always end up surprised by their own strength and feeling better about themselves; one of the many reasons I love my job.
So, when do you stop? If you FEEL a sharp or shooting snap, crackle or pop of pain in a joint (Ankle, Knee, Hip, Elbow, Shoulder, Wrist or Neck), or FEEL a muscle, tendon or ligament tear, STOP IMMEDIATELY. Also STOP if you feel sharp pains in the chest, significantly high heart rate, or feel lightheaded and/or dizzy. Assess the situation by lifting low weights and stretching the area, and get professional help if injured or the Body doesn't recover within 5-10 minutes of rest.
The joints will often make popping sounds as air works its way out and/or cartilage moves around, but it should not hurt. Be conscious of persistent pain that becomes constant over time and repetition. Any persistent pain is a cue to stop pushing through it and address the underlying issue. Chronic pain often leads to issues that could become extremely limiting and difficult to heal if not addressed by adequate stretching and mobility exercises. For example, my left knee is currently out of commission due to the way that I walk as well as some inherent muscle imbalances. Does this mean I don't train? Absolutely Not! It means I try exercises and stop if my knee starts to seriously talk to me (or scream as the case may be), which basically limits me to biking, swimming and rowing. One day during spin class, which usually doesn't bother my knee, I felt a stab of pain while spinning in a standing position so I opted to remain seated for the rest of the class and go at an extremely easy pace. By comparison, when my wrist begins to hurt in class I take note of my position, make adjustments that ease the pain and keep going. Though I haven't stopped training because of my knee, I have altered how and how long I train in order to work through my injury. I now focus less on cardio and more on stretching and strengthening the muscles around my knee which will adjust the misalignments and help it recover.
It's also worth mentioning that excessive training leads to burnout which is a real physiological issue that causes the adrenal glands to malfunction (follow the hyperlinks for some more information as I'm not an expert). Additionally, excessive fatigue may restrict exercise and should be addressed if persistent. Lastly, as far as illnesses such as the common cold are concerned, it's ok to workout at a lighter intensity so long as the infection doesn't effect your ability to breath properly. Evidence even suggests that exercise can be beneficial.
The take home message is to be aware of the Mind and Body during exercise. The default should be to push through unless there is physical evidence that a workout would be detrimental to your emotional state or might cause damage to the Body.
The first critical assessment that needs to be addressed is whether the resistance to working out is coming from the Mind or the Body. If it's the Mind: PUSH THROUGH! If it's the Body, well, we'll talk about that in a bit. Overcoming mental barriers may take a considerable amount of practice, particularly for those who are not used to exercise and have not yet made it part of their normal routine. The Mind dislikes change above all things. Think of any new habit that you've started or, still more difficult, trying to quit a habit. For most people the Mind becomes addicted to routine and even though we all know exercise is beneficial for both the Body as well as the Mind, making it a habit is extremely difficult and takes a phenomenal amount of will power, especially considering the starting up process can be a bit uncomfortable for the Body as well.
Over time as I stuck with it and started to see results that voice became even stronger. In the coming months I'd even look forward to my routine. Once I was under 80kg and confident enough to enter a gym I expanded my routine and started running, which again set my Mind to coming up with all sorts of excuses to stop and give up. This was when I came up with my 10 Minute Cardio Rule: No matter how much I wanted to stop, regardless of all the mental resistance or muscle soreness, I made myself stay on the piece of equipment, be it a treadmill, bike, cross trainer or row machine, for a minimum of 10 minutes. After 10 minutes if I still wasn't feeling it, I could stop. Nine times out of ten, however, after 10 minutes my Mind would quiet down and my achy muscles would loosen, glad for the extra blood flow, and I'd realise that doing the next 20 minutes wouldn't be so bad, especially if I was listening to a good playlist, reading an interesting book or watching a movie to help pass the time.
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| Getting to this level takes time, practice and determination (and a bit of crazy)! But once you're there, boy do you love that Runner's High! |
Like the Mind, the Body resists change. Evolutionarily it functions to maintain homeostasis, so changing it and reaching fitness goals takes effort and will definitely include some serious soreness and even some mild-ish pain. So here's my advice: Suck it up Buttercup! I have a lot of clients and they all put up little fights in various, and often humorous, ways. One likes to complain that they're getting really hot, to which I reply "Really?! Could that be because you're lifting heavy weights?!"Another repeatedly tells me that they can't do the movement or handle the weight while they are LITERALLY doing it, so I make sure they feel supported and encourage them to keep going. My favourite is when clients look at the weight I'm about to ask them to lift and tell me they can't do it without even trying! And guess what, no one has ever been completely unable to do what I ask of them. They always end up surprised by their own strength and feeling better about themselves; one of the many reasons I love my job.
So, when do you stop? If you FEEL a sharp or shooting snap, crackle or pop of pain in a joint (Ankle, Knee, Hip, Elbow, Shoulder, Wrist or Neck), or FEEL a muscle, tendon or ligament tear, STOP IMMEDIATELY. Also STOP if you feel sharp pains in the chest, significantly high heart rate, or feel lightheaded and/or dizzy. Assess the situation by lifting low weights and stretching the area, and get professional help if injured or the Body doesn't recover within 5-10 minutes of rest.
The joints will often make popping sounds as air works its way out and/or cartilage moves around, but it should not hurt. Be conscious of persistent pain that becomes constant over time and repetition. Any persistent pain is a cue to stop pushing through it and address the underlying issue. Chronic pain often leads to issues that could become extremely limiting and difficult to heal if not addressed by adequate stretching and mobility exercises. For example, my left knee is currently out of commission due to the way that I walk as well as some inherent muscle imbalances. Does this mean I don't train? Absolutely Not! It means I try exercises and stop if my knee starts to seriously talk to me (or scream as the case may be), which basically limits me to biking, swimming and rowing. One day during spin class, which usually doesn't bother my knee, I felt a stab of pain while spinning in a standing position so I opted to remain seated for the rest of the class and go at an extremely easy pace. By comparison, when my wrist begins to hurt in class I take note of my position, make adjustments that ease the pain and keep going. Though I haven't stopped training because of my knee, I have altered how and how long I train in order to work through my injury. I now focus less on cardio and more on stretching and strengthening the muscles around my knee which will adjust the misalignments and help it recover.
It's also worth mentioning that excessive training leads to burnout which is a real physiological issue that causes the adrenal glands to malfunction (follow the hyperlinks for some more information as I'm not an expert). Additionally, excessive fatigue may restrict exercise and should be addressed if persistent. Lastly, as far as illnesses such as the common cold are concerned, it's ok to workout at a lighter intensity so long as the infection doesn't effect your ability to breath properly. Evidence even suggests that exercise can be beneficial.
The take home message is to be aware of the Mind and Body during exercise. The default should be to push through unless there is physical evidence that a workout would be detrimental to your emotional state or might cause damage to the Body.
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