23 Jun Listen to your body
I have been known to be somewhat stubborn about accepting that sometimes as much as I want it to my body just can’t do certain things. If I am injured and it’s keeping me out of the gym or on the sidelines of a game, it is very hard for me to do.
I grew up thinking that pushing through the pain was the way to overcome it.
When I was younger and depending on the injury sometimes it worked but sadly as I’ve gotten older it just isn’t the case. And now that I know more I don’t even want to try that, because I know you can do more harm than good by not taking the appropriate measures to heal when you are injured and that your brain sends warning signs to your body giving signals that you’ve had enough, that you should slow down or stop.
If you have started exercising on a regular basis, it’s almost inevitable that you will experience a few aches or pains. Some of these will act as a little reminder that you worked hard but other pains could be more serious signs of injuries. We really shouldn’t ignore this signs. If you deal with your injuries properly and immediately you will recover and be back to training much faster then if you just keep on pushing through. You need to learn from your body what is discomfort and what is pain. Usually if you are exercising at a certain intensity you will feel some discomfort. Most of us experience nagging aches or pains when we’re working out, and when it comes to exercise it most definitely can sometimes hurt.
If exercise was always easy and comfortable more people would be doing it! We can’t stop working out at the first sight of discomfort or else we would probably never do any exercise at all.
However if that discomfort is a strong burning, stabbing or sharp pain then that is when you should probably stop. If the burning goes away when you stop working that muscle then it’s okay and likely just burning from the exercise. If you have sharp pain that affects your ability to keep moving, you’ve probably done too much and need to stop.
Most injuries can be avoided easily by being careful when you are exercising. Ensure that you perform a proper warm-up before you start and cool down when you are done. This will help avoid injuries as well as other aches and pains. If you are starting something brand new, build up gradually, don’t go full throttle first time out of the gates. When weight training proper form is very important, if you don’t know what you are doing ask for help. Most gyms have personal trainers on floor duty roaming around for just that reason.
When you have finally gotten into a good exercise routine and you are sidelined due to an injury it can be so very very frustrating and hard to take the time off but ultimately your full recovery will be much longer and drawn out if you don’t listen to your body.
If it’s telling you to slow down or stop or take a break, the best thing you can do for your body is to listen.
Trust me on this one 🙂
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