Embracing the Hard Times
How to Know When to Push Training, Or Slow Down
One of the things you need to learn to do before starting a training regimen is learning how to “Embrace the Suck” so that you can manage fatigue. Embracing the discomfort in a given season so you can progress yourself further is crucial for longevity. In today’s post I will share my thoughts and experience of many years in the field that will give you some insight on how to balance your training and figure out which discomfort you need to push through, and which to taper off from.
Side note there is a difference between discomfort and pain. I would think the 2 are separate entities and require different ways of thinking; however, it doesn’t seem to be as straight forward as I thought. When we refer to pain we refer to possible tissue damage that prevents or inhibits mobility. There is a difference between pain and soreness – these two you should not get confused with. I will say though that when you are sore from exercise that you ought to take it easy with the presuming workouts that are yet to come. This is because you do not want to “overstretch” the muscles after being sore. The soreness you feel from your training is technically tissue damage, but not in the way it would be if something was torn, sprained, or strained.
Excessive soreness can be described as Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), which can definitely hurt. There are 3 questions you can ask yourself when you are trying to decipher between pain and discomfort:
1. Where?
Where is the discomfort? Is the discomfort in your mental capacity? Or physically is It uncomforting? If it’s physical then you know you’ll need to shift your mindset to be able to coup with the challenges. If it is mental you may need to learn how to decipher those uncontrolled subconscious thoughts that are stopping you. I think certainly some people may possess these self limiting thoughts and as a result self sabotage themselves.
2. Why?
Why am I experiencing this pain or discomfort? When I trained clients in person they often would complain it was uncomfortable to breathe properly. I would ask them why? They’d respond that it was uncomfortable the way they had their chest on the bench – as a women it can be uncomfortable. OK if that’s the case it’s a easy fix – change positions. If the question becomes why is squatting so uncomfortable to breathe properly? Well maybe you need to consider how to breathe properly when under a heavy load. Pursuing more heavy weight or more reps, requires that you learn your limits and learn how to manage the discomfort. The first step is to acknowledge your discomfort, pain, or instability. Instability can also make you feel uncomfortable and, to some, may feel painful.
3. How?
How would you describe the discomfort? Is is uncomfortable or painful in that it is, quite literally, limiting you from performing the exercise? If that is the case then that could be straight up pain. How does it feel when you do the movement? Ties back into the “Why?” When you understand how to do the exercise properly it’ll allow you push past the hard reps because just like anything else in life, the reps, sets, and weight can be manipulated. Examples of manipulating your workouts, instead of increasing weight, and still see somewhat of progress (assuming your goals are not specific to one thing):
- Bands
- Chains
- Time under tension: do more work under less time
- Breathing/eccentric work with the same load
Sometimes we’re too busy making a living that we forget to live
Typically it is safe to assume that your brain knows when something is pulled or torn and thus pain. Some people don’t seem to acknowledge that they pushed themselves too far and end up training even with a torn muscle, joint, etc. I have 2 peers that experienced this and did not take the time to rehab the joint/muscle and as a result the area gets worse. Rest is underrated in that you need it to recover and continue to see progress. It is essential! So if you were locked up in a room and had access to nothing else except a blank wall, no distractions, and you start to feel what it’s like to be in your body then and only then will you acknowledge the literal pain you are in. Why do that though if you can just listen to your body and don’t ignore the red flags such as
extreme fatigue
poor sleep and poor nutrition
lack of motivation
looking at the time constantly when training
weak in the gym
Sometimes the “easing back” phase can be just going for a walk every day that week instead of going to the gym. This allows your body to recover and sensitize itself to your style of training.
You won’t be able to avoid completely discomfort. Without the discomfort you won’t see progress. It is through the discomfort that you grow, and thus need to move forward.
These are my tips, and suggestions. It starts with a new way of thinking and being open minded to new ways of training. I see so many people, especially in powerlifting, that are specific to the training (which is great) but also forget that they are humans designed to move in 3 ways: sagittal, frontal, and transverse. Squat, Bench, and Deadlift is not the only thing in the world of movement. Learn to jump, twist, walk better, sit better, walk on your toes, etc. Keeping a open mind and trying new physical activities ensures that you will be able to build a resilient body so that you can stay the course.
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Be well
Yelena