Above facts suggest negative growth in my fitness training. However I am satisfied that I am still training 4-5 days a week for 90-100 minutes and beginning to feel better after all the chaos I had to go through. Most importantly I haven’t had an injury that will derail me from hitting the gym even for a week.
Let me go back to the first quarter of this year (Jan-Mar 2010) when I was making rapid progress in my physical training. My mind was relatively free of stress or anxiety of any sort. My life was cruising so to say. April onwards I have had to deal with a few critical & chaotic issues in my life on multiple fronts – got mentally off balance, nervy, and emotionally drained out. All that has been happening is not what I had imagined to experience.
Today as I type this, situations and circumstances in my life have not got any better than say a month back; the crisis has simply worsened. Only difference is that I am trying to train my mind to adapt and rock in the new scenario. The better I adapt, faster I will be able to reduce the gap between my target and achievement.
The whole objective of the above discussion is to urge fitness enthusiasts to listen to their bodies and thus reduce the chances of injury during physical conditioning and training.
SIDE STEP INJURY & FLOW INTO EXERCISING – 8 Wonders!
1. WATCH HOW YOU SLEEP
If your body for whatever reason is sleep starved, go for moderate intensity workout; and when suffering from sleep disorder, low intensity workout is recommended. For intensive workout where we really stretch and push ourselves, our body as well as mind needs to be well rested and relaxed.
2. PEARL OF CALMNESS
In movies we see heroes getting agitated, seeking revenge and stretching their bodies to insane levels. Real life is different then reel life. When our nerves are jittery or our blood pressure is shooting, slow down. If you decide to bulldoze your body with anger as a stimulant, you are exponentially risking a sprain or injury. Calmer we are, farther we can stretch our lungs and muscles.
3. MIND POWER
I had an injury a few years back and for almost next 3 years, I jogged at a snails pace of 5-6 kms per hour. People who do brisk walking are faster! In last 12 months, I used my mind to transcend the body, but very gradually. From barely dragging myself, I can now run! The main difference is my mental conditioning. The more we strengthen our mind and make it like a rock, the more power and stamina we will be able to wield in the gym. Weaklings cannot stretch their bodies too far…
4. FLOW INTO A NEW EXERCISE
When you add on a new exercise, slowly adapt to it. First 1or 2 sets just get the feel of it, and give it couple of days to become an integral part of your regime. Our nervous and cellular system, have a memory and adding a new exercise needs a little bit of re-wiring so to say.
5. BE GENTLE AFTER A PAUSE
Especially after 30, if you have taken a break from gym for a few days, you may need a few days to get back to where you left. If you have been off for weeks together, you may need a few weeks to acclimatize the body. Sadly body can’t be switched off and on like a computer. Body takes its time to reboot. If we don’t listen to our bodies, it will hang or crash.
It’s best to continue some training, if plausible, even when we have injured a particular body part, for e.g. if you have sprained your wrist, you may still be able to do legs, abs and cardio.
6. SWEATING OUT YOUR HANGOVER
Sweating out is good to get over a hangover and feel fresh. After a drinking binge, Mystics would recommend a low-moderate intensity workout for an extended duration, rather than a high intensity workout even for a small duration.
7. AGE OLD COUNSEL: Warm it! Stretch it! Cool it!
Take your time to get into a workout. 0-5 minutes — brisk walking – 5-10 minutes stretch a little – 10-15 minutes jog. It is now that you are ready to start your work out, be it aerobic, anaerobic or a combined workout. Cooling down and stretching your body is equally important. Proper Warm-up and Cool down is doubly important when you are stressed out!
8. MACHO BUDDHA – Meditative iron pumping
While doing serious weight training, as you pause to rest between sets, gently close your eyes and watch your breath between sets, be aware of your body, and especially the body part you are exercising. You are sure to enjoy more as you become more aware and this practice of listening to your body will help you to take care of it better. Smile, enjoy, but concentrate, get into the flow.
LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! Body and mind are related. Fitness is a way of life and their will be ups and downs; the whole point is we have to listen to our bodies, talk to it, understand it, feel it, urge it, befriend it. Know when your body is gaining elasticity and when it is lacking it. Be aware when to get into a peak workout mode and when simply keeping on may be the best thing.
Caution: Just 2-3 days back I went to gym and was feeling sluggish and sloppy. However as I slowly got into the flow, I worked out for almost 2 hours, and it was one of the most intense workouts I had in many weeks time. There is a world of difference between listening to our body and catering to the inherent lazy streak in mortals.
Write to sudhir@mysticmanagers.com to share your views or join me on http://in.linkedin.com/pub/sudhir-maheshwari/22/4b/902
MYSTIC Sudhir is a Wellness Coach, Inspirational Speaker and columnist
thank you for such an insprirational article. indeed one should listen to ones own body for injury free exercising. will always keep in mind these 8 wonders to side step injury and flow into exercising…..