Irrational Inspiration
Published: Sat, 12/08/18
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Irrational Inspiration
More is not always better.
It's a common belief that the more you do, the harder you work, the heavier you lift, the faster you exercise the better your results and the more successful you will be.
False.
When you live under the premise that more is better, you may not end up with the results you desire.
Shows like Biggest Loser and social media celebrities often depict fitness in an unrealistic light. Training for hours a day at high intensity, lifting heavy, and pushing yourself to limit day after day is not the healthiest way to attain your goals. Following some of the popular fitness and motivational beliefs may produce little to no results, impact your health negatively, or even lead to injury.
Some of my least favorite popular motivational fitness ideologies include:
No Pain No Gain
I think the sentiment behind this is well intentioned, but this mentality has been taken to the extreme. When you start a new program after time off there is a level of difficulty that is to be expected. Yes, it's going to push you outside your comfort zone. Yes, you may "feel the burn" and experience discomfort during your workouts and soreness the day or two after. Pain, true pain, should not be a part of the process.
Pain is the bodies way of signaling you to stop what you are doing to prevent injury. It's important to know how to differentiate between discomfort and pain. If you are feeling pain, do not push through and complete your set or workout. Listen to your body, protect yourself, and stop immediately. Working through pain does not make you strong, it does not make you a bad-ass, it is not something to wear as a badge of honor. Working through pain puts you at risk for
serious injury that could sideline your ability to train and stall your progress.
While soreness is a normal bi-product of working out, soreness is not necessarily the sign of a good workout. You can have a great workout that progresses you toward your goals and not experience any soreness at all! Exercise should improve your quality of life, not leave you feeling miserable. Train smart and listen to your bodies feedback. In time you will know when to pull back and when to push through.
No Days Off
"No Days Off". "Never Miss a Monday". "They Sleep, We Grind".
Motivational mantras, or unhealthy mindset?
To me it's 100% the latter. I think we glorify the constant hustle, the grind,training 7 days a week, and the act of being constantly busy. I think this mindset is unhealthy. Rest, relaxation, recharging, and recovery are vital to progress, to health, and to success. I guess it doesn't sound as cool to tell someone that you got a full night of sleep as it does to say you thrive while only sleeping 4 hours a
night.
You know what isn't cool?
Getting sick from a weakened immune system.
Getting injured because your body hasn't had time to recover from previous workouts.
Losing your temper because you're overworked and overtired.
Missing out on priceless moments with your friends, your children, or your partner for work.
Uncontrollable food cravings from lack of rest.
Self care includes time to recover and is a key component to being able to sustain productivity long term. Whether your goals are physical, professional, or spiritual, you will not be able to maintain consistent effort over time if you don't prioritize recovery.
Go Big or Go Home
There's a time and a place for everything. Sometimes it's appropriate to give it all you've got, but there needs to be balance. It's not possible to go big, push yourself to the limit, lift heavy, or maintain high intensity day in and day out. Some days all you can do is show up and give it the bare minimum. And that's OK. Scheduled rest days, stretching and mobility, and active recovery are just as important as strength training
and high intensity workouts.
When you are following a strength training program you can't go for your 1RM (1 rep max) every workout. To progress you have to show up and work at 65%. You have to include weeks where you de-load and lift lighter. These periods allow you to recover so that on those days where you give it all you can, you are able to hit those PR's.
Train smarter not harder
THIS is my kind of fitness inspiration!
It's not always better to go harder, faster, or heavier. Quality always trumps quantity. Train with integrity and intelligence. The fundamentals aren't flashy or exciting but if you focus on learning the basics well and develop good form and movement patterns from the beginning, you can avoid potential injury, or having to relearn and retrain proper form in the future.
We live in a very ego driven world. We want to be the best, we want to perform better, we want results FAST, we want to prove that we can move mountains. We expect to be able to sustain a high level of performance with no pause. But why? Instead of glorifying the hustle and grind wouldn't it be better to find ways to maximize our time in a way that allows us to achieve more in half the
time? What if we prioritized a healthy balance between effort and recovery that allowed us to create a lifestyle that sustains momentum while preventing burnout? That sounds a lot cooler to me than a never ending hustle that leaves you exhausted and potentially isolated from the people and activities that you love.
Have I achieved that? I wish! I'm constantly being reminded to stop and take care of myself. I certainly have not perfected the art of healthy balance, however I have become better at catching myself before a catastrophic breakdown. It's a process but with practice it becomes easier.
Practice makes progress!
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