Health Fitness

Overcoming pain during a workout

As I prepare for my third 90-day round, I am testing Insanity workouts to find out where to put them in my next hybrid training program. For those of you who have never tried Insanity, I assure you it has an exact name! I love at the end of Pure Cardio when Shaun T says, “That’s% * t are bananas!”

Doing Insanity has reminded me how important it is to overcome the pain and discomfort that comes with exercising hard. If you want to maximize your results, you must learn to keep going! In the weight room, if you hit the last two or three reps of a set and you’re not struggling, then you’re not doing something right. During a cardio workout, if you’re not sweating like crazy and gasping for air like a fish out of water, you’re probably not strong enough. The goal of these types of routines is to fatigue your body as much as you can. Then when he recovers, he will come back stronger than before. The more you work and the more fatigued you become (up to a point), the stronger your body becomes. It is cause and effect. But how do you know when it’s okay to continue and when to stop?

This is when you should continue. When your muscles burn like they’re on fire but you can keep the shape, then you have to keep going. When you are so fatigued, your brain tells you to stop but you keep staying in shape, so you should continue. When you are having trouble breathing but are not feeling dizzy or ready to vomit, you should continue.

If the pain and discomfort comes in the form of sharp pain, then you must STOP. If you are seeing stars, dizzy, or about to blow pieces, then you must STOP. If you feel like something in your body is about to give way or break, then you need to STOP. If you can’t keep up, you must STOP. Learn to distinguish between your brain and your body that want to stop and need to stop.

A few years ago I participated in the toughest mountain bike race in America. It’s called Leadville Trail 100 and it’s insane! One day on a mountain bike, 104 miles, 14,000 feet of climbing and all of this takes place between 9200 and 12,600 feet of elevation gain. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to quit smoking. However, I kept thinking about a quote that race director Ken Chlouber told us the day before the race. “You are better than you think and you can do more than you think you can.” Have that mindset in your workouts and you will be amazed at what you can do and the results that result.

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