Listening to Your Body's Cues

[Chiharu]

A lot of trainers encourage you to "push through" pain that you feel- yet also say that you should listen to your body. Even with something less extreme than pain, like fatigue, these messages make it hard for me to know whether I should stop or continue.

Ever since I was a kid PE teachers and similar individuals have implied that I was lazy if I stopped before finishing. I took that to heart, and now I feel guilty if I can't keep up with a program. But supposedly I should be listening to my body's cues.

How do you judge when to listen to or push through pain/fatigue/other cues?

 

[miss fortune]

if you're just tired or your feet hurt or something basic of that sort pushing through really isn't a big deal... it'll make you stronger or more fit in the end... I do that every week

on the other hand, if it's something like sharp pain in a bone or something of that sort, you may want to get that checked out... I stress fractured my shin bone in the winter and that wasn't fun

that's the best I can do with an ambiguous situation there

 

[Mole]

How do you judge when to listen to or push through pain/fatigue/other cues?

Just turn a deaf ear.

Never dance for performance. Never dance for exercise. Never dance for others. Rather dance for joy, for the sheer joy of movement. Ask your muscles how do they feel, and follow their desires and they will love you.

 

[gromit]

Also, as you do it more, you will come to understand/recognize the different kinds of discomfort associated with exercise, and what they mean. [MENTION=1180]whatever[/MENTION] spoke to some of them. Another one is if you have been exercising for several hours without eating anything (say hiking, for example) and you start feeling weak and fatigued, eating a handful of dried fruit will give you some more energy to keep going.

 

[21%]

Usually I know if I'm just being whiny but can still keep going or if I'm going to die if I don't stop right now. When I exercise I push my body to the level where it's a struggle, but that isn't killing me. I prefer erring on the side of doing to little than doing too much and risk seriously hurting your body.

 

[WALMART]

When I perform physical exercise, there is a "plateau" I must reach before my mind's perceptions become irrelevant. It is always easiest to quit just before I plateau, but once I reach it, it's as if nothing my mind tells me matters anymore. I escape to a fantastic land of weird thoughts and contrived notions. Hills that pained me minutes before have grown as flat as anything, my legs operating completely independent of my mind.

I think it's what's known as "runner's high".

Pain is different, as has been mentioned. Recently, biking up a large hill, something tweaked in my lower back. It shot down to the tips of my toes. I pushed through, and I wonder if I didn't prolong the healing process by doing so. I probably should have listened to my body and walked it.

 

[Stanton Moore]

There is a difference between the discomfort of exercise and pain. the two are harder to distinguish when you are out of shape, but it becomes clearer as you get stronger.

 

[Glycerine]

Yes. There is difference between muscle fatigue and tenderness vs. pure, hot, throbbing pain. The first one is ok to push through and builds muscle and the second one leads to injuries.

If the pain is like 1-4/10, it's typically muscle soreness but if it's 5+/10, then it might be something serious.

 

[Chiharu]

Thanks, everyone