A Super-Secret Fitness Fact

I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear. But you can trust me. I promise. And on the bright side, there is a silver lining to it.

You’re going to get hurt.  

That’s a crummy thing to say, I know, but it’s the truth. Living on earth...as a human being...with gravity always working...you’re going to get hurt.  

This doesn’t necessarily mean debilitating, you-can’t-move injuries, although those may happen.

I mean the tweaks, the stabs, the ouchies, and the what-the-heck-is-that’s?

When you’re getting out of your car and your knee buckles. Or you get up in the morning, and your neck is stiff. Or you your back is just achy and stiff.

What do you do about it?

Well...yes...you should usually listen to your body...but there are times when you should just tell it to shut up.

Not every pinch is cause for concern. Not every twitch means you should take the day off. Not every tug should cause panic.

One of the more important concepts of mental health therapy is the idea that, even though you may not be able to control the thoughts that pop into your head, you can control the importance you give them and your reaction to them.

You can have a thought...take a moment to think about that thought...decide whether the thought is valid or helpful...and finally, take it seriously or throw it in your mental trash can.  

The ability to do that is important to good mental health.  

The ability to do that with pain is important to good physical health.

So how do you do that? How do you know what you should pay attention to and what you shouldn’t?

I’ll give you some ideas, but, of course, I have to let you know that this is a pretty tricky subject and is IN NO WAY meant as medical advice or a diagnosis. Just encouragement to maybe think a little differently about those boo-boos.

How’s your posture? Many back issues don’t have much to do with the back. They tend to be related more to hip position, posture, and general movement. That may be hard to understand, so just know that the better the hips move, the looser the back tends to be.

How does it feel today? Just because something hurt yesterday doesn’t mean it has to hurt today. If you had something going on yesterday and it’s better today, just move on with your life and forget about it.  

Let pain be your guide. There are a lot of ways to do things. If doing something hurts, there may be a variation that doesn’t. And if something doesn’t hurt, don’t second guess it.  

Again, I’m in no way saying that you should always work through pain. Quite the opposite. What I’m saying is that pain doesn’t automatically mean you should shut things down. Adopting a different mindset around issues that pop up may mean that your results and mindset don’t need to suffer.