Photo: Flamingo Pictures (Shutterstock)
In the fitness world, people often say that you should “listen to your body” when deciding what to do when you are not feeling well. This advice often boils down to being allowed to take the day off, which is certainly a valid option in many cases.
But “listen to your body” does not mean “take the day off if you don’t feel 100%”. That suggests a relationship where our brains urge us to walk, to walk, while our bodies are like a stubborn donkey – sometimes indulging, sometimes sitting and refusing to move.
Our bodies are strong and wonderful and resilient. If you actually listen to your body you may find that you are capable of more than you think you are. Sure, your body can tell you when to take time off, but your body can also tell you when it’s ready for a challenge.
Try it
Anyone who has trained long enough will have a story like this: I felt kind of shitty, but I showed up for my training anyway. When I got started I felt pretty good and set a personal record. Seriously, if you don’t recognize yourself here, ask around. It has happened to me several times, and it will happen to you one day too, if you give yourself the chance.
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Here’s how I approach days when I feel sore, tired, or light under the weather:
- When I have a workout scheduled, I show up no matter what.
- I don’t let my brain guess what my body will feel like. I am waiting for my body to tell me.
So let’s say it’s squat day, but I’ve made some bad choices in life. Maybe I did something yesterday that worked my quads more than expected and then I didn’t get enough sleep. I am tired, sluggish, and my legs hurt when I go down the stairs.
But I still show up. I know I had a lot of good workouts on good days, and if I don’t crouch today it will mess up my schedule for the rest of the week. (If I have the flexibility in my week to swap a hard day for an easy day, I can do that, but I won’t skip a workout right away.)
Then what? I’m starting to warm up. I take the empty bar and do a few squats with it. I wonder how I feel So far, so good? If so, I will continue.
Now I might think all the time, “Ugh, I’m probably not going to get anywhere near the numbers I planned for today.” But I know when I reach a weight that I really can’t reach, I will pull back. So I keep going.
I put a little more weight on the bar and ask my body: how does it feel? If it’s ok I’ll add more. How about?
You can see where this is going. As long as I can complete each sentence safely and without significant pain, I will continue. I am not wondering if I want to stop, I am wondering if this is a point where I have to stop. Most of the time, my body keeps saying, “Yeah, that’s okay.”
Pain may subside when you’re warmed up and working. So I’m not surprised when I can do my full workout as programmed. (When your workouts are programmed with RPEYour work is even easier as these are automatically scaled to your liking.)
But sometimes you need a little less than programmed. Maybe I should be working up to 80% of my maximum on sets, but when I hit 75% I can say that’s all I have inside of me. It’s good; I really listened to my body and it told me what to do today. In other words, believe in your own strength and resilience. When listening to your body make sure to ask what it can, not just what it can’t.