Not exactly happy here.
My Fabulous Friday Workout isn’t happening. Magnificent Monday Workout and Wonderful Wednesday Workout didn’t happen either. On Monday we were on the road and on Wednesday, I had an early morning visit with the cardiologist (all is well, just the annual check-in). It has been a busy week!
Yesterday, my consarned IT band decided to be a jerk and has both my knee and hip hurting. I’ve been stretching and massaging, but these things take time. My plan was to avoid the elliptical this morning.
However… I awoke with abdominal pain. Not severe, but pretty sure I don’t need to be lifting much with whatever is causing the pain.
So… here I sit in the The Comfy Chair With A View. Maybe I’ll make it to the gym tomorrow, maybe not. I’ll definitely be on the floor with my ankle weights to work the misbehaving IT band later this morning.
When I first started working out, I pressured myself to be there every time, no matter what. No excuses! None. Now I’ve learned that listening to my body is paramount.
Pain is not the issue. It is an indicator of the issue. Pain tells us something is going on inside that needs to be dealt with.
Sometimes, it’s a chronic pain, like that from arthritis. Sometimes, it’s a result of overwork or unusual work that has strained muscles. Sometimes it’s from working the muscles, joints, and tendons that have become dormant.
Every time we have pain, we need to evaluate it.
Is it the chronic pain of arthritis or other inflammatory issue?
Did you lift, pull, or tug too much yesterday or the day before? (Sometimes the second day is worse than the day after.)
Did you do good things to help your body and your long-dormant muscles are complaining?
Consider what the pain is telling you. Some chronic pain tells you to do the stretches and exercises necessary to be able to move. Some pain tells you to move, but in different ways so as not to aggravate it.
When you can’t pinpoint the cause of the pain, it’s time to step back, stop pushing to do things that aggravate the issue, and patiently wait a time for it to heal.
Counts for emotional pain, too. The hurt in your heart and mind is an indicator that something is wrong, something has happened, and that is what needs to be addressed.
Don’t just push it down and move on like I used to. Stifling the pain doesn’t heal it, it just makes it hide until there’s so much of it pressed down that it explodes.
The way for our emotions — mind and soul — to heal is to do just like we do for our bodies. Step back from the workout, evaluate what the pain is telling us, and take appropriate action to address the underlying issue before moving on.
Dealing with the underlying issue is critical to your good health, mind, body, soul, and spirit. Take good care of you today. You ARE worth it!
