When I trained new clients and I was pushing them a little bit, they would make comments such as “You have no idea how hard it is to start because you work out all the time”. Granted there was truth to it, but it was my job to challenge them and I chalked it up to them having to get over mental barriers. I had no idea I would soon be able to fully relate to how they were feeling.
With my first pregnancy I worked out until I was 35 weeks along…and then I swelled…a lot! I looked like someone shoved a fire hose up my backside and turned it on high. Literally overnight I could not fit into my sneakers anymore. From that moment on my fitness level spiraled down the toilet. It was 6 months after I gave birth before I started back to my exercise routine.
The first day back was BRUTAL! My abs were a strong as a fruit roll-up; crunches felt like a form of torture. I could not do a push up to save my life, never mind trying to lift even half the weight I did before I was pregnant. As for jogging…riiigghhtt…I felt like walking at a brisk pace was an Olympic event. I now completely related to my clients and I wasn’t liking it. It was time to put my big girl panties on and apply my training knowledge to myself.
The first thought that came to my mind was a statement that I told all my clients…”You have to get comfortable with uncomfortable.” Oh how I repeated that to myself over and over when I started back!
Being comfortable with uncomfortable is a learned mental process. It is how people progress to the next level. It is pushing yourself into a zone where you have never been before and getting used to what it feels like at that pace or how it feels doing a certain exercise.
Let’s use jogging as an example. Say a person who has never done any cardiovascular exercise decides they want to start jogging. There is a lot going on when a person starts out. The heart rate starts to rise, blood flow increases to the muscles, breath rate begins to increase to keep up with oxygen demands, the body starts sweating to cool off the skin…and then the mental factors take over. The person feels their heart pounding and the lungs get a little tight. It produces fear of feeling out of control…then the breathing turns to hyperventilation, the heart now feels like it is going to explode from the chest…and the fear grows…heart pounding…lungs now can’t get air…OMG now I’m light headed and nausea sets in and legs are on fire…this is so uncomfortable…HELP! And the person stops after 3 minutes. The reality is that the person was doing just fine, but since he/she had never experienced those feeling before it produced fear, which made the “symptoms” worse, producing more fear to the point where the person stopped.
Take the same scenario and give the person tools to keep in control.
First, breathing control. One of my mentors and I disagreed on how to guide people new to jogging. He thought just tell them to do the talk test (a way to determine a good pace; a person can jog and still say short sentences) and they would sort the rest out themselves. (He was an awesome mentor, but he is also a marathoner that has run all his life and forgot what it was like to be a beginner.) I argued that if you give people the ability to be in control they would have less fear and be able to continue on longer. So, when I took my clients out for a jog I gave them tools to control their breathing. Everyone eventually falls into their own rhythm, but to start I taught them to breath in sync with the cadence “Hut, 2, 3, 4″. Hut is the blowing out and 2, 3, 4 is the breathing in. The easiest way to keep track is to do this with your pace. On “Hut” you step with your right foot, then “2, 3, 4″ is left, right, left; with “Hut” again being your right foot. When you pick up your pace you pick up the cadence pace also.
Second, empowerment. If you know what to expect it is much easier to be in control. I told new clients what they would experience (heart racing, tight lungs, legs may burn a little) and it was normal. I explained proper breathing is very important to keep from hyperventilating and in turn, avoiding light headed feelings and nausea.
Third, body check. I talked about this in my last blog “Thank You Body”. Do a mental check of all parts, honestly assess how you are feeling and adjust accordingly. You might surprise yourself that you are feeling good and can continue on longer than you thought you could.
Fourth, practice. Everyone, including myself, sounds like a loud wind bag when they are learning to fit all the pieces together. It’s okay! Over time, with practice it becomes more rhythmic and natural. What you are doing it teaching yourself to remain in control when the pace gets a little faster. You can exist in that zone for a longer and longer period of time because you are in control.
I used running as an example, but this can be applied to any exercise. If you are doing crunches and you start to “feel the burn” (aka the lactic acid building up in your muscles), do a couple extra repetitions…you’re teaching your body to more efficiently clear the lactic acid from your muscles and in turn able to more crunches.
And when it is all said and done, you know what to do…thank your mind and your body for getting comfortable with uncomfortable.
Great article donna, learning to breath is a huge help, it really helps in the long run!! The other tips are so great also.
Donna you are a true blessing to me right now . I read your blog regurally I just began my weight loss journey it’s the first week and I’m right where you are talking about . I definitely needed to read your blog this morning!! I hope you are doing well! Keep up the good work. Ashley
I was just saying this the other day. Mine revelation went like this “I need to get uncomfortable exercising, because I am uncomfortable with how I am right now”. Great post.
Good way to look at it Tamara! Uncomfortable is relative.
Excellent! Wish you were part of the First Strides program I did. Breathing was the biggest challenge and most often item requested for help from all the women. It was the hardest thing for me to learn. I’m with you Donna! I SO wish someone had told me the Hut, 2, 3, 4 thing. I learned it the hard way.
I would also add that at the beginning you may want music but as I am just a few months into this I really like not having music so I can really focus on my form, my breathing and my surroundings. I’ll probably get back to listening to music but it’s not right for me now.