Three Reasons You Should Listen to Your Body
Nearly a month ago, I introduced the 28 for 28 Challenge. I announced that my goal was to swim for 28 minutes every day in February. After my first week, I had to stop. I got really sick, and I learned that there are three reasons you should listen to your body.
The last thing I wanted to do was stop swimming. For seven days in a row, I’d woken up at 3:15 am in order to get to the Y, by 4:30 for my swim. I was developing a habit and feeling really proud of myself.
But something happened on Day 8. I could not get out of bed. It’s not like I just popped out of bed on the previous seven days, but I didn’t have it in me. So I slept in, and made plans to swim later that day. Unfortunately, as the day progressed, I felt worse and worse.
I was a sniffling, sneezing, runny nose mess, so there was no way I would be able to swim. In fact, I couldn’t swim for the next five days.
Feeling Like a Failure
Needless to say, I felt like a failure. I was really disappointed that I couldn’t push through. I should have been able to make it.
Then it occurred to me that what I considered a failure was actually a major success. Why? Because I listened to my body.
That got me thinking about why that’s so important, and I came up with three reasons you should listen to your body.
Reason #1: Prevent Injury
When I was in college, my dad injured the same shoulder several times. One injury was the result of his job as a letter carrier. I’m not sure if that one could have been prevented. However, the other one was completely preventable.
My dad was known for being a sprinter. There were a few teenaged boys who challenged him to a race. He was in his late forties or early fifties at the time. In his own words, he knew that he had “no business racing a group of kids”. However, he chose to ignore what his body was telling him. As a result, he fell and injured his shoulder.
There are definitely times when it’s okay to push through. Sometimes we definitely need to challenge our fitness levels. However, if you’re thinking that you should hold back or avoid doing something: that just might be your body’s way of helping you prevent an injury.
Reason #2: Promote Healing
Did you know that too much activity simply isn’t good for you? If you were to do a simple google search, it wouldn’t take long for you to find thousands of articles illustrating that point.
Sometimes when you’re not feeling your workout, especially if you’re recovering from injury or getting over an illness, it could be your body’s way of letting you know that you need to take a little time to heal. It would re ally be a great idea to listen.
Reason #2: Preserve Rest
Sometimes I over do it. I’m committed to getting my own forty-five minutes of fitness, even on days when I teach multiple classes. I also work on new content for my classes each week, which requires more exercise.
Maybe that’s not something you can relate to, but I’m sure you might over do things, too. Maybe you go through seasons where you stay up too late, but you still wake up really early the next day. Or there’s so much going on that you get caught in the cycle of eating too much junk food or not eating at all.
During those time when we overdo it, we may still be committed to fitness. So we opt to workout, when we’re really too tired to do so.
It’s possible that our exhaustion is a signal from our body’s that we should take the time to get the rest that we need.
Being Good Listeners
Listening to your body isn’t always easy. Especially when you’re being prompted sit down and not do anything. The alternative is much worse. Pushing though when you need to stop, returning to activity before you’ve fully recovered or not getting adequate rest are all detrimental to our health. Ignoring our body’s messages about slowing down could result in permanent injury. No one wants that.
We have to learn how to listen…even if it means we won’t be able to meet an original goal. We’ll just have to revise the goal.
As for my 28 for 28 Challenge, I’m still in it. I had to double up a few days last week, but I’m all caught up now. I won’t swim 28 minutes every day, but it will average out. Hopefully, I won’t miss anymore days this month. But if my body lets me know I need to rest again, you better believe, I’m going to listen.
What about you?
Hopping on the Scale! Don’t forget to hop on the scale and see where you are this week. Remember: if you were able to maintain and not gain, that’s success!
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