Let’s start by getting something straight -> You WILL feel uncomfortable if you want the most out of your training. The more motivated you are to improve, the harder you’ll be willing to push.
When you’re driven to get to the next level, you will find yourself gasping for breath in WODs. You’ll push yourself to the point where your muscles are burning and you’re not sure you can keep going. That’s what you want, that’s how you’ll know you’re really working.
Of course, going balls-to-the-wall isn’t always the best plan for a workout. But, to know what you’re capable of, you’ll want to practice pushing right near your threshold.
It’s likely that the more experience you have training, the better you will be at deciding when it’s a good idea to push on and when you actually need to pull back.
When you’re experiencing burning muscles, fatigue and heavy breathing, they are simply sings that you’re really pushing yourself. These expressions of discomfort are very different from a sprained ankle, or a huge rip in your hand (injury that is not worth pushing through in your daily training).
Your brain will begin to tell you to slow down or stop because you’re tired, hurting or struggling. This is a protection mechanism, used to keep you out of danger and used to keep you alive. The protection mechanism shows up before we actually “need” to stop. It’s a reaction that happens rapidly. You get physically uncomfortable, and you are automatically presented with the thought “stop or slow down.”
You get to decide how you want to respond to those signals.
You can learn to interpret the discomfort as positive, as a good sign. The better you are at responding to the pain, the better you’ll be at pushing yourself and reaching new limits.
1. First, embrace the fact that the uncomfortable parts of training are both necessary, and good for you. They are an integral part of you reaching your performance potential.
2. Then, work on a strong response to the discomfort. When you start feeling that burning feeling or pounding in your chest… smile and know that it’s a good thing. Tell yourself it’s a good thing –> you are exactly where you want to be.
