Balancing Act, Part 1: BUT IT’S ONE LOUDER…

Welcome to the first of two articles about balancing your training. Achieving the right balance can be a challenge, because of psychology – motivation on one end, and guilt on the other. Do any of these scenarios sound familiar?

1. “Wow, that workout is going to suck, so I am going to stick with the 18lb kettlebell so that it doesn’t hurt so much.”
2. “Holy cow, my Fran time is getting really fast! Beating my old PR is going to be hard!”
3. “If I don’t work out six times this week, I will feel crummy and might backslide, so I must train today even though my shoulders are sore and I didn’t sleep all that well last night.”

Just showing up to the gym is an accomplishment for many people. Pushing out of your comfort zone may be another matter. If you find yourself taking it a little easy on a day when you don’t have a good reason to throttle back (such as having a cold, poor sleep, etc.), you may be cheating yourself out of valuable training. DNA training is effective because it’s efficient – short and challenging; if you take the challenge away, you can lose effectiveness.

How can you get over the motivation speed bump?

Ask yourself this question: what’s the worst thing that can happen if you go with a heavier weight or run a little faster?

The answer is probably that you might get more out of breath and have to slow down. That’s not exactly a terrible consequence; you still control the situation, and can always drop down a weight if you are really having trouble. Also, if you don’t know the difference between “good hurt” and “bad hurt” yet, it’s best to ask your trainer for guidance, to ensure that you are being challenged enough but not too much. (Good and bad are hard to describe and must be experienced, but in a nutshell, “good hurt” includes muscle fatigue and feels like “wow, this is hard,” whereas “bad hurt” involves lightheadedness and stabbing pain and is a clear sign to STOP.)

Next time you find yourself wanting to take it easy when you know you don’t need the break, just ask yourself what the worst thing that can happen will be, and then cowboy/cowgirl up.

Suppose you are at the other end of the spectrum: your training is going great, and you are feeling strong. You’re facing a benchmark workout and want to beat your PR, but you know it hurt last time. How can you improve?

“You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You’re on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you’re on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?”

You have two options: do the workout as prescribed and push harder, or turn it UP with Rx+. Turn that amp up to ELEVEN.

“BUT IT’S ONE LOUDER”

My Helen PR is 9:32 Rx (that’s 3 rounds of 400m, 21 swings at 16kg, and 12 pullups). When Helen cropped up on the board this week, I decided to notch up the suck factor and do it with the 20kg bell. The result: 10:55, and wow, was it tough! I got a more intense workout and generated a lot more power in a slightly longer amount of time than I had before. I will probably stick with the higher weight in future, but it will be interesting to drop back down and see what happens.

If you’re a firebreather, feeling strong and looking for a challenge, give Rx+ a try. You may surprise yourself and will get great benefits.

HOWEVER…

No, this guy is NOT our Rick.

Remember scenario #3 above? While pushing yourself at the right times is a great idea, overdoing it is entirely possible. We are seeing some injuries when people are pushing too much, and getting insufficient recovery, which may include insufficient nutrition to fuel the recovery. Next time, Zee will address the other side of the scale in balancing your training: recovery. Yes, you CAN overdo it, and no, you are not wimping out.

If in doubt, listen to your trainer!