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Picture yourself near the end of a workout. Heavy breathing. Heart racing. Your legs burn, feeling like they might just give out at any moment. All you need to do is finish those last few reps and you can finish the workout under the prescribed time cap for the day. Your hands drop to your knees and you think: “I just can’t do it.” What happens next? The timer goes off and you were right, you didn’t finish.

I’m sure everyone reading this has experienced this feeling of exercise induced “pain” in one way or another. If you are pushing through a workout, it’s impossible to ignore that uncomfortable feeling. That feeling is a signal to our brain to slow down, or even stop, to prevent possible injury. Most of the time though, if we are moving correctly and with the appropriate exertion, this exercise-induced pain is not a sign of possible injury, but just a sign of cardiovascular, and/or muscular conditioning.

Powering through this healthy discomfort is the way to becoming the fittest version of yourself. It also helps you understand your physical limitations and develop mental toughness.

But how do we tune out the whining and start winning? Let’s discuss a few tactics to help manage “pain” or this discomfort to find your true potential and expand upon it:

1.) Preparation: We want to prepare ourselves and expect that we are going to feel uncomfortable. We then need to be aware that this uncomfortable feeling is only temporary!

2.) Anticipation of Reward: No, this does not mean you should have a donut nearby. Visualize yourself being victorious. Create mental imagery of what a successful training session would look like for you that day.

3.) Goals: Create small concrete goals for your training session whether it is about your movement efficiency, technique focus, pacing, rep/set scheme, and/or plan of attack for a conditioning piece. Pain/discomfort is proven to be lower when you are focused on a goal (dissociative strategy).

4.) Optimism: Tell yourself: “What I’m feeling right now is part of the sport”. To push means discomfort. Discomfort brings positive outcomes.

5.) Confidence: You are not alone in this! The person next to you is hurting too! Now tell yourself: “I can tolerate MORE”!

6.) Control: Tell yourself: “I am in charge of what I am feeling. I am asking for this. I am aware of why this hurts. It is not harmful. This is making me better”. “Thank you, brain for telling me my legs hurt. I’m going to continue because I’m safe and I can keep going.”

The next time you are hitting a workout (highly cyclical and repeatable), try some of these tactics by practicing visualization, cueing yourself (“go time, cruise, get it, etc.”), and shifting the point of control from whining about what you’re feeling to winning the workout.

No matter where you are at with your fitness, you can benefit from these strategies.

Don’t shy away from the discomfort. LEAN INTO IT!

Coach Jim Leuenberger

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Coach Jim Leuenberger is one of the top competitive CrossFit coaches in the World. He is the head coach of the elite Black Flag COMPETE program located in Avon, Ohio, holding the CrossFit Level 2 and USA Weightlifting Level 1 certifications. Besides being an exceptional leader and teacher, he is an incredible athlete in his own right, and a fantastic husband and father of two wonderful kids. Please contact Coach Jim directly at [email protected] if interested or wanting more info on the COMPETE program.