Listening to Your Body

    Life is a continuing evolving process.  Day in and day out new opportunities and new downfalls continue to enter our lives. Whether it be a new job, a death in the family, sickness, stress at work, or many other things, they all have a cumulative affect on the body. These things are inevitable and thus must be properly accounted for in order for you to have a long and healthy life.
    When it comes to your training, the rules are no different. Sure we would all love to go to the gym and train balls to the wall every time. However, that just isn't possible. The body gets beat up from training, and even with proper rest and recovery implemented, the added stress like those listed above WILL drag you down. You more than likely have dealt with this yourself. When this happened, some of you continued to push through, which occasionally is warranted but most if the time is only going to hurt. Others may decided not to train that day but end up feeling guilty about it later, further exacerbating the problem.
    The solution, listen to and respect your body. If you feel run down from your routine, break the monotony. Instead of your usual workout head out to the park, hit up some body weight training and lift some stones. The mental break will do you great benefits, and the fresh outdoor air will only help. If you absolutely do not feel like training, that is fine. Don't stress about it. One missed workout is just that ONE missed workout. In the end, the break from that workout will probably have done you more good than that one workout ever could have. Never underestimate the power of your mind.
   If you are to ever have long term training, and more importantly life success, understanding you body and being able to adapt your training to accommodate its' needs is of utmost importance. As strength coach Zach Even-Esh of the Underground Strength Gym in NJ calls himself, you need to be a 'Soul Lifter.' Listen to your body and train to keep it at peace because with all of the stress it faces day in and day out, it deserves our attention.

Train for Harmony,

Kyle Bohannon, CSCS
Owner/ Head Trainer
kyle@trainstrive.com
www.trainstrive.com