SUCK IT UP BUTTERCUP!

Learning to break down mental barriers without breaking yourself

I love this saying, it’s gotten me through a few tough workouts and pre lift jitters, and I even have a cute t-shirt emblazoned with this slogan.  Sometimes in life ye got to put the big girl panties on and get it done! Right? Ah, If only it were that simple.

I love being a part of something as positive and motivational as the fitness community, it’s changed my life. I have learned to push my boundaries and achieved things I didn’t think were possible. I see those around me excel themselves every day and it’s a constant source of happiness and inspiration to me.

However on my journey I have also learned through trial, error and injury the difference between pushing through my mental barriers and tired muscles v pushing through injury and poor movement because my ego has kicked in.  Just because I wanted to be faster or lift heavier I would forgo sense and good movement. The weight went up right? I was first that’s what matters yeah?? Needless to say while my enthusiasm was great my mind and body needed a little fine tuning.

When we start out on an exciting fitness journey and begin to get out of our comfort zones we enter a new zone, unchartered territory filled with abs, booty shorts and badassery.  We are bombarded with images online depicting hot bodies and slogans like ” sore is the new sexy” and “suck it up princess”. These mantras suggest that unless it hurts it’s not a good enough workout, that soreness is a sign of hard work and achievement. This is not the case and can be confusing.  We want to throw ourselves into this new healthier lifestyle with gusto and prove we are tough/strong enough to see it through, no pain no gain!

We need to push ourselves and stay motivated of course, but how far is too far? We need to get out of our comfort zone and in doing so learn about ourselves and our barriers, but while breaking those barriers we do not need to constantly break ourselves. An inability to move or pain is not an indication of a good workout. Three sessions that do not cause excessive pain is better than one session that leaves you unable to move for days after.

When you enter a training regime you will feel tiredness in your muscles of course and introducing new exercises can leave you with the dreaded DOMS (delayed onset of muscle soreness)! Some exercises like lunges will nearly always leave you sore the next day, but this does not mean it is a more effective exercise than those that don’t.

Mobility and maintenance are huge parts of training. Warming up correctly, cooling down correctly and choosing the right movements and weights appropriate to your level will ensure you can push yourself without causing injury or failure. Listen to your coaches and your body. You are not that person across the room from you, you don’t know their experience, abilities or journey.  Choose your training in accordance to your goals.  Slow and steady tends to be the better option to long term gains.  Don’t run before you can walk.

Trust me I get it that every now and then the competitive monster gets in the way and the urge to go heavier , faster than your peers takes over, the 5,4,3,2,1 counts down and you lose a little more sense with every second until Go!! I’ve been that person and I will no doubt be that person again.  Shortcuts are tempting at times – for example kipping pull ups before you have the strength built to do strict pull ups.  These shortcuts are a sure route to an injury that could set you back even further.

I have learned that when I listened to the advice of my coaches and physio I made distinct improvements and constant gains albeit small ones but they have stuck around. When after injuries I reined it back and “sucked it up”. I left my ego at the door and started over by improving my movement and rebuilding strength. I’ve taken the time to work on my weaknesses and instabilities and in doing so I’ve come back stronger. I’m that person who went from back squatting 100 kg to doing Bulgarian split squats with 8kg kettlebells and scaling back on movements and weights that I would consider well within my arsenal of abilities.   But taking this time taught me a lot about myself and has helped me become more intelligent about my training .I was not training for a competition so why was I so bothered? Nobody else was judging me; it was just me and my dented ego.  It was humbling and gave me a new understanding of my body and the process. I will still challenge myself and step outside of my comfort zone but I will do so with a better understanding of my body and more importantly my mind.  This will hopefully stand to me in the future as an athlete and one day a coach.

“Suck it up buttercup” still rings true to me; it’s just taken on a slightly different meaning.

Xx

Jayne