Exercise is Hard – It’s Okay

I was taking a client through muscle endurance exercises. That’s where you use lighter weights, but more repetitions until the muscle fatigues (completely tires out). This creates a lot of muscle burn by the end of the set. It is hard and it hurts.

She said, “Oh, this is too much. It hurts. I can’t do it.”

Now we were on the last exercise of the training session. She’d been working really hard and doing fine. What was giving out was her mind, her mental focus.

Exercise can be very uncomfortable. In a way you have to build up a tolerance to the pain (not injury pain, but tired muscle pain). Normally, pain is a bad thing. Emotionally you respond in a negative way to pain. it makes you feel like something bad is happening to you.

When it comes to exercise, you have to tell yourself it’s okay to work hard. It’s okay to feel the muscle burn. Exercise “pain” can be a good thing to create more strength and endurance. It’s a positive not a negative!

I told my client, “It’ll be okay. You’ll recover. Trust me.” I went on to talk to her about not fearing the difficulty, but to continue to work hard. As she continues, her muscles will become stronger, and so will her ability to press through.

You can become stronger too. Embrace exercise and don’t be afraid to work hard!