Your brain automatically tells you to retract your finger when you touch a hot kettle. It also tells you that you should probably retreat if you see a dog growling at you. These are all good and well and situations where your brain protects you from the dangers you face. But how about when it screams at you to stop pushing yourself during your workouts?
I’m sure you have heard the phrase “No Pain, No Gain”. To a certain extent, this rings true especially when it comes to keeping your body fit. How many times have we been so tempted to just stop our painful workout and walk away? For myself, so many, many times. But in such situations, even when our brain yells for us to quit it, we don’t because we know that if we can break through that hurdle, we will be on our way to success.
At times, your brain will insist you are experiencing an overload and ignite headaches and sores throughout to make you stop so that it can be at peace. You can trick your brain into thinking you have stopped whatever exercise you are doing but slowing down (don’t stop), and taking it easy for awhile. The aches will eventually pass and you can resume your intensity. You may not be able to go on for too long after that but at least, you didn’t stop when your brain told you to.
This is not to say that we should ignore the warning signals from our brain. While there are times you know that it is okay to push on, you should also always be conscious about what your brain is telling you. If your body feels like it’s going to crash and your brain is also screaming that you should stop, for real, please stop. When it comes to the functionality of our bodies, we need to know when to stop to prevent any kind of damage that may affect us in the long run. There have been too many cases of sports people not heading their bodies’ and brains’ cries to stop or slow down and they have landed themselves in pitiable situations.
At the end of the day, although pushing through your pain is commendable, you should also listen to what your brain tells you. Decide for yourself whether it makes sense to go on or to stop. Your brain will always be working with you in terms of pain control so be aware of both and do what you need to do.
