Let me open with this – I am going to reference pain a lot here so lets make some important distinctions. Pain should not be isolated, sharp, stabbing, pulling or snapping. That much is obvious, after all we are not looking for injuries.
About 6 months ago, I was training a client for a very specific upcoming fitness assessment in which he had to hold the plank for 4 minutes. (You’re probably having the same reaction that I did). We got him in position to plank and I started the timer. He is of a good fitness level but didn’t do isometric core holds of any kind regularly so this was a push. We got to about a minute in and he dropped to his knees, turned to me, and said:
“How long was that?”
I told him how long it was and he asked what I thought.
“Honestly, I think you have another 2 minutes in the tank minimum”.
This is something I have seen far more often than not, and why is that? Well, your brain is hardwired to move as little as possible, eat calorie-dense foods and avoid pain. So when you start squatting there comes a point when your blood pH begins to go a bit crazy, and pain receptors start to complain about hydrogen and other funky bi-products floating around. This tells your brain to rest. This is because the exercise is starting to become expensive for your energy systems and slightly destructive for your muscles. The expense and damage are a good thing, of course, they are essential stressors to prompt a response to get you fitter and stronger.
Next time your exercising – take note of the first time you take a rest or adapt the exercise and check in with yourself to see if you could have done any more. The chances are you could have done way more than what you did. So here is my suggestion:
Focus on the discomfort, go looking for the burning, the exhaustion, the sweat, and the ugly grunts.
Of course make your exercise efficient, if you’re aiming for 15 reps, don’t push past this level by 100 just to maximize your discomfort, but pick a resistance setting that means 15 is only just about achievable. You’ll find your brain has been cutting you short on pretty much everything you do.
As previously mentioned though – don’t go crazy – pinging your quads up into your rib cage will do you no good. If you need help dialling this in, give me a shout and we can book in a performance coaching session.
