If you are an avid exerciser, we have
three very important things in common. And these three things are often
overlooked and never thought of inhibiting performance. No, it’s not nutritional belief that kale possesses some kind of super power. No, it’s not what makes your arms and butt look its best, Lulu Lemon or Under Armor. And no, it’s not what's the best pre-workout (chances are, if you feel your heart is going to explode, it's not a good one). It’s breathing, posture and walking.
As Dan John, StrongFirst Master Kettlebell Instructor and expert strength coach (and all around bad a$$) says, "if it's important to you, do it everyday". So here's the million dollar question, what's important to you? The trend in our busy lives is to focus
on the more active aspect of our respective lifestyles. But what about the
basic things such as breathing, posture and walking that make those activities
we enjoy possible? Try as you might, heavy squatting won’t fix bad posture,
(it’ll make it worse). Try as you might, poor breathing mechanics will not
improve your endurance (it’ll make it worse). And if walking is causing you discomfort, do you really think running is the answer to fixing the problem (yup, it’ll make it worse)?
How about taking a step back and
re-assessing your current activities by answering these three questions:
1)
Do you feel better as a result of your
training?
2)
Does your body recover or do you
experience nagging aches, pains and discomforts?
3)
Are you improving toward your goal?
Look, I understand, it’s frustrating
making time to train and having very little to show for it besides that nagging
hip or back ache when you are sitting. Believe it or not, your lack of
enjoyment might be the result of poor basic mechanics resulting in your body's discomfort. Try to re-groove your
breathing, posture and the way you walk and rekindle your love for training.
Best of luck in your training!
