When I first started teaching fitness classes, I went hog wild. Madly in love with my new line of work, I took every instructing position offered to me. I led classes at multiple gyms morning, noon and night, weekdays and weekends. I was unstoppable — or so I thought.
Running 16 hours of classes per week for almost two years, many of them high impact, I don’t know why I was stunned to develop knee pain. Did I do the sensible thing and see a doctor, get treatment and dial back on my hours of jumping around? Oh heavens, no. I kept blasting right along at 100 miles per hour.
Knee pain, SHMEE pain; it would clear up on its own, I told myself. Besides, I wanted to set a strong example to my clients by leading all of my classes with gusto, enthusiasm and impressive effort. I was not about to use this fool knee as an excuse to stop pushing hard.
I sure wish I had. Fast-forward two months and I was hobbling around with what was diagnosed as severe patellar tendinitis. (Yes, I finally mosied into the doctor’s office after being unable to put weight on my right leg without shrieking in pain). I was taking ibuprofen by the handful and strapping bags of ice to my knee throughout the day. Now, I literally couldn’t work my class schedule. Like a dolt, I chose to ignore my symptoms, and they got much worse. It took close to eight months for the tendonitis to heal. My stupidity cost me time, money and horrible frustration, but it also provided me with an valuable lesson: Listen to your body when it hurts.
This is not to say that you cannot exercise if a part of you is in pain. For the most part, you can, but use common sense.
When a motion hurts, stop, even if it only hurts a little bit. If pressing a weight overhead aggravates your left shoulder, don’t do it. If running hurts the balls of your feet, cease running. Do not foolishly “work through the pain” like I did. Due to endorphins and adrenaline, the pain often decreases as we get into our workout, and we are unaware that we’re creating even more damage. Be smart. Give the injury time to heal before taking up the motion again. And if it doesn’t fully recover, see a doctor.
Find ways to work out that don’t irritate the suffering area. Yes, you’ll need to quit your plyometrics class if you have plantar fasciitis, but there are umpteen other workouts you can perform. Find a trainer, coach or physical therapist who can create an exercise program for you that is safe and effective, and who can monitor your progress. Whatever you do, do not downplay your pain to these experts, or you might very well produce more injuries.
Be patient. Especially as we advance in years, the body takes its own sweet time in recovering. The eight months my knee took to heal felt like eight years, but I had to let it run its course.
Accept your limitations. Some aches and pains are chronic (arthritis, nerve damage, etc) . I have a bone spur in my left ankle that isn’t going anywhere unless I undergo surgery — and even then, there is a good chance it would grow back. Sadly, my days of high knee jump-roping and using a tall bench in step class have been put to rest.
After basking in self-pity for a few weeks (what’s the point of life if you can’t leap on and off a high platform or dazzle your own ego with a speed rope?), I said “Enough.” Time to practice what I preach and find lower impact, alternative exercises.
When I listen to my body and don’t do things which hurt my ankle, it stops giving me grief. The spur is still there, but I know what ticks it off and I wisely stay away from those exercises.
Don’t force your body to perform workouts that cause or increase pain, I don’t care how many calories you might be burning or how great the endorphin rush is. It’s unkind, and it’s the opposite of self-care. Take care of your body the way you would your child’s body — with the utmost love and respect. Your body will thank you for it.
Catherine Bongiorno, info@lifttolose.com, is a Mukilteo personal trainer and nutritional therapist who owns Lift To Lose Fitness &Nutrition, www.lifttolose.com.
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