Recently, my trainer Nick has taken my workouts to a whole new level. What was once difficult, has now become damn near impossible. He has me lifting heavy 2 days a week and intense HITT training 3 days a week. The remaining days, often Tuesday and Sunday are reserved for Yoga, a light walk, and sometimes, simple stretching and meditation. A few weeks ago, on leg day, I was doing my usual extensions. I can't recall how much weight I was lifting, but with each lift, I could feel the burn in my quads intensify. It started off feeling like a simmer, but by the time I got to my 7th repetition, the burn was in full tilt, and I wanted to give up. I pushed until I get to 10 reps. The moment I stopped between reps, I expected the burn to stop, but instead, it was a full inferno, causing me to stand up and talk a walk to release the buildup of lactic acid. Then, sweet relief until Nick said, "Two more sets. Let's go!"
That day, I wanted to know what would happen if I pushed myself past the burn of lactic acid. What would happen if I powered through my 10 burning reps and did 2 more? Would my legs fall off? Would the muscles give out? Could I even do it? I asked Nick and he said, "Do it. See what happens?" I felt like I was being set up just by the flippant way that he said it. I looked at him squarely in the eye and gingerly sat down on the bench. I placed my right leg on the extension pad and began lifting. One, two, three, four, five, feeling the burn, six, seven, yes, the burn is definitely here, eight, leg is shaking, nine, I don't think that I can do this, ten, "agghhhhh!!!," I screamed, eleven, pain is causing me to rethink my challenge, Nick is standing in front of me, silent, eyes fixed on my quad with a smirk on his face. I am ready to give up, but I don't. "Twelve!" I popped up from the bench, and my leg was still in tack and felt exactly like it did on the earlier set. In an instant I thought, "What the hell...nothing bad happened." I looked at Nick and he was giggling. As I rubbed my leg, he looked at me and said, "You did it...and you didn't die!"
That experience taught me something very significant. Sometimes, our greatest enemy is the one that lives between our ears. I had convinced myself that 10 reps was all my body could take, when, in fact, that was a lie. I could do 12 or 14 or even 20. According to the Cleveland Clinic, "Your body should feel burning muscles during exercises such as weight training. This type of burning sensation means the muscles are being challenged by physical activity and signifies that your body is correctly responding to exertion. A burning sensation can serve as a good reference point that your muscles are being challenged by your workout." So the pain is a good thing? Apparently!
What strikes me about lactic acid and "the burn," is that as soon as you stop the exercise, the burn dissipates. I also noticed that if I breathe deeply, the pain isn't as great. I have begun to apply this theory in every aspect of my life. Some things in my life are painful. Business can feel monotonous, clients can be frustrating, cases can seem unsolvable, kids can seem tone deaf, friends can be non-existent, life can feel painful. The emotional lactic acid buildup is often unbearable, and I often want to give up and run away to a distant land. Instead, I have learned that the pain of all of it is temporary, but more importantly, that the burn is a good thing. It tells me that I am functioning and that my body and mind are working. When I want to give up, I do just a little more, pushing past what makes me uncomfortable. I enter a space that many are too afraid to go into. I push pass the burn.
What are you afraid to do? Is the idea scary? Are you afraid that you'll fail? Push pass the burn! If you feel the pain, breathe a little deeper and keep going. Your emotional lactic acid will dissipate when you complete the task. Give yourself a small rest, then get ready for the next set! You can. You must push pass the burn!
My quads are strong and toned only because I worked on getting them that way. The definition only came when I pushed passed the burn and did more. My faith, my family, my work, my life has grown stronger and more defined because I made a decision to push pass the emotional burn and do more. I begin each day with the impossible. I wake up every morning and ask, "What if...?" I have set my sights on those things that other would deem crazy. I feel the burn every day, and I have grown to love the feeling. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen...
Comments