When Exercise Hurts More Than Helps
By: Jen Mueller,
SparkPeople Blogger
1/31/2012 10:00 AM : 57 comments
: 16,574 Views
For the past 9 years, I’ve called myself a runner. It started because I moved to a new town with no access to the workout facilities I’d had before, so running became an easy substitute- no equipment needed. Running quickly became an important part of my life, both physically and mentally. There was a period of time when I wouldn’t bother with a run that was any shorter than 6 miles because I didn’t consider it to be much of a workout. Because of kids and other life circumstances, those days are long gone…..
In the fall of 2010 I experienced my first serious running injury, Achilles tendonitis. I made the problem worse by continuing to push through pain instead of listening to my body and resting. I ended up in 6 weeks of physical therapy and had to stop running for a few months. When the PT told me I couldn’t run, I panicked. Running was such an important part of my life, and who would I be without it? How would I relieve stress? How would I get a good workout?
My injury actually taught me a number of valuable lessons I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The first was that I’m not invincible and I shouldn’t just try to push through pain. It’s important to take care of your body, and pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. I tell people that all the time, but just wasn’t willing to listen to my own advice. The second thing I learned was that I’m not defined by a specific activity. Although I love running, if I can’t log the miles I used to or can’t run anymore at all, it’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of other activities I can do and still lead a happy and healthy life.
I’ve learned this lesson, but I know others who have not. There is someone in my life who I believe is being hurt more than helped by exercise. He’s one of those crazy runners, just like me. He loves it, and it’s a big part of who he is. I get that. But he continues to push through pain (his is a permanent problem that rest or doctors can’t fix) instead of listening to his body. When I try to talk to him about it, I can see the walls of defensiveness going up. I’m not sure what drives him to continue: the love of the sport, the fear that he’ll never find another activity that gives him the kind of workout or feeling that running does, or the fear that if he stops running, he’s going to fall off the exercise wagon completely. He doesn’t want to face the fact that he’s doing his body more harm than good.
So I struggle with what I can do to help him. I’d love to see him try some other activities that don’t cause him so much pain or at least cut back significantly on the ones that do. I’d be happy to do them with him. “Want to go for a bike ride? Let’s do it! Could we try running just a few miles instead of training for another half marathon? Great!” But in the end I know that I can’t force him to change. He has to come to that realization and decide for himself.
I see members on SparkPeople’s Message Boards every day who are injured and want someone to tell them that it’s okay to just push through the pain. Eventually it will get better, right? Well, probably not. You could be doing all kinds of permanent damage to your body by sacrificing rest and recovery for a few hundred calories burned. Is it really worth the trade-off? There’s a big difference between being sore because you pushed yourself to work hard, and pain because you’ve got a potential injury that needs to be addressed.
Have you been one of those people who didn’t want to listen when your body told you something was wrong? Do you have someone in your life that’s doing their body more harm than good? Do you think it’s a lesson they need to learn for themselves, or is there something you (we) can do to help?
In the fall of 2010 I experienced my first serious running injury, Achilles tendonitis. I made the problem worse by continuing to push through pain instead of listening to my body and resting. I ended up in 6 weeks of physical therapy and had to stop running for a few months. When the PT told me I couldn’t run, I panicked. Running was such an important part of my life, and who would I be without it? How would I relieve stress? How would I get a good workout?
My injury actually taught me a number of valuable lessons I wouldn’t have learned otherwise. The first was that I’m not invincible and I shouldn’t just try to push through pain. It’s important to take care of your body, and pain is your body’s way of telling you something is wrong. I tell people that all the time, but just wasn’t willing to listen to my own advice. The second thing I learned was that I’m not defined by a specific activity. Although I love running, if I can’t log the miles I used to or can’t run anymore at all, it’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of other activities I can do and still lead a happy and healthy life.
I’ve learned this lesson, but I know others who have not. There is someone in my life who I believe is being hurt more than helped by exercise. He’s one of those crazy runners, just like me. He loves it, and it’s a big part of who he is. I get that. But he continues to push through pain (his is a permanent problem that rest or doctors can’t fix) instead of listening to his body. When I try to talk to him about it, I can see the walls of defensiveness going up. I’m not sure what drives him to continue: the love of the sport, the fear that he’ll never find another activity that gives him the kind of workout or feeling that running does, or the fear that if he stops running, he’s going to fall off the exercise wagon completely. He doesn’t want to face the fact that he’s doing his body more harm than good.
So I struggle with what I can do to help him. I’d love to see him try some other activities that don’t cause him so much pain or at least cut back significantly on the ones that do. I’d be happy to do them with him. “Want to go for a bike ride? Let’s do it! Could we try running just a few miles instead of training for another half marathon? Great!” But in the end I know that I can’t force him to change. He has to come to that realization and decide for himself.
I see members on SparkPeople’s Message Boards every day who are injured and want someone to tell them that it’s okay to just push through the pain. Eventually it will get better, right? Well, probably not. You could be doing all kinds of permanent damage to your body by sacrificing rest and recovery for a few hundred calories burned. Is it really worth the trade-off? There’s a big difference between being sore because you pushed yourself to work hard, and pain because you’ve got a potential injury that needs to be addressed.
Have you been one of those people who didn’t want to listen when your body told you something was wrong? Do you have someone in your life that’s doing their body more harm than good? Do you think it’s a lesson they need to learn for themselves, or is there something you (we) can do to help?
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Comments
I'm now working through an arm issue created by the sport I love, tennis.
However taking a break has helped me not only to rest and heal, but also to find other sources
For exercise. Variety can be fun. Especially if there's no pain! - 2/5/2012 9:57:29 AM
If I still had access to a pool, I probably would have found something similar with lap swimming ... I am 100% positive doing flip turns would have really hurt my neck by now ... Good thing I think I could still try to do them, otherwise I would have no motivation to do my grueling pilates routine (incorporated into my yoga practice). But between you and me, having toned abs is nice; doing wheelie-equivalents with them is out of the question anymore. - 2/1/2012 10:37:09 AM
And yes, although I give this advice all the time, when I was training to do a half marathon with a Spark friend, I too pushed past the pain, not wanting to quit training. And ended up not going to that race to meet her, and having PT and a whole host of other treatments I did not want. A very important lesson learned here! - 2/1/2012 8:13:20 AM
I am happy to say that I have finally reeducated myself of many other ways to workout. Its not the same burn, but as my friend told me. Do I want to rest up now and be able to walk in the long run or do I want to keep pushing myself and end up needing a cane (or worse) for the rest of my life...
well if you put it like that... - 2/1/2012 7:35:08 AM
could think that they were not harming themselves. Just have to listen to your body and know that if you have pushed too far and got an injury, better rest up and heal your body. - 1/31/2012 4:08:36 PM
Now surgery, therapthy and almost a year later I can START to jog slowing! Don't work through the pain, it s not worth it!
- 1/31/2012 3:34:29 PM
I had to stop walking mid-January due to a foot issue I'd been experiencing since mid-December. I'd eased up by January, it felt better, then I pushed without thinking. When it started hurting again and more, I dove into reading up on foot issues - and discovered a key one is plantar fasciitis, which for many is chronic and takes such extremes as surgery and steroid shots. I've since been limiting my walking, doing stretches and exercises, icing it, elevating it. It's greatly improved to where normal walking is mostly fine, but I'm in no hurry to re-injure - preferring to keep my substitutes for now (recumbent bike and elliptical).
I can't imagine losing my ability to walk comfortably for the next 40 years of my life just to walk more today.
I don't think I personally know anyone who is physically harming themselves with exercise. I do know people who harm themselves in other ways, whether it's odd diet extremes or two jobs and some 36 hours of working with breaks, lunch, and travel, but no sleep.
I think we can try to gently warn of the dangers, but if someone won't listen to us once (or to their doctor), they aren't going to hear it because we start nagging them about it more. Heart-breaking as it is, other than what you mentioned (trying to lead them toward other activities as well), we can't do much more for them. - 1/31/2012 2:30:06 PM
Exercise feels great afterward (and sometimes during) - those endorphins and that sense of accomplishment are extremely potent drivers. Some of us also read about the interesting and sometimes extraordinary achievements of Sparkers (went from 300 to 200 pounds and ran a marathon 6 months after starting C25K) and feel that we should be able to do the same thing, at the same pace. Also, our cardiovascular and respiratory systems often get stronger faster than our bones, muscles, joints and ligaments, so sometimes our hearts are ready to do something that our joints aren't ready for. And many of us love the idea that if we just exercise (a lot) more, we can eat (a lot) more.
That's a recipe for injury, and I have baked this one too many times to mention. I'm still learning. One of the over-arching principles I try to follow is this:
"Exercise today in a way that means you'll still be exercising next year." In other words, don't push yourself past your physical or mental limits, or you'll burn out or break down.
One thing that has helped me follow this approach is to NOT use exercise as an excuse to eat more. Unless I'm training for an endurance race, I only aim to burn about 1200-1500 calories a week through exercise and, therefore, I've accepted the fact that my daily calorie intake (in maintenance) is going to be around 1400-1800 calories. I've become accustomed to (and satisfied with) eating within this calorie range, and so I'm not tempted to exercise more so that I can eat more. - 1/31/2012 1:18:56 PM
I love all your articles. Keep up the good work! - 1/31/2012 12:43:01 PM
So now I'm doing more biking. My BMI is still just over 40 and maybe I will try again once it is less than 35. If it doesn't work. I'll take a Karate class, maybe find another sport. By accepting true limitations, you open yourself up to more possibilities, - 1/31/2012 11:03:20 AM
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