Go Hard, Go Easy, or Go Home

It can be an exciting time when you sign up for a gym membership, training sessions, or a new exercise routine, it brings a lot of excitement, motivation, and willingness to push toward your goals.

Which can be a positive or negative depending on where you are on your health and fitness journey.

Today we are going to discuss simple factors that tie into when it is best to Go Hard, Go Easy, Or Go Home.

#1-Go Hard

There is a time to go hard, and a time to try your best in what I call "THE SAFE ZONE". You are excited to get the weight off, build muscle, and feel better overall, right?! Here are a few scenarios to help you decide which option would be best.

Scenario A:

You are a motivated individual, who works at a desk job 8 hours a day, and have 40 pounds to lose. You've showed up for your session, or workout time at home/gym, without eating, and you know it will require effort. How much effort you give will determine your results. So, you start off rushing through the warm up, skipping dynamic stretching, and are ready to get going.

But, please keep in mind that fast and furious is DANGEROUS, a lot of risks come with speed, such as, if you have not been exercising regularly like this, then your body has to adapt to the work you are about to place on it. Also, your body is used to being seated most of the day at a desk and will have areas than need to be warmed up properly and stretched.

Gradually, you will build strength and endurance at a moderate pace, with good effort and energy, (NOT GOING SO HARD OR FAST). And always be sure to eat a healthy carbohydrate within 60 min of your workout-like a banana or apple and even a tbsp. of peanut butter (if you wish), to keep your blood sugar at a good level, and bring plenty of water. In this situation Going Hard is not suggested because risks involved include, blood sugar dropping quickly due to lack of fuel, and work placed on the body, leading to other risks, and risks of injuries.

Scenario B:

You are an athlete who is fairly knowledgeable about nutrition, ate a protein bar prior to arrival, and brought a water gallon, wants to work on increasing endurance, and building more muscle, shows up for their session pumped and ready to go with their Trainer. Trainer assesses what their body can handle and where your current endurance level is at, discussed prior exercise routine, and has a pretty clear idea, that you are someone who can be pushed a bit more due to your current fitness level. You are someone who can GO HARD a bit more than you think you can, while listening to your body, (not over-exerting), with proper warm up and stretching you will be less likely of as many risks of injuries, as someone who is not as conditioned. Although form is key to safety in exercise, your Trainer will be ther to guide you with that also. So, GO HARD-Safely!

#2-Go Easy

There will be days, you will need to take it easier than others, here are a few scenarios that will help you decide which option is best for you.

Scenario A-You are just starting out on an exercise routine with your Trainer or at home/gym. This is the best way to build your solid foundation of strength and endurance, by going easy, but not too easy, listen to your body it will give you warning signs if something is too much. You should still feel muscle burn and work up a little sweat even if you are going easy because your body is still working. But, you should not be panting for air on the easy level.

You know the saying "Slow and Steady Wins The Race" this is true in this situation. You win 1 rep/step at a time!

Scenario B-You have been exercising for 6 or more months regularly and are feeling a bit under the weather-fighting a head cold, cramping due to time of month/bloated, recovering a sprained ankle, or you have just had a stressful day at work and are really exhausted.

You will go easier on these type of days, because your body is already working harder to fight off germs, recover an injury, cycling hormones, or has been placed under some type of mental/physical stress all day long.

Easier can look like, exercising for 20-30 minutes instead of 60 min; using bands instead of weights, walking instead of running, taking a foam rolling/recovery class(click on the link below to book yours).

Foam Roll and Stretch 20

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Either way, you are still exercising and even on easier days, your body is still benefitting from it. So Go Easy and Don't Go Home!

#3-Go Home

Scenario A-You have had an extremely stressful day, we've all been through

those days when there's so much to juggle, and it leaves you feeling extremely

stressed and tired! There’s no denying that exercise relieves stress, but not

always. It is at this point that you must listen to your body. When you work out,

your heart rate goes up, and when you’re already stressed, that’s something

you would want to avoid. Plus when you are dealing with paucity of time,

squeezing a gym session can turn out to be really too much for you!

OR You are sleep deprived. And if you don’t get proper winks at night, then you

are bound to feel exhausted. That’s why it is more important to hit the sack than

the gym! That’s because if you are sleep-deprived, your body will not perform

as highly as it should, and that also makes you more prone to injury. Instead,

sleep well and rest your body, and return to the gym the next day!

Scenario B-You're feeling sick, If you’re feeling feverish or not up to the mark, then it’s best to skip exercise. Experts suggest that if you feel there’s pain coming from above the neck, you can still work out. But if the pain is below the neck, skipping the gym is a good idea. And if you have fever, then exercising shouldn’t even cross your mind. Because even if you work hard in the gym, you won’t benefit at all—instead, your body will be more dehydrated!

OR You're really sore, There are several times we had an intense workout, and then end up with sore muscles? Generally, that feeling passes in a few hours, but if you wake up feeling extremely sore the next morning, then it’s time to take a day off!

That dull ache, soreness, and/or sickly sensation that you feel in your muscles following the performance of a new or restart of an exercise routine (specifically strength training) is referred to as delay onset muscle soreness or DOMS.

If you still push your body and don’t rest it out, then your body will take longer to heal and you might have to skip many more sessions. Now that’s something you don’t want, right? SO, it’s great to work the body, but not when it’s asking you to slow down!

I hope you find this helpful to your decision making of Hard, Easy, or Home, and give your body the work, exercise, and rest it needs to continue to function in a healthy way.

Blessings,

Coach Lisa