Pain and Gain
Everything hurts right now. My wrists, my back, my hands, my ankles, my knees. Intermittent headaches. Sometimes a shoulder ache. It's all hurting. Blame it on the cold, rainy weather. Blame it on sleeping on a memory foam pull-out couch mattress for four days over the weekend. Blame it on experimenting with taking my prescription anti-inflammatory medication "as needed" instead of dosing up on it daily. Blame it on being exhausted and, as a result, not having the energy or attention to control my joint positions throughout the day. Blame it on whatever you want, but the result is the same. It hurts.
Despite the pain that had already announced its presence a day or two before, I went to my aerial class last night. Remember how I said I never know if exercising through the pain will make it better or worse, until after I exercise and experience the results? Turns out, this time it got worse.
Don't get me wrong, I love the underlying muscle soreness from an amazing workout. In fact, I felt great during and immediately after aerial last night. I had a great night on the silks - learned a new sequence, as well as successfully completed my first drop! I took videos and everything. But everything really hurts. I'm laying on my heating pad as I write this, because I don't know how I'll fall asleep without some muscle relaxation. My husband helped work some of the back spasms out with some deep pressure to my paraspinal muscles today, so I could stand up straight again after slouching on the couch for 45 minutes after work. The pain is so not fun.
And yet, there are days that after my aerial class, my back feels more relaxed and my core is noticeably more engaged throughout the day. It's definitely good for me. Just nobody has found the magic recipe, the secret algorithm, the treasure map, whatever the elusive knowledge is, that will give me an inkling of when exercise will improve my pain and when it will make it worse.
Here's what I do know though. Through years of reprogramming my gymnast mentality and learning to listen to my body, I've learned that the the old adage of "no pain, no gain" is garbage. It is not a healthy mentality, physically or emotionally, to guide most daily choices. But I also know that pain and gain, while not dependent on one another, can occur simultaneously. So I guess that's what I'm dealing with here. Pain and gain, all at once.
Despite the pain that had already announced its presence a day or two before, I went to my aerial class last night. Remember how I said I never know if exercising through the pain will make it better or worse, until after I exercise and experience the results? Turns out, this time it got worse.
Don't get me wrong, I love the underlying muscle soreness from an amazing workout. In fact, I felt great during and immediately after aerial last night. I had a great night on the silks - learned a new sequence, as well as successfully completed my first drop! I took videos and everything. But everything really hurts. I'm laying on my heating pad as I write this, because I don't know how I'll fall asleep without some muscle relaxation. My husband helped work some of the back spasms out with some deep pressure to my paraspinal muscles today, so I could stand up straight again after slouching on the couch for 45 minutes after work. The pain is so not fun.
And yet, there are days that after my aerial class, my back feels more relaxed and my core is noticeably more engaged throughout the day. It's definitely good for me. Just nobody has found the magic recipe, the secret algorithm, the treasure map, whatever the elusive knowledge is, that will give me an inkling of when exercise will improve my pain and when it will make it worse.
Here's what I do know though. Through years of reprogramming my gymnast mentality and learning to listen to my body, I've learned that the the old adage of "no pain, no gain" is garbage. It is not a healthy mentality, physically or emotionally, to guide most daily choices. But I also know that pain and gain, while not dependent on one another, can occur simultaneously. So I guess that's what I'm dealing with here. Pain and gain, all at once.
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