Fitness Thoughts: What Do You Do When You Screw Up?

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

22 Sep 2006 07:00 AM

Have you ever screwed up in your fitness program? No, I'm not talking about stubbing your toe or skipping the occasional workout. I'm talking about over training, failing to use correct form when you're exercising and possibly even injuring yourself? First and foremost, it happens and you need to recognize that especially if you are just getting started exercising or you are ramping up your workout program.

Enthusiasm Can Be Dangerous

Enthusiasm for working out is a great thing, but often times when we're just getting started on a fitness program we'll be overenthusiastic and push ourselves in part to prove that we can do it. This is when enthusiasm can become dangerous for your health and detrimental to your fitness program. First and foremost, when you start a fitness program you should have:

• Goals
• Specific Fitness Plan
• Health Assessment
• Professional Advice
• Understanding of Correct Form

These five components are critical to insure your success, but also to help you keep from screwing up and hurting yourself. Besides the obvious that screwing up can hurt you, injuries can prevent you from exercising while you are injured, but also increase your reticence to return to exercising after you are well again.

Understanding Yourself

I talked about your self-image being important earlier. This is another area where self-image is of vital importance. When you are trying to prove something to yourself, you can take risks and those risks can cost you physically, mentally and emotionally. Exercise can make you feel better. It can improve your personal self-image and it can help you avoid making mistakes when you are working out.

But you need to have a specific fitness plan and goals. This is also why you need a health assessment and professional advice, such as a personal trainer, so that you can be educated to the correct form of working out. You need to know all these things so you can make the right decisions.

You don't workout until you feel pain. You need to workout until you do the correct stress to the muscles to inspire them to repair, tone up and feel stronger. When you're first getting started on a fitness program, you can make mistakes. If you start to ramp up your program to get ready for a marathon, a race or some other form of competitive sport - you can make a mistake. Screwing up is not about making mistakes, it's about not taking the time to understand what you need to do in order to protect yourself.

If You Have Screwed Up Before

If you have done this and if you have screwed up, take the time to learn about how to prevent doing it again. Avoid repeating previous mistakes and yes, I do endorse hiring a personal trainer for a few sessions to teach you the correct form and proper way to exercise - and to help you design the exercise program to meet your goals. This can help temper your enthusiasm and increase your chances for personal success. After that, it's all on you - and whether you believe it or not, I know you can do it.

Have a great Friday.

Related Articles:

Some Tips to Get Fit

Five Ways To Get Your Fitness Program Back on Track

Friday Fitness Motivators: Five Ways to Motivate Your Success

How to Be a Good Client

How to Host a Fitness Party

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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