Maintaining one’s fitness is an ongoing battle, usually with absolutely no end on sight. Usually and for the most part, people develop and maintain a routine for themselves that isn’t always conducive to proper fitness. one of the big realities, and the one people tend to overlook the most, is that rest is just as important and integral to one’s fitness journey as staying consistent and committed. And foregoing appropriate rest can have some nasty effects on your overall health as well as your fitness goals.
When you have Type-1 Diabetes, proper exercise and maintaining one’s fitness becomes an entirely different kind of fight. Without proper, consistent exercise, blood sugars can run amok, your health will decline and your condition will be all the harder to manage. Granted, some of that can happen even if you DON’T have Diabetes, but I do, so I tend to focus on that. The problem is that you can go past consistency and slowly stray into working out TOO much.
Our bodies are designed to respond to physical exertion in a number of different ways. When it comes to building muscle, growth is achieved by exerting the muscle tissue to the point where micro tears occur. Through the healing process and the proper consumption of protein, fibre and water, the muscle tissue grows back at an increased size to compensate for the level of exertion the body noted during the previous workout. This only part of the aches and pains that one might feel after a significant workout.
The issue comes into play when those aches and pains grow severe enough that you lose mobility or use of those particular muscle groups. For example, if you had a wicked leg day and the following morning, you can barely walk, this means that you’ve over-exerted yourself and you should consider taking a period of rest and treating the affected area with heat and/or cold to aid in the healing process. To continue to work out and exercise in those circumstances can lead to injury, which would require longer recovery time and some circumstances, medical intervention.
So, what can or should be done in these types of circumstances? Well, some people rotate the muscle groups that they exercise. This means that if they do leg exercises today, they may do arms and chest tomorrow. That kind of thing. That’s a good practice to have, regardless of the level of exertion that you put yourself through, especially since you should work towards developing the body as a whole and not necessarily focus on only one aspect. But it’s important to bear in mind that resting one particular part of your body isn’t always enough. N o matter you’re level of commitment or your goals, you sometimes need to allow the body as a whole to get some rest.
A strong, consistent fitness habit will help to ensure better health, better weight management and better overall blood sugar control. proper exercise contributes to better blood pressure, better sleep habits and has been shown to improve one’s overall mood. Although having a fixed routine doesn’t always work for every person as each of us is different, there’s always a way to work towards something that works for you. Just remember to drink plenty of fluids, get adequate rest and don’t push your body beyond the warning signs it’s giving you. You’ll recover faster and although you may think that working out none-stop will get you to your goals faster, it’s good to remember that sometimes, slow and easy wins the race. Food for thought… ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 