When exercising it is very important to listen to the signals that your body sends about what is happening. These signals will tell you if you are pushing yourself hard enough or if you are holding back. Unfortunately interpreting these signals can be difficult, especially if you are new to exercise.
There are 3 main signal levels that the body gives before and during exercise.
- You most likely know the feeling of knowing you need to get a workout in but your body and mind are just not wanting to cooperate, constantly telling you that you can do it later; you are too tired now, just go sit down and rest (even if it is 8:00 AM). The human body is very good at sending out signals to get out of work but that lazy, sluggish, in-a-funk, feeling is one that you need to ignore and push through to get to work or to keep at it.
- This level includes minor fatigue during a workout all the way up to that colossal muscle burn while pushing through a particularly hard workout. The middle of this range is where most newcomers tend to hover during exercise because they don't yet know how hard they can push themselves, while veterans typically get to the top of that range when they are challenging themselves.
- This level is where your body actually stops functioning the way you want it to. Instead of touching on your anaerobic threshold (using up more oxygen then you can take in) this level puts you past your limits and staying at this level for longer than a few seconds at a time will cause your body to shut down and can potentially lead to injury. Though this is not a level that is functional for prolonged activity it can be used in certain training styles for very small amounts of time to effectively improve your maximum functioning levels; however, reaching this level must be under very close supervision of an educated trainer or coach.
Keywords: fitness, wellness, health