Make Fitness A Priority: 30 Tips to Elevate Your Life Through Fitness by Jesse Kepka & Chad Austin

Author:Jesse Kepka & Chad Austin [Kepka, Jesse]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, pdf
Published: 2020-07-11T16:00:00+00:00

— CA

Chapter 16

Workout, Breakdown, Recover, Rebuild

Week after week, we meet at the gym to get our workout in among encouraging friends or we do a circuit at home (hopefully totaling 3–5 sessions). We push, pull, HIIT, run, jumping jack and squat to break down our muscles, in hopes that, with proper rest (7–8 hours per night), recovery (walking outside for some vitamin D) and nutrition (high protein, fruits and vegetables), we build them back up to be bigger, faster and stronger. So, the rhythm is to workout, breakdown, recover, rebuild.

One of our most amazing muscles, aside from that powerhouse glute and core combination, is our heart. We condition it with intervals, intensity variations for endurance and sprints of all shapes and sizes. Our cardiorespiratory system plays an intricate role in its friendship with our musculoskeletal system.

That heart is also responsible for how we handle suffering and struggles. (For example, as I write, we are in the throes of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic. It is starting to get hard, for me, for friends and co-workers, our heroes on the frontlines getting sick, job loss and investments teetering.) The unknown can be terrifying. So just as we condition our muscles (again, workout, breakdown, recover, rebuild), we must be sure to pay attention to how we are conditioning that aspect of our heart so we can build it to be stronger and more resilient. It’s good to feel and acknowledge sadness and frustrations but be sure to consciously morph them into kindness and mercy. I know that’s an ability easier to say than acquire, but with some work and practice, it is possible. Compassion, too will come out bigger, better, faster and stronger. Eliciting kindness and mercy from the depths of our hearts amidst suffering and struggles will become a habit upon which we can rely, and any future phases of stress will be easier to maneuver and withstand. This will pass, and another challenge will come. Such is the fluidity of joy and pain of the heart.

I say this because the state of your heart and mind can have a profound effect on the power of your workouts, so get them right before you dig into another one. All systems work together. Be patient. Muscle protein synthesis occurs up to 48 hours after a workout. There is not an immediate and massive victory in this arena, but small ones that build into greatness. Keep on making small, consistent efforts to condition your whole human – to be your best self.

In my own personal experience, there are times I have not been able to get my mind right before a workout. Usually it has to do with fears and frustrations of motherhood. In these cases, I bring all that funk right into my workout with me and use it to fuel the fire, instead of skipping it altogether. I’m pretty sure my form suffers from lack of focus, but the intensity is positively therapeutic. My trainer is right there with me so I feel very safe and I’m not worried about hurting myself.

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