Exhaustion and Endurance

 

The last two years or so, I have been in a very good groove with physical fitness. Once I flipped my running and lifting to the early morning, I have  been super consistent. I am not training for the Senior Games where I will finally put it all together for gold. No, just trying to be healthy and make some gains.

I have been doing my Devotional Readings for years in the early morning and it always helps frame the day. Working out is similar in the sense that the structure of the exercise prepares my body and mind for the challenges ahead. I find having limited time where I have to hit my time targets to be extremely useful. Extra time creates room for indecision. Maybe analogous to the saying, "If you want to get something done, give it to busy person." Too much time becomes the rope than our productivity gets hung by.

A question that I am still attempting to resolve, particularly with lifting weights, is how hard is too hard? The adage of "No pain, no gain " is a truism. Too much pain is injurious however. I have been pushing the reps to total exhaustion but then wasn't recovering by the lift two days later and my joints which also bear the stress of lifting, started to ache chronically. So, I pulled back today. 

The body and mind have to be pushed into the exhaustion mode in order to build new strength and capacity. The Second Mile idea that Jesus speaks of. Exceed the usual as a habit and you will create a new normal. When we exceed the comfort zone, growth is inculcated. 

Do hard things. Take time to rest and recover. Rinse, repeat.    

     

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