Tackling Gym Frustrations
The other day I had a complete meltdown. I was feeling achey (thanks to an oncoming cold) and totally defeated at the thought of spending another 6 weeks on crutches. In the beginning of my injury, I was so excited to be able to move in any form. But after a month or so of the same PT exercises, I had lost all interest movement. Each time I went to the surgeon’s office and was told I had longer to go, my annoyance levels increased and before I knew it they were spilling over.
Injury is perhaps the most frustrating of all because we are hurting and want to be able to do the things we enjoy. What’s important to remember while enduring an injury is that most likely this is a temporary situation for you. This time can feel even worse if the injury occurred when you were feeling your best or you don’t have a support system (friends/family) nearby! Speaking as a person who has gone through a major injury and is still recovering 4 months in, please know that this time may be the most challenging for you but it will pass. Likely there is still some movement that you accomplish if you’re up for it and that brings us to…
The all-or-nothing mindset; something so common that it’s likely that you have experienced it before. This mindset doesn’t just apply to working out either. Raise your hand if you’ve put off housework or some other item on your to-do list because you didn’t have everything you “needed” in that moment. For the last month or so, I had been in an all-or-nothing mindset and needed help getting out of my rut. Cue my physical therapists who helped me come up with a plan that was doable and jumpstarted my movement again. Asking for help from a professional may be just what you need to help you get started. Can’t use your lower body? That doesn’t mean that your upper body has to sympathetically stop exercising too. Having problems with one arm? Just gave birth? Broke your ankle? There is almost always something you can still do. Don’t let all the parts suffer at the behest of some.
Plateaus are another area of frustration for many. If you’re not seeing the progress you want, it might be time to mix things up! Try a different exercise modality or take a class at a different gym. Maybe you need some guidance on how to progress. Regardless, plateaus can be really frustrating, especially when you put a lot of time and effort into whatever you’re doing. Sit down, think about your goals and then ask yourself (or a professional!) if what you’re doing now is going to help you achieve your goals. Another way to reframe frustration from plateauing is to recognize all the ways your body has progressed up to this point and allow it time to rest. Sometimes, taking a short break is just what you need to hit a new PR.
If you decide to venture out of your comfort zone whether to break a plateau or just to shake things up, remember that you are learning something new and you don’t have to be perfect at it. Learning new things can also be frustrating because you may think that if you can accomplish one movement that should be translatable to another. Or, maybe you’ve done an exercise a bunch of times and you’re still not getting it. That’s allowed! Try a different variation of an exercise to see if that fits better. Don’t be so quick to be an expert at something, give yourself time and space to learn! Trainers don’t expect you to be perfect at everything. You shouldn’t either! Everyone starts somewhere and I can guarantee that for all those videos you see of someone performing a “perfect” or “expert” exercise there are tons of behind the scenes failures.
Lastly and maybe for some the most frustrating, is not seeing physical changes in your body that you expected. I strongly encourage you to find movement that makes you happy instead of looking for movement that will “fix” what you don’t like. There is no guarantee that you will look different, but I can guarantee that you will feel different. With regular exercise, you will move with more ease, find daily life activities less challenging and give yourself the opportunity to ward off chronic health issues. You may also find more self confidence, be able to reduce stress and anxiety and find community!
I’ll leave you with this…we can find frustrations in our life no matter what we do. Sometimes it will lead to a meltdown and sometimes you’ll be able to brush it off. This is normal! If that frustration is becoming overwhelming, it’s probably time to ask for some help and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. Remember, living a life requires help. Feeling frustrated with our movement can be so disappointing, but I promise, there is a light at the end of that tunnel.
