Sometimes You Just Have To Cut Your Losses

Every now and then in our training, something either feels stale or it's becoming too much and it's time to make a change. I've had to make a change when I started feeling some pain after doing so many Hindu Burpees lately and needed to stop. It wasn't just discomfort or a little pain, I believe I was causing damage in my left shoulder and had to stop. 

There's such a thing as training hard but it makes a huge difference when you instinctively feel you're starting to cause damage. Some pain still believe in the "no pain, no gain" bullshit and if an exercise is causing pain or even beginning to damage an area of the body, they'll still push hard and do things even worse. I had built up a pain tolerance while I was bending steel but I never truly damaged anything until I started doing it again after a couple years or more away from it when I damaged my hands bending 60d nails and needed to recover for several weeks while focusing on other exercises.

At times, you just to need to cut your losses and take a step back. It doesn't have to be forever but you don't want to be doing things that the damage becomes so severe that it starts messing with your life and live in pain constantly. I re-evaluated my body's capabilities and almost on instinct started doing Resistance Training with Lifeline Cables and my ab wheel. Using the Chest Expander to strengthen my shoulders and even out the muscles since the problems were more around the front and side if my left shoulder. Use TNT Cables for heavier resistance and to help even out the back muscles with the shoulders, I started feeling a hell of a lot better and my shoulder pain is practically gone. For the Ab Wheel, I would just do rollouts until I get bored or felt like I've had enough. 

Isometrics have become a staple in my training again and it's been more of a self-rehab thing more than anything else and I'm continuing to lose weight and develop definition. I'm currently at 253 and have kept off 10-15 pounds for nearly 3 months. For strength training, I want to see how the cables can go and use the wheel for core conditioning. Step-Ups are for the legs for sure since I just have no interest in doing hundreds of squats these days. It is important to take care of yourself, no need to go hardcore and work yourself to death, that's what the Crossfit Fanboys are for. 

Be instinctive and listen to your body because if you don't listen, it'll bite you in the ass and you can really do some real harm to yourself. Cut it loose before any real pain or damage takes place.