Energy Bite 355 – A Warning, Don’t Overdo It

If your gut feels good, you feel good. I’ve said that for years and probably written it here occasionally. It’s true. If the core area of your body is toned and fit, you will feel generally healthy and fit overall.

Unless . . .

Unless, what?

Unless you decide to do ten years worth of core exercises in one day. I should know. That’s what I did this past Saturday.

I had seen something on TV or maybe in a magazine, that had a picture of an old guy with great abs. I said to myself, “I can do that”.

So, I got out my “Ab Roller”. Remember that? To this day, the Ab Roller is the only “As Seen on TV” piece of exercise equipment that was worth the money. So, I did a bunch of exercises with the Ab Roller.

Then came the Ab Sliders. These great tools are nothing more than furniture sliders that you buy at Home Depot for just a few dollars. They are even more effective than the Ab Rollers to give your entire core a brutal workout. So I did a bunch of them, too.

And, of course, there are the perennial sit ups, leg raises, crunches, planks, side planks and on and on. I did a bunch of them too, in my quest for a magazine quality six-pack.

It’s great to do a few of these each workout to strengthen your core, particularly your “six-pack”. But doing all of them, for multiple sets, in one day, is . . . do I have to use this phrase about myself . . . Dumber than Dumb.

So the takeaway here is NEVER work one muscle or one muscle group at full blast for an entire workout. It will hurt . . . far more than it helps. It can turn you off to exercise — not just the part you overworked, but possibly to all exercise in general.

The lesson is that it is VERY important to start slowly. In this case, less is better than more. Ideally, when you get older, everything should be done in moderation.

Plus, the ligaments and tendons that form the connective tissues, don’t take kindly to massive overwork. That’s another story I can tell on myself — tendons will tear or rupture when overstressed and the pain can be brutal and long lasting. My bicep muscle is nearly non-functional because of a wrong move when I not so brilliantly was doing “tire flips” at the gym, once again in an attempt to “prove myself”. I made a wrong move — actually, the tire slipped. The tendon is torn and although I still have use of it, I have significant and ongoing pain in my shoulder where the bicep tendon ties into the bone. Fortunately the bicep is a “double muscle” as in “2 . . . ceps”. Not funny.

Again, the takeaway is to start slowly and enjoy the process Don’t brutalize your body in your sudden quest for immediate results of one part of even all of your body. It hurts. It can result in a long lasting injury. It can turn you away from exercise.

So, keep up with your physical movement. If you see something that inspires you to work extra hard on one part of your body, BE WARNED! No matter how badly you want to achieve it, take your time. You’ll get where you want to be if you persist, but slowly.

Thank you for reading.