Efforting: Is More Better?

For most of my life I’ve lived by the credo:  if it’s worth doing, it’s worth over-doing.

I’ve been re-thinking this concept for a while now. 

I’ve spent the last 10 months recovering from a bike accident.  I started out with orthopedic surgeons, physical therapists, chiropractors, and other Pilates instructors, but I swiftly ran through an insane amount of money and didn’t have any improvement to show for it.  Through the process of my self-managed recovery I learned more than I ever imagined.

One of the fundamental realizations that helped me to recover was that I was trying too hard and moving too fast.  When I was putting in 150% effort there was simply no room for sensation.  You can tell when you are over-efforting because your body (and face!) will strain and grip.  So, basically you’re putting a lot of energy into straining and gripping.  Now, instead of working hard, I work smart, and it’s making my body smarten up, too.  I find when I back off a little bit my body will send me messages like:  this feels good, I want to be here instead of…ouch this really hurts!

The end result is a more balanced, flexible muscle.

I am finally moving forward instead of re-injuring myself over and over again.

Are you over-efforting?  This is something to think about whether you are recovering from an injury or not.