Dooley Noted: 1/8/2014
I can run for days. Let me loose with a pair of sneakers, and I can, quite literally, run until I am told to stop.
I have no pain upon running. I have the endurance to run.
But ask me to do 20 solid hardstyle push-ups, each looking exactly the same as the previous one, and you’ll spot differences. They are hard for me. I don’t have pushing strength endurance.
The right thing and the hard thing to do in training – and in life – are often equivocal.
Running incessantly is an easy thing for me. I’m already good at that; therefore, it is not a focus of my training.
Pushing my bodyweight is hard for me to do well. Therefore, my coach builds my entire strength program around getting better at pushing.
Too often, we train the things at which we are already proficient. Runners run. Cyclists bike. Yoga enthusiasts do yoga.
If you’d like to continue to do the things you love for the long haul, consider getting better at your flaws.
Flaws show up in places like injury and pain, which may prevent you from doing some of the things you love.
Runners might sprain ankles, because they lack ankle mobility and foot stability.
Yoga enthusiasts might stretch to the point of instability.
Cyclists might find biking exacerbates back pain, since they are improperly lifting things off the floor in their day to day life.
Get assessed. Correct the glitches. They are not weaknesses, but things you aren’t doing well that might affect the things you love to do well.
But as always, it’s your call.
– Dr. Kathy Dooley