Athletic Intelligence & Pain - listening to your body (b)

Athletic intelligence is essentially about changing , altering or adapting what you do to the context of training and/or competition. Pain is one thing that you either need to manage, or it will end up managing you...

Your body is in constant communication with itself. Much of the communication is tacit, silent. A plethora of biofeedback loops subconsciously maintain strict ranges within body systems. You have two major communication systems: nervous system, and endocrine-hormonal system. Each does it’s thing – in different time frames – to keep you going about your daily stuff, ensuring you respond efficiently and effectively during sessions, and adapt to training - that is, you get better as you accumulate training.

 Other parts of the communication network are explicit - louder. These signs usually tell you that something out of the ordinary is going down, and that you need to take note. If not, ill-health, injury, staleness, and loss of performance will visit.

Deciphering what these signs are, and what to do about them is the key to listening successfully to your body. The key signs to listen for are those related to pain.

Pain:

Simplified, there are two major types of pain. The first, usually felt in the skin, is described as acute pain, sharp pain, and electric pain. It’s felt quickly - fast pain.

The second, usually felt in the deeper tissues, is chronic, aching, throbbing, nauseous pain – usually slow-burning pain. It is usually associated with tissue destruction (or, injury) and can lead to prolonged pain, and suffering. It can occur in the skin and deeper tissues and organs.

 

Please, don’t confuse these with the pain and suffering associated with tragedy, loss and grief.

Similarly, don’t confuse them with the Self Imposed Discomfort (SID) of hard efforts, and racing. The discomfort of lactic acid, aching muscles, glycogen depletion, increased body temperature, dehydration, heavy breathing and high heart-rates and ‘perceptions of effort’ is self-imposed. They’re not pain for us to swim, cycle, padle and run through. They’re our own barriers – imposed by ability, capacity, training, experience, drive and intestinal fortitude.

What is pain to you? Do you know when to draw the line in the sand?

Next I'll outline "what to listen for", and "when to listen"...