Working smart (despite the crazies)

I’m sitting here in bed, laptop propped on my lap and I’m facing one of those frustrating inner battles (or ‘mind crazies’ as my sis and I like to call them) — the battle where your head is trying to tell you one thing but your body is telling you something entirely different.

So: who do you listen to?

Your brain that’s telling you to go for it, stop being so cautious and just get that run in that you planned on?

Or…

Your body that’s telling you that a run is probably not the best of ideas. Your right knee is a little cranky. A run will do it no good.

But a run *would* do my brain good. My brain that keeps telling me to get moving, work for that sweat that I love so much and quit making excuses.

…but is a cranky knee an excuse?

Um, no.

This, my friends, is the one drawback to being so passionate about fitness — I sometimes want to push it too hard. Not because I think I need to or else I’ll gain 45 pounds in 24 hours. That’s not why I workout the way that I do. I workout because I love it, because it makes me happy and I feel so alive and energized because of it. Sure, the physical benefits aren’t too shabby either (let’s be real), but ultimately — I workout for wellness, and yes – for how it nourishes my soul, too.

Note to self: please work smart. Please ignore the mind crazies.

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I’ve been reading a lot lately in bloggy land about this desire to push, push, push, no matter what. It’s called the #noexcuses mantra. It’s something I hadn’t really been paying all that much attention to until I read Carly’s post (thanks to Christine’s hat tip to her on Friday!) on the topic. I totally agree with Carly on this one — #noexcuses has become a crutch to allow bloggers to work too hard, push too much and workout when they should be resting. I mean, I’m all for getting out of your comfort zone, working hard for results and motivating others by leading by example. All about that.

What I’m NOT about? Working harder, not smarter. It’s just not worth it.

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Another post that got me thinking — a LOT — is one from Heidi: If fitness is about health, why hurt yourself? I mean, the title of her post pretty much sums it up, doesn’t it? WHY push to the point of injury? None of us are out there professionally competing or aiming for Olympic gold, so working *that* hard, to the point of injury or excessive fatigue is just doing more harm than good. I mean really, why are takes ourselves so seriously? Fitness should be fun, at least I think it should be. And fitness is most certainly *not* fun if it results in injury.

Thank you a million times over Heidi, I needed that reminder. So much.

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Can you tell I just wrote this post essentially to 1) quiet my mind and 2) remember both why I workout and what my workout mantra is? (I’m so transparent, I know…ha)

So yes, this is me — reminding myself and all of you that working smart is so much more important than working harder. Always.