Should I Push Through or Pull Back? How to Actually Listen to Your Body
You have probably heard someone say you will only regret the workout you did not do.
And while that kind of motivational language has its place, it is also far from universally true. There are plenty of situations where pushing through a workout would not be a good idea at all. So how do you actually know when to show up and grind it out versus when to rest and recover?
The answer starts with learning to listen to your body, and not just the noise in your head.
Our bodies are constantly communicating with us through signals like energy levels, soreness, motivation, sleep quality, and mood. Feeling a little tired or lethargic is not always a sign to rest. More often than not, once you get moving there is a good chance you will start to feel better. But there are situations where the signal is worth taking seriously.
If you are struggling to recover from a cold days or weeks after it started, dealing with a minor injury that is not improving, noticing a continuous decline in your gym performance, or experiencing extreme fatigue, irritability, or significant mood changes, those can be signs that your body needs more rest than you are giving it. In more serious cases this can point toward overtraining, though to be completely honest that is the exception rather than the rule for most people.
The more common pattern we see actually falls on the other end of the spectrum. Most people do not overtrain. Most people undertrain, by skipping workouts when something comes up, overthinking their energy levels, and assuming that feeling off means they should not train. Neither tendency is inherently right or wrong. But knowing which camp you naturally fall into can help you make much better decisions in the moment.
If you are someone who frequently misses workouts because something came up, finds that other areas of life consistently take priority over training, or often feels guilty while working out because of everything else on your to do list, there is a good chance you would benefit from going to the gym rather than skipping it. Movement is medicine. It does more for us than we often give it credit for. That does not mean training through illness or injury. But it does mean that your overall health is likely to improve significantly from showing up consistently, even on the days you do not feel your absolute best.
On the other hand, if you tend to push through tough sessions regardless of how your body feels, often feel exhausted or extremely fatigued after training, or feel guilty and disappointed in yourself when you miss a workout, there is a good chance you would benefit from taking a genuine rest day. Because yes, movement is medicine. But so is rest. If you have gotten good at dismissing the signals your body sends you, your interpretation of how you are feeling may no longer be accurate. Practicing rest without guilt or shame is a skill worth developing.
In the end the goal is not to do more or do less. The goal is to respond appropriately to what your body actually needs, rather than what your habits or emotions are telling you to do in the moment.
At Compound Strength and Performance in Bellevue, we help our clients develop the self awareness to make smarter decisions about their training, not just on the good days but on the hard ones too. If you want coaching that meets you where you are, we would love to connect. Learn more about training with us here.
— Alaina Anthon, Coach and Co-Founder, Compound Strength and Performance, Bellevue, WA
