Listening to My Body

Last week, out of the blue my body said: Deb, I would love to do some pistol squats.

Now for someone who hasn’t exercised much in the past 6 months, is recovering from shoulder surgery THAT is an insane thought.  Pistols are advanced squats: single leg squats.

http://www.beastskills.com/pistol.htm

There was not going to be a great likelihood that I could actually perform these.  But that wasn’t the real message.  My body was trying to tell me that I needed to do some unilateral leg work (working one leg at a time).  As soon as I started doing so, I discovered that my left leg muscle weakness is back.  Listening to my body -and interpreting it much like dreams- is a secret to knowing not only what I want to do in the gym, but what I NEED to do.

Now I have regressed the move to something I can do: a box version of the pistol using a stick for additional balance – because SOMEDAY I do want to do a pistol squat.  Most of the time, though, I’m working on step ups, single leg presses and lunges.  It’s all HARD – but it’s an appropriate level of hard for my muscles at the moment.

Listening to our bodies is can be an important tool in our ongoing fitness.  Taking things at face value, though, is not often the wisest way to go.

What has your body ever said to you?