Progress by Being Kind to Your Body

Progress isn’t linear. It is so easy to get frustrated when it feels like you aren’t getting something, but try to be kind to yourself.

This week I ran through a glute workout lifting weights. Since I’m am borrowing Pavel Tsatsouline’s concept and only working to just before the point my muscles start burning, I forgot that I had done actual, real, intense work. Then I came home and picked a grounding vinyasa which, of course, included tree pose. I’ve been working on single leg balancing lately and have seen progress so I expected to do well…and I completely failed. I forgot that my muscles were tired. It was hard to tell myself “it’s ok, some days you are stronger than others” when I was falling on the basic single leg balances, forget even getting into tree pose.

The point is, we really do have strong days and days when our bodies are tired and it;s not always apparent why, In my case, I just forgot I’d done a workout. (I felt it the next morning though!) But it can be anything from your body still recovering and building strength from your last workout to a night of bad sleep. From a mile high view, you’ll always be improving, you just have to breathe, remember you aren’t backsliding, and give yourself a break.

It took me 3 months to be able to do a pull up. That’s 3 month of hanging on a bar, willing my arms to move, and failing. I slowly built up strength doing assisted pullups but WOW was that a frustrating three months! Then my ability increased exponentially. At one point I could do 8 in a row from full extension. Be patient, be kind, and trust. Your body will gradually build strength and flexibility without you having to overexert or be better every time you practice.