Tweaks and Creaks
Feb 24, 2022
The bottom line on physical “tweakiness” is don’t let it keep you on the sidelines! Don’t make crappy meanings out of it!
Many mornings I wake up feeling tweaked in a shoulder, hip, or knee simply from sleeping in some weird, curled up position.
Walking to the bathroom sometimes involves groaning and limping.
Most of this goes away pretty quickly by drinking water, walking around a bit, and doing simple mobility moves.
The primary challenge here is mindset. What do you tell yourself when you feel tweaky in some part of your body? If it’s something along the lines of:
"I am getting old."
"My knees are hopeless."
"I have old injuries that will haunt me forever."
"I won’t be able to exercise today because______hurts."
Then STOP immediately. Question it. We are meaning makers!
You can come up with a new story anytime. Why not come up with an inspiring story? Try some of these instead:
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I am getting stronger every day.
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I am tenacious. I will overcome this challenge.
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Everything I put my mind to improves.
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Yes, this movement hurts right now, but what else can I do?
Don’t let the anxious, negative mind derail you with meaning about how your body is hopeless.
Get curious and surprise yourself.
Take squatting, for example. Starting your workout, you may find that it’s hurting to squat.
It’s time to begin the great workaround. Can you march in place? Do that for a while.
Then try the squat, carefully.
Try it with less range of motion -- don’t go down as far. Does that work?
What about if you give yourself some assistance? Some surface to hold on to?
How about a sumo squat? How about trying a split squat? Or an exploratory lunge to the front, reverse, or side? Or a hinge type movement?
Can you lie on your back and do glute bridges? Probably. Add some of those!
The thing is that 99 % of the time you will get a yes from several of these. Why? A tweak in one part of your lower body will not impact every leg exercise.
That other 1 % of the time? Do an upper body workout, or core! Give yourself a High Five for showing up and doing it!
As you continue your fitness journey, your vocabulary of basic movement patterns will increase, and it will get easier to find the work around.
Your awareness, and knowledge of your body, will also increase. You will learn what warm ups your body really needs, and how it changes on a given day.
You truly will get stronger every day, starting with your mind, by cultivating an unstoppable attitude!
Look for Part 2 of Tweaks and Creaks next week!
