Is It Time To Get On Your Back?
We can learn a lot about ourselves—and life—in arenas where we push ourselves physically.
Last week Julie asked me, “so, do you get sore from swimming anymore?”
“You know, no, I really don’t.”
I didn’t think much of it at the time other than it being a sign that I was gaining some pretty good fitness.
Gosh, if she would have asked me that this morning as I was churning through a workout, my response would have been completely different.
This morning, I was so sore and tired—something I haven’t felt in a long time.
While the workout itself was a real struggle to get through, I was absolutely loving being able to feel muscles and aches in my body that I hadn’t felt in a long time.
I was even loving the mental challenge of pushing through the struggle.
You see, yesterday I opted to challenge myself and do a distance freestyle set—2000 yards of pace work coupled with some sprinting—on my back.
Throughout the entire practice, I was feeling things that I haven’t felt in a long time.
Different muscles.
Different angles.
Different technique points.
And even a different tingling sensation in my legs because backstroke requires so much damn kicking.
All day, I was pooped.
The workout itself was nothing out of the ordinary.
The daily grind in the pool is something I’ve become accustomed to.
But, a slight change—simply going from front to back—highlighted that I have so much room for improvement.
And it all made me start questioning myself a bit more around Julie’s question: “What do I need to do more regularly to get sore?”
It’s easy to get comfortable within the uncomfortable.
We’re humans after all—masters at adaptation.
Here’s my take-away from a physical arena about life:
Make a change today that uses a different set of muscles—literally or figuratively—in something that you do without question on a daily basis.
You, too, just may discover that you have lots of room for growth and improvement.
A sore muscle is a pretty good indicator that you did some valuable work.
And from there, who knows what is possible.
Get on Your Back.