Within health and fitness, I commonly see demand for one’s body to feel or perform in specific ways, holding oneself, and body, to high standards. Any inability to meet these expectations often results in frustration, defensiveness, shame, and/or pretending (faking it) to oneself and others. This can result in injury, persistent aches and pains, and/or hitting a plateau for health and fitness goals.
So, what can help? Knowing where you are at in order to make choices based on how you feel, what your current capacity is, and what your goals are.
I call this skill acknowledgement; the process of owning abilities, preferences, pains, discomforts, and goals. This skill is incredibly valuable in learning where you are at AND making sustainable progress that is truly valuable TO YOU.
First, what does it mean to acknowledge?
Conceptually acknowledgment has similarities to body awareness. According to Marriam-Webster; to acknowledge is to take notice of and recognize (1). This differs from awareness as it requires that you notice and OWN what’s there. In the context of health and wellness, this would include how your body feels and performs, and your current health and fitness goals.
Examples if acknowledging may include:
- noticing and/or admitting that you feel pain after lunges
- noticing and/or admitting that you are unable to perform certain coordination exercises due to fatigue
- noticing and/or admitting an increase, or decrease, in hunger
- noticing and/or admitting that you feel more anxiety in one part of the gym vs another
The challenge: Why it can be so hard to acknowledge
In theory, to honestly feel and assess sounds very straightforward, as simple as stating what you can do and how it feels as your current reality. However, in practice it can take a HUGE amount effort to be honest with ourselves and others.
There are many reasons why we may be dishonest, including boosting self-esteem, competing with others, protecting someone else’s feelings, etc. (2) To better understand your own reasons, an investigation may be in order.
Try asking: What does it mean TO ME if I ______________?
**Examples for the blank include have pain, cannot complete this race or workout, feel ill, feel anxiety, need to use a brace or device to help me get around, etc. **
Note: you may not know or be able to identify it just yet, and that’s ok. Diving in and discovering takes time.
The benefits: When we stop fighting it, it can be helpful
There are several ways acknowledgment can be beneficial.
First, when we are honest about what is going on, we have more information to make informed choices
- Wanting to change without knowing how our body is currently, is like driving to Miami without knowing where we are starting from. When one is honest about how their body feels or performs, it provides a baseline or starting point for change. For example, acknowledging how many pushups you can do now and how many you want to be able to do provides a clear baseline AND goal.
Secondly, acknowledging helps increase flexibility in training and lifestyle choices.
- When you do not allow yourself to notice fatigue, pain, emotional changes, etc. you may miss a cue from your body. As you likely know, there are HUGE benefit to consistent training. Noticing your bodies cues is one way to be flexible with yourself in order to build consistency. The opposite may look like pushing past pain, resulting in injury, and taking time off. If you’re interested in how to use structure and flexibility to build consistency, click here.
Finally, it is more likely will be more fulfilling!
- Goals that are authentically meaningful to you and your life, are more likely to have follow through AND a result you really want. Being honest and allowing yourself to see these goals is often the first step to making a change.
Practicing Acknowledging as a skill
I generally encourage building skills over time with focused practiced. While this is not flashy or exciting, practicing skills over time can build into HUGE changes. So, what would it look like to practice acknowledgement?
- Choose a place you want to practice. For example, during your normal exercise routine.
- In this example, during a set of a movement, pause.
- Ask yourself some questions to help yourself you into what going on. For this example, try the following questions: Do I have any pain or discomfort during this movement? How many/how much weight can I really do without my form breaking down? Is there anything else going on in my body?
- Now that you have this information, check in to see if you want to adjust. In this example you could adjust the movement form, weight, reps, sets, plan for the day, etc.
As you’ll notice, acknowledgement follows awareness. I find that for me this step feels like taking a big exhale and REALLY owning whatever is there. While it is a skill that can be very challenging, the effort is worthwhile if you are interested in building consistency, improving body awareness, decreasing injury risk, AND finding goals which are fulfilling for you.
Thanks for reading and I hope this was helpful and/or interesting to you. Feel free to contact me here or respond below!
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