Pushing Past the Pain

I've started back at Hung Ga (southern style kung fu) in the past few weeks. Recently my Sifu has been pushing me into lowering my stances beyond my comfort zone, which is important in systems like this, but man am I sore! From Monday and Tuesday's classes alone I really worked lowering my stances and keeping up with my seniors even though I'm a super-noob lol.

How do you all push past pain? Anyone. Weight lifters, runners, cyclists... how do you push past that raging fire in your limbs? And no, I don't mean injury.

When your legs start to quake and burn, like they're fighting to keep you standing, does that mean its time to take a knee for 5 minutes? Is this the effect of 'lactic acid' buildup? And yes, I'm sure the fact that I'm 243 lbs of body resistance for my legs doesn't help and pushes me to failure quicker than if I were lighter.

By the way, I don't want this to turn into a style VS style thread if at all possible.

By the way, my appetite has been raging and skyrocketing since I started this. Coincidentally, I started a very physical warehouse job around the same time. I'm not sure how to handle this or listen to my body in this regard; how to tell if I'm dehydrated, hungry, or both. Advice on this is appreciated too.

Down and Out,
Pezzle

For me, it depends.  If I feel that I'm going to do damage that will take a day or more to recover from then I would take a knee.  If it's just sore muscles that I'm risking then I tend to tough it out.

As for water, you're probably not drinking anywhere near enough.  I'd suggest keeping a bottle of water with you and drinking until you don't feel like more water, but keep it around 64 ounces a day unless you're sweating a lot.  Your active job may very well require a lot more calories, the easiest way to check is to invest in a heart rate monitor like the Polar F5 that will tell you what you're burning with a reasonable degree of accuracy...most martial arts you won't be able to wear the wrist band.

Make sure to keep breathing.  Sometimes when people are doing squats, or holding serious warriors in yoga, they will hold their breath and the muscles get nothing.  Deep breaths will give you that last bit of power you need.  Congrats on getting back in the game!! Keep up the good work.

Original Post by smwhipple:

For me, it depends. If I feel that I'm going to do damage that will take a day or more to recover from then I would take a knee. If it's just sore muscles that I'm risking then I tend to tough it out.

As for water, you're probably not drinking anywhere near enough. I'd suggest keeping a bottle of water with you and drinking until you don't feel like more water, but keep it around 64 ounces a day unless you're sweating a lot. Your active job may very well require a lot more calories, the easiest way to check is to invest in a heart rate monitor like the Polar F5 that will tell you what you're burning with a reasonable degree of accuracy...most martial arts you won't be able to wear the wrist band.

I will have to ask. I think I can wear it as long as we're not sparring or I'm not at Fight Night, but I'll ask to be on the safe side. I'll give the HRM a try at my job, I've got to buy one one of these days. I just lift heavy things into peoples cars and wrap pallets and stuff all day. Believe it or not, wrapping pallets tires the hell out of me!

Also, are you getting enough protein? Most women tend not to.....I lift weights a lot so I TRY (doesn't always happen) for 150gs of protein a day....I have noticed taht my workouts (in whatever form it is that day) go a lot easier if I've had enough protein so far that day (depending on what time I workout, etc).....sometimes it could be that your body just is not fueled enough......

....and as for water, drink drink drink! Especially w how much you move around during the day, you'll want a lot. I know people will disagree with this, but my opinion is that a gallon a day is great! At least for me...........

Good luck, sounds like a challenging workout!

I am actually about to invest in whey protein because I have a hard time getting my breaks at work (understaffed) and such, I'm always very very busy it seems. I thought maybe a protein shake post workout or mid-shift would help, since I've been told eating too much tuna is well... full of mercury and not so good.

I am only seeming to get one 8oz glass of water a day now. Mostly out of forgetfulness. I'm thinking of buying a gallon jug from wawa and refilling it with my brita filter every day before work and keeping it on the receiving desk with me.

Well here's hoping things get better. I feel beat up! We get to start iron palm training too 8).

It will totally get better. It usually takes me a few weeks back in training to get passed feeling like I've been hit by a truck. Take breaks when you absolutely need to, but for me part of the "fun" of martial arts is tapping into that place passed "i can't possibly do this anymore." The more you do it, the more quickly you can access it. It's a beautiful gift.

Lactic acid is only going to be free if you free it. That's a better incentive to kick ass.

Breathing & going all "zen" definitely helps with endurance and will help your fights too.

Good luck with iron palm! Rad!

Well I went from being able to not do a horse stance at all to being able to hold a solid one for thirty seconds without wavering or showing discomfort. That's progress to me.

I've also put on 5 pounds, but gone down a pant size (started at 28W actually and I am now down to a 20W!) and 2 belt notches. I'm thinking muscle and water so I'm not too alarmed. I am carrying a big gallon jug of WaWa water with me now and just chugging from a gallon every day so I can visually see that I drank a gallon.

The cool part is, freshbakedpi, that I have seemed to finally tap passed cardiovascular limitations. I no longer get winded like I used to. I can keep up with the guys who are 2 sashes above me in class and I'm picking things up well. It's like I can tune out that huffy feeling, and get my breaths in rhythm to the activity I'm doing. I just sometimes have a hard time fighting my muscles when they start quaking on me!