"My hamstrings are so tight, my feet start cramping when I jog", stuff it,will be fine, il push through!!
Having the motivation to push through pain barriers is great, I love that push, the adrenaline.One has to be aware of whether, pushing through the muscle pain, may be damaging to the body.Im a believer in training efficiently and progressing on, via the natural path way within our body.
Neuromuscular adaption happens when you condition the body with training and exercise. Once the adaption takes place, the body starts to develop, progresses on to be more optimal, and achieve better performance. Over two decades ago, when I first started lifting weights, (back then there was no google, no youtube just the local library and magazines).I had no idea on rest, recovery, nutrition or what order I should be training different muscles (eg a spilt program).
All the years of first hand experience, training in the gym, all the trials and errors I experienced, I have become more tuned in to my body. Knowing how to time my workouts, the right type of nutrition, rest, recovery and flexibility needed to condition the body, to perform at its best and keep training for life, without set backs.
Im still learning more on the body daily, now that I'm in my 30s, I train more smarter than before. When I was prepping up for a Kickboxing fight, I pushed my body beyond breaking point with intense long sessions, 6 days a week (going through that hardcore training, the discipline and prepping up for a fight, was a great experience).I use to get bumps on my shins from going to hard out with sparring sessions, and post fight matches. I would then continue to kick the heavy bag despite the pain, as mentally I wanted to be more tolerate to pain. In kickboxing, your shins, knees and feet may clash with your oponents bones when striking or blocking. One of the training goals was to be more conditioned than your opponent. I look back now and have learnt many lessons from going hard out with my training.
One lesson I learnt was to listen to your body, without sufficient nutrition, REST,RECOVERY and STRETCHING, your body may potentially shut down, causing the body to not perform at its best, increase the risk of injury, go backwards with your training or see no gains. Everyones body is different from each other, but you can condition your body to be at the same level as many athletes or beyond.
Best way to start training smart, is to know your body more, be more tuned in when working out, evaluate your methods on training, set goals and reach them, read up on training methods, nutrition, flexibility, programming. Utilising some of these options, you will gain knowledge that will be with you for life, reduce the risk of injury and prevent a burnout.
I have witnessed many individuals set a training goal but never complete it, I can't talk I have done this myself back in the day. Then complain why they still look the same, no matter how long it takes you to reach your realistic training goal, just complete it no matter what, the benefits are great both physically and mentally.
Go hard, train smart and enjoy your training!
Max