Posted on January 28, 2010 by Dave W

Firstly, let me point out that my Theory of Relative Activity is not related or relevant or sharing of any relationship with Albert Einstein’s Relativity Theories. Relatively speaking that is!

My theory is my own based on my thoughts and assumptions, my many years experience and recollections, my if only I had listened moments.

You may dismiss them as the ramblings of a madman or you may want to take time to analyse them and try to apply them to your own experiences.

What my theory basically says, is that you should exercise relative to your own situation, your time of life, your fitness levels, your ability, your wellness and your state of mind.

In part one we will be focusing on one area, our wellness.

Let me try to explain further. I will use an example of a past 50 male (that would be me).

He trained and played sport most of his life and for most of it he didn’t listen to the messages his body was sending to his brain. None of us like the thought of getting old, but there comes a time in your life when you have to embrace the idea.

The inevitable acceptance of our ageing process is a very important time in our lives. If we chose to ignore it for too long our bodies will not tolerate any more nonsense and will break down.

If/when your body does break down you should listen closely, you may just hear it say ‘I told you so’.

How many times our above 50 male trained through injury, how many times he played when injured, how many times he allowed his ego to take control when he was asked to make up the numbers of his local football team, well into his late 40’s.

Whoever coined the phrase ‘no pain, no gain’ was obviously a sadomasochist.

Let your body tell you when it needs to rest; don’t constantly over-rule it with your mind.

Of course, there are times when our bodies are being a bit soft and they have to be put in their place. Having a cold for example doesn’t mean you have to retire to bed and wallow in self pity.

You should still be able to undergo some training, just listen to how you feel, you will know if you need to stop.

If you get to the stage where you decide to take a calculated risk, by taking some pain killers and carrying on regardless, you may regret it someday.

When the male in this case study first injured his knee whilst playing cricket one Saturday many years ago. He decided it was only a minor setback and carried on. At the next training session his knee collapsed and was twice as bad as it was the previous Saturday.

A visit to his doctor found a young locum standing in for his own doctor.

A sporty type who knew only too well about sporting injuries.

He diagnosed ligament damage, plenty of rest, and a referral to the physio.

His final words still ring in our male’s ears today. ‘I know you probably won’t listen to what I am about to tell you. Most young people don’t, but my advice to you would be to stop playing sport that puts a lot of pressure on your knees. This type of injury tends to return in later life and you could end up with restricted mobility’.

The locum was never seen again, and would probably not get any satisfaction from knowing he was right.

As a general rule of thumb, if you are in a lot of pain, rest or seek medical help.

If you are feeling moderate pain and your whole world will collapse if you don’t train, then train other body parts.

If you damage ligaments, don’t assume that because the swelling has gone down everything is ok.

As this article is not aimed at the professional sportsperson I will not go into the reasons why some carry on when they should rest.

So we have just learned how actively to train when we are in pain.

Going back to our 50 + guy. (It doesn’t feel so bad talking about me this way)

If he had listened to his body when he was going through his ‘body building’ phase, he probably wouldn’t have problems with his shoulder to this day.

Instead he gave in to peer pressure and tried to lift the same weights his two training buddies lifted.

This resulted in something popping in his shoulder and twenty years later he still has one or two problems with it.

If only his training activity was relative to his strength and ability he may not have had an injury at all.

To summarise, keep your training activity relevant to your wellness. If your body is genuinely weak and not just a little tired, think about what it is trying to tell you. Force it to respond and you may regret it.

To Be Continued

Part Two – Your Time of Life

 Phew I need a rest now

Dave W

Cycling For Fitness

P.S. The observations in this post are the authors own and are not medically founded. You have read how he ignored his doctor!

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