Your Body is Smarter Than You. Are You Listening?

Do you swim for exercise? Walk? Take a group fitness class? Play pickleball? Run long distances? Bicycle? Hike?

Good for you. The benefits of exercise are undeniable. And yes, there are risks, too. A few million adults annually visit the emergency room for a sports injury. Cyclists top the list, but pickleball players get to the ER, too. Who doesn’t know someone who sprained an ankle or tore a ligament from an accident?

The bigger story, however, isn’t about accidents. It’s about how we needlessly hurt ourselves.

We’ve all done it: Strained a muscle, started to feel better, and then strained it again the next time we exercised. What should you do? Push through? Rest?

It’s Decision Time

Will pushing through some pain be beneficial? Or will it trigger a more severe injury? How can you differentiate between normal muscle soreness and season-ending harm?

This question is particularly challenging for anyone who enjoys exercises such as swimming, running, cycling, CrossFit and HIIT, walking, hiking, and, yes, even pickleball. These exercises have higher injury rates than other activities.

Your Body Knows Best

Our bodies know when things aren’t right and when to ease up. But unfortunately, many people simply refuse to listen to their bodies. They push it and end up hurting themselves. The reasons why we don’t listen to our bodies have some scientific and psychological factors:

Habit Formation: People can develop habits that override their body’s signals over time. For example, someone who is used to staying up late despite feeling tired may have trained their body to ignore the natural signs of fatigue. These habits can be difficult to break.

Social Expectations: Peer pressure, media influence, and cultural norms can lead some people to pay more attention to external appearance or short-term pleasure over long-term health.

Identity and Self-Worth: Acknowledging chronic pain may be perceived as a weakness or threat to self-concept.

Emotional Stress: Daily stress, anxiety, and depression can impact how we perceive and respond to our body’s signals.

Addiction to Exercise: Adrenaline-inducing sports and endorphin rush drive people to train despite the pain. You know the saying: No pain, no gain.