Raw Dish!

Ask Matt Grace! Author of "A Way Out" and "Toned Arms in Ten Days", long term raw foodist Matthew Grace is a former Standout Amateur Boxer, Fitness Coach, and Wellness Expert. Matthew is the founder of the Coalition for Health Re-Education and regularly presents lectures and seminars on wellness, healing, and awareness of harmful and false information regarding health.

Dear Matt,

Sometimes I feel resistant to exercising; but usually, after I begin, I feel better and I feel glad that I didn’t skip it. I know part of health is rest. How can I determine when my body really needs to rest and is genuinely exhausted or when it needs to be worked out?

Matt Responds:

I hear three questions here. 1. What is this resistance? 2. How do I get out of it? 3. How do I know if my body really needs a rest?

This ‘resistance’ you refer to can have a variety of origins all resulting in an uncooperative, unwilling state. The law of inertia may have something to do with this phenomena as it does seem true that a body in motion is more apt to stay in motion and that a body that is not in motion requires a substantial force to get it in motion. Certainly, physical exhaustion could be a factor but it is rare (more about that later). So, although the sensation may feel like physical fatigue, there is a very good chance it is not. As is true in other parts of life, the way one thinks and feels plays an enormous role in the state experienced when planning to exercise. Things just do not happen without cause. A cake does not magically show up on the kitchen counter. There are a list of ingredients and a specific way of mixing these ingredients to create a certain result. The same is true for a person’s state at any given moment. Whether energized, lethargic, depressed or jubilant, mental, emotional and physical ingredients make up the recipe.

Typically, the lethargy or “resistance to exercising” you describe is the result of one or a combination of these three components. Whether you are aware of it or not, there are thoughts, feelings and physical postures that are creating a certain result (or state) in you right now. Likewise, when it’s 6pm, and you feel tired and drained at the end of your workday, and you are trying to decide whether to go home or workout, you want to train but you don’t want to over do it, the same is true. Fortunately, there are some questions you can ask yourself and actions you can take to ascertain an honest answer.

The first question is what is my goal? If you don’t have one get one, fast. Long term (for the year), mid-term (for the season) and short-term (this week) goals are a requisite if you wish to accomplish anything worthwhile. I’ll write more about this in coming articles.

The second question is where am I presently in relation to my goal; ahead of pace, on pace, or behind pace? With your goal in mind, you can begin to question if the thoughts you are thinking are taking you closer or farther away from your goals. You can remind yourself of the reasons you made this goal to begin with, usually this effort alone will often change your state.

You can also begin to make efforts to intentionally change your thoughts from “I really need to get something to eat,” “I don’t want to trek to the gym and have to change my clothes two more times,” “it’s raining and too cold to go out,” “I just don’t have time” and the all time classic “I’ll do it tomorrow,” to thoughts that will keep you on track.

Instead of thinking “man am I beat” why not start thinking “I know I could do at least half of my workout”? Work up to “I feel fantastic; I can’t wait to start training.” This might sound strange but if you really give it some genuine effort, you’ll be amazed at how it starts to alter your attitude. James Allen’s classic AS A MAN THINKETH is all about the seeds we plant in the garden of our minds, and the “crops” we reap.

One of the most effective things you can do to change your state is to change your breathing. A primary ingredient in any negative state is shallow breathing. Try taking some deep inhalations, through your nose. Fill up your lungs with air, preferably outside or by a window. Exhale emphatically through your mouth the first three or four breaths and imagine blowing out all tension and negativity. Then begin to exhale through the nose. Continue the deep breathing for at least five minutes and you will sense a transformation occurring.

Now get up and start moving around AS IF your body is just filled with the finest energy available. That’s right, just act. You might feel silly but so what? Check the expression on your face. LOOK UP. It is impossible to be in a negative state while doing so. (Try it if you don’t believe me!) Say your goal out loud and then say three reasons why you made your goal. If you do all this I promise you will see a dramatic transformation of states. Once you begin your workout, that weighted, “leaden” body begins a dramatic transformation, the breath begins to deepen and the blood begins to accelerate through the body. The muscles become filled with blood, that blood is increasingly oxygenated as the exercise continues, endorphins are released into the blood stream, and toxins that have been deposited in the tissues are stirred up and begin to be excreted through the pores of the skin. The mind starts to clear and if the exercise is intense enough all three ‘brains’ body, mind and heart are working together in unison and the troubles of your day are left far behind.

An ‘emotional funk’ can keep us stuck and keeps us from doing what is necessary, including working out. Feelings that cause depression such as anger, distrust, inferiority, loneliness, jealousy, bitterness etc, are powerful enough to cause grave illnesses and sickness and they are certainly strong enough to stop us from doing our workout. Learning to observe and look out for these thoughts and feelings will help you begin to free yourself from their reign of gloom.

Given the examples of what one can do when “psyched up” and how disabled one can be when depressed, I’d have to say emotions are THE most important factor in determining ones over all state. I have verified that no matter how exhausted the body may feel, once the workout begins everything changes, including your emotional state. There is a reason why certain therapists have their patients hit pillows. It is a way of excreting poisonous emotions that if left unexcreted leaves the patient emotionally stuck or paralyzed and an often times necessary practice to begin to think and feel clearly. Exercise can work the same way. Use the exercises above to help you.

And finally, YOU SHOULD NOT WORKOUT WHEN: You are seriously ill -- fever, headaches, upset stomach -- or you have physical injury that requires rest. This does not include muscle soreness caused by lactic acid buildup from a previous workout. Also, if you find that you’ve forced yourself to start your exercise and, after ten minutes, you feel worse, you need to stop. This is rare but it does happen, so listen to your body. Most of the time, as you say, you’ll be glad you trained and overcame the resistance.

If you have a question for Matt, please email it with the subject listed "Ask Matt Grace" to Raw Dish! at livestephen@aol.com.