What if your head is ready but your body isn’t?
Crossfit, running, HIIT, you name it. It’s a challenge when your mind is ready to do something but your body is not.
The extremes of the athlete mindset are never a safe place to be. It can’t be all or nothing, ESPECIALLY since we are talking about returning to exercise post-baby.
Scaling and doing what is possible at that moment has to be a part of the dialogue, or we’ll be stagnant, or worse, regress.
This weekend, I tweaked an old neck injury I’ve dealt with on and off for years. And going into Crossfit at the beginning of the week, I really took a minute to question whether I should go and scale the workout or just not go at all.
But I KNEW how to scale, I KNEW how to watch my form. So, I went. And I’m glad I did!
Did I look as awesome as some of the other athletes doing the workout? No (but let’s be honest, do I ever?) But I got it done safely.
But it led me to question, if I had mentioned to someone that I had a neck issue that day, would they have known how to help me scale? Now, replace neck issues with pelvic floor issues and you really start to wonder.
Here are the questions:
- Do you say something?
- Does the person helping actually know how to help you scale?
- If you’re not comfortable asking, do you know how to scale appropriately?
Are you doing enough? Are you doing too much? How do you even know?
I know what I’m doing and it’s hard for me to find that sweet spot!
You can’t make the assumption that just because someone is a Crossfit or running coach they know how to scale you in pregnancy and postpartum.
Don’t feel bad if you have that athlete mindset. Don’t feel bad if you need to scale. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing! If we’re playing the long game, get that scaled option and keep making progress so you don’t send yourself back to square one.