Continuum Performance

BE ABOUT IT

Pain.
Eric Belliveau • December 28, 2018

We’ve all felt it.
We’ve allowed it to dictate how we respond to injury.
We use it as an alarm bell, warning us to stop or back off.

Think of how you use it in relationship to your performance. Do you have the same relationship with pain in training as you would if you were placing your hand over an open flame? Do you pull out of a workout because it gets the slightest bit painful like you’d pull your hand away from fire? The comparison may not be fair as one can legitimately injure you while the other...just causes you to suffer.

Outside Magazine’s Podcast released their latest episode of Sweat Science: Loving the Pain, which is a series featuring the work from Alex Hutchinson, a contributing writer to Outside Magazine, and author of an incredible book Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance. The podcast explores the relationship with pain one must develop as an endurance athlete to set new performance records. The story centers around Vittoria Bussi, a velodrome cyclist reaching to break the HOUR Record. The Hour is the longest possible race your body is physiologically capable to compete in at your fullest potential but requires you to be in pain the entire time. At the heart of this quest and this podcast is her relationship with pain and how she manages it in her attempt at a world record.

As an athlete I am no stranger to pain. My IRONMAN training has brought me to new levels of pain and suffering that I never thought possible. My days spent running around the Springfield College turf chasing a field hockey ball brought pain but in shorter and more intense bouts. Today, now, as someone that participates in programs for metabolically challenging classes I still experience pain. Regardless of how and where I am training there is pain. There is also a desire to perform and strive for constant improvement. My pain, as expressed in the podcast, is no different than what Bussi is experiencing. Elite athletes are not exempt from feeling pain over amateurs or non-athletes.The pain in real. What differs is how it is managed.

Take yourself as an example. When faced with a workout that challenges not only your strength but your heart rate response do you:
A. Pick a lightweight knowing it’s going to hurt?
B. Go for broke knowing it’s going to hurt?
OR
C. Not even sign up for class knowing it’s going to hurt?

The layering of exercises and prescribing of work intensity requires a great deal of thought and experience from a trusted professional.

The correct answer depends on you and your goals. Me, I choose B. I always choose B. Why? Because the pain is what is going to make me better. The pain is what will allow me to suffer now and perform later. Spending time suffering teaches me just how far I can go. It is not a pleasant place to be. Bucci cited there were days she would wake up scared for the training that was to come just knowing how bad it would hurt. NO ONE likes being in pain, but if knowing the pain is going to allow you to set a world record, PR your next IRONMAN, or crush your Prioritize Me numbers then why not settle in and embrace it rather than shy away from it?

I will say this: getting to this place of pain and suffering is not easy and it takes practice. The layering of exercises and prescribing of work intensity requires a great deal of thought and experience from a trusted professional. Your limits will be tested. You will break, mentally, but the goal is not to break you physically. It is easy to see the fitness trends and mimic your counterparts but there is a line. It sits between suffering and injury.

I challenge you to tow the line. As Geoff mentioned to me today, “Taste Metallic” you know...the point where your insides are starting to revolt and creep up your throat from working so hard. Embrace the pain and see how far it takes you.

SK

If you want more insight into Vittoria Bussi 2018 attempt on the HOUR Record watch this!

If you’re interested in listening to the Outside Magazine Podcast Sweat Science: Loving Pain go to your podcast app and search for Outside Magazine to download the episode.

If you’ve never listened to a podcast, you’re missing out. Get on it!

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.

The Meat Hangover

By Eric Belliveau • October 7, 2020
When it comes to taking meat out of your diet, some people have the idea that they will only see positive changes immediately following this choice. While those positive changes are definitely part of the deal, so is an adjustment period for your body.

We're Trying

By Eric Belliveau • September 23, 2020
We were all thrown on this crazy ride together. Emotions were running high but so were patience, empathy, inclusion, and respect. Most of us could rally behind the #WeAreInThisTogether manta. We wanted to do right by each other - donate to charities, lend a hand, check-in on one another. Do our part. As the days turn to weeks and the weeks into months these dispositions decayed rapidly. I know that this Quarantine order has been going on for a long time. I know that a great number of us do not agree on the why. I know an even greater number of us are “over it”. I am painfully aware of the difference of opinions surrounding the pandemic. It is impossible to NOT be aware of this. This leads us all to frustration, anger, resentment, and the feeling that you are not being heard. Very real and very human emotions! It is okay to feel this way. I am not only writing this from the perspective of a fellow struggling human. I do find myself struggling with everything I mentioned above. Not just daily but multiple times a day. My ability to focus has been challenged by my worry. My ability to create time for myself and focus on self-care has been derailed for fear of other things becoming more pressing. I work on this every day. I am not only writing this from the perspective of one of the business owners who were never given a playbook for this. For weeks on end I thought WTF happened to the business and how would our model need to change and remain viable, how each business owner had to either weather a period in which we were completely shut down or allowed to operate under capacity restrictions, etc. The unknown of what the timeline would bring and whether we would be able to continue our dreams or make an extremely difficult decision of not continuing. This still haunts every one of us daily. I AM very much writing this as a service provider! I am writing this as an impassioned human who genuinely loves what I do for a living. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to have built a career surrounding something I get excited about every day. I am making a stand for all of us that make their living in the service industry. To the receptionist, hostess, waiter, cook, dry cleaner, teacher, technician, barista, utility worker, automobile service technician… It is truly impossible to be inclusive of everyone here.  No one human mentioned above asked for this ‘situation’ we are in. We are sure as hell trying to provide a level of normalcy, service, care, and happiness to the lives in which we choose to serve. With added restrictions, added expense decreased capacity and the fear of being fined or shut down for doing it incorrectly, everyday.
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