Overcoming Obstacles in Fitness Training

Everyone has a different exercise journey and if I'm being totally honest, it's not easy for any of us.  I've been struggling with asthma for most of my life and it's made some forms of exercising difficult for me.  But I don't use that as an excuse to give up.  Instead, I take it as a challenge and find ways to work with my asthma instead of against it.  It may look easy or you may think that the challenges that others face aren't as difficult as your own, but the reality is that all of our challenges are just different. There's no way to quantify a person's obstacles and compare them to someone else's.

When I was in high school, I was a competitive horseback rider and my asthma was a huge problem I had to face.  When I would compete, there were times when my asthma was so bad that I would slowly start to lose feeling in my legs because my muscles weren't getting enough oxygen.  Despite using an inhaler, I continued to face the same issues.  After a course, I would immediately jump off my horse and sit on the ground to catch my breath and re-oxygenate my muscles.  My trainer at the time told me that if I couldn't get my health issues straightened out, she wouldn't be able to train me anymore.  And honestly, I can't blame her for that.

Fast forward to present day and I still face the same challenges with my asthma.  I can't run very far or for very long without having difficulty breathing.  Rather than not running or exercising and saying "I can't do it," I've tried to work with my asthma instead of against it.  I've taken to interval training so I can push myself to my limit and then take the time to stop and recover before getting back into things.  By doing this consistently, it gets easier every time and you can continue to push yourself further.

I'm kicking asthma to the curb and not letting it dictate my fitness level.

A few weeks ago I started running for exercise again (which I hadn't done in between 6 months and a year) and I was embarrassed by how little I could do.  I've kept at it though and what was a struggle 3 weeks ago is now significantly easier.  Soon I'll be able to increase my distance and continue to push myself and build my endurance.  The process is slow, but that doesn't mean it's not working.  I think a lot of times, people give up on fitness (or anything really) because they don't see the immediate results.  

You'll notice that in most of the workout routines I've posted about in the past, I work in intervals.  It's something I've found works for me and I've applied it to my workouts. The biggest and most important part about fitness is that you do what you can do and don't give up!  If you stay consistent and push yourself to your limit, you'll be able to continue to build muscle and increase your endurance.

Now whose ready to go out and have a great workout??  I know I am!