Body pains you musn’t ignore

(Continued from last week)

Extreme levels of hunger.
For many men, getting their ideal body is a high priority in life. Whether they are actively tossing the idea of competing in a body-building competition around in their minds or they simply want to show off what their hard work and dedication in the gym has done, they will push themselves to extremes in order to achieve their goals.

Once the muscles have been built, this means turning to the diet aspect of things and taking control of the food you put in your mouth. If you are quite serious about your diet and have been restricting yourself for a month or more (while also approaching sub-10 per cent body fat levels), it’s important to really listen to your body.At times, after a period of very strict dieting, the body’s hormonal balance can get shifted around and you will experience intense hunger that just doesn’t seem to go away, regardless of what you eat.

At this point, it’s a clear sign that your body is trying to tell you something, and you should take a week or two off your diet before continuing. This is more than likely the hormone leptin acting in the body, which serves to regulate your body fat stores. Bring your calories back up, then proceed with the diet regime.

Not only will your body thank you for the much-needed break, but you’ll also likely find that, once the break is over, fat loss will get ramped up once again because your metabolism is in full working order.

Feeling light-headed
Another body pain you mustn’t ignore when performing your workout is light-headedness. This most frequently occurs after you’ve done an exercise where you are partially bent over and then rise back up into the standing position again. While some light-headedness is expected in some individuals — if it’s an ongoing issue for you — it would be smart to have your blood pressure checked out as this is indicative of low blood pressure.

While many need to watch their blood pressure to ensure it doesn’t get too high, for you it may be too low and you could risk fainting during your workout. Considering the danger that could be at stake if you felt dizzy while holding a weight overhead, you can see why it is essential to pay attention to this particular body pain.

One thing you may want to consider doing is making sure you are consuming enough salt in your diet. While you don’t want to go to the other extreme and start salting everything in sight, not worrying quite so much about your salt intake (if you are presently trying really hard to avoid it) may actually be a good thing.

So long as you are healthy and don’t have pre-existing health concerns, a slightly higher salt intake for very active individuals can be beneficial, since they will lose salt while they are sweating.

Keep in mind that this is not to be taken as a medical prognosis, and if you are experiencing this issue quite often, it’s really best to seek professional medical advice to be sure nothing more serious is at stake.

Relentless shin pain
Shin splints are another common running injury that can be quite persistent over time and are a result of continual pounding on the tibia bone. While some shin pain may just be due to overuse and can be remedied with a few days off, if you’re suffering from shin splints, you’ll require a more in-depth recovery process.

If you are experiencing some shin pain, take note of how long it’s been going on and exactly where it’s located. If it’s been two weeks or more, book yourself an appointment with a sports doctor to have it looked at. If the problem gets worse without help, you could eventually wind up with a stress fracture.

Ongoing fatigue
Finally, the last type kind of body pain you mustn’t ignore is fatigue that just doesn’t seem to pass. You get more sleep; you try adjusting your diet; you take a few days off; you’re doing everything you can think of to make yourself feel better, but nothing works. This could be a sign that you are severely overtrained.

Many men are accustomed to pushing through pain and fatigue, so it’s quite easy to overdo it when it comes to your workout volume and regime. If you find that you are becoming less motivated for other aspects of your life that you used to enjoy, aside from your workouts, this is a sign you could be overtraining. Likewise, if it has been a while since you’ve taken a thorough break from the gym and you haven’t seen much progress in the last little while, this is a sign that it’s time for a break.

Depending on the severity, overtraining can take anywhere from two weeks to many months to fully recover from, so catching this body pain you mustn’t ignore sooner rather than later is highly beneficial to you and your recovery.