For the past week I’ve been dealing with my chronically injured right shoulder and bursitis in my left elbow. About a week ago I decided to stop doing any exercise that causes me pain.
Remarkably, just by stopping all push-up type movements resulted in my shoulder improving within days! I can’t believe it. I’ve had moderate to bad shoulder pain for over 6 months and was getting ready to see an orthopedic surgeon just a week ago.
This got me thinking more about my entire exercise regimen. I exercise everyday for many hours with a fair amount of intensity (autocorrect originally corrected this to ‘insanity’ which might be Freudian).
I decided to reevaluate my entire program to see if there was anything else I should eliminate. I ended up cutting about 20% of my exercises and sets. Some of these were repetitive. Others were preparation movements for exercises I will never be able to do like rising into a handstand from a planche using only arm strength.
Then I decided to cut my swimming workout down too. Instead of swimming 1600 yards, I dropped to 1200 yards.
Here’s my reasoning:
- Much of what I do is arbitrary. I combined exercises and set volumes based on GMB‘s programs.
- My swimming routine started at 600 yards, then grew to 900, then 1200 and finally 1600. Perhaps 1200 is sufficient.
I deiced to give a reduced workout program a shot for a few weeks to see if it helps with my bursitis and shoulder recovery.
Plus it’s great to shave off 30-45 minutes a day.
Right now, every workout feels fast and relatively easy.
More importantly, I get caught up in my routines and then robotically follow them.
It’s good to be intentional and reset once in while.