How do you judge when a workout is healthy-challenging v. unhealthy-challenging?

[TheOxfordComma]

I went to ONE meeting of a local parkour club, where I was outmatched in basically all physical fields, but I still did my best and tried to practice at a level that was good for me. Two days later my shins are hurting even when the rest of my aches have faded away. They don't hurt much, though; they just feel a bit like I have a bruise on my shins where there is no bruise.

I made an offhand comment to some family and friends and the next thing I heard back it was "Well that's what you get from running and jumping on concrete." and "Shin splints. Yup, definitely shin splints." I'm now being discouraged from going back, but the thing is, I had a fairly good time and got a decent workout. I am not all that in shape and yes I was outclassed, but I feel like, if I don't GO and take place in activities that challenge my body, I won't GET in shape. I'm a bit frustrated because, of course I want to make sure I don't hurt myself, but I also don't like people telling me what I can or can't do, especially with my body, because, well, I know it best, don't I?

Right now, besides the feeling of bruising on my shins where there is none and a nice, manageable ache in my body, I feel fine. There's not any sharp pain anywhere in my body. Right now, I feel like I've been working out pretty healthily.

It's made me wonder though: how do you judge whether or not you are pushing your body too far? How do you tell good, muscle-building workout pain from bad, body-damaging "this is your body saying don't do this" pain?

[Waldo]

It's made me wonder though: how do you judge whether or not you are pushing your body too far? How do you tell good, muscle-building workout pain from bad, body-damaging "this is your body saying don't do this" pain?

Honestly....

By learning it the hard way.

There really isn't any other good way.

[jdanger]

Your body will adapt. It's not saying don't do this but rather don't do so much so fast. Just ease into it and don't push too hard out of the gate. For the shins, stretch and ice them after your sessions and make sure to warmup well. Heel walks are also great for combating "shin splint" type pain and are well added to a warmup for any session where running/jumping is going to take place. Basically walk around while trying to pull your toes up as high as you can.

[scotticus]

I went to ONE meeting of a local parkour club, where I was outmatched in basically all physical fields, but I still did my best and tried to practice at a level that was good for me. Two days later my shins are hurting even when the rest of my aches have faded away. They don't hurt much, though; they just feel a bit like I have a bruise on my shins where there is no bruise.

I made an offhand comment to some family and friends and the next thing I heard back it was "Well that's what you get from running and jumping on concrete." and "Shin splints. Yup, definitely shin splints." I'm now being discouraged from going back, but the thing is, I had a fairly good time and got a decent workout. I am not all that in shape and yes I was outclassed, but I feel like, if I don't GO and take place in activities that challenge my body, I won't GET in shape. I'm a bit frustrated because, of course I want to make sure I don't hurt myself, but I also don't like people telling me what I can or can't do, especially with my body, because, well, I know it best, don't I?

Right now, besides the feeling of bruising on my shins where there is none and a nice, manageable ache in my body, I feel fine. There's not any sharp pain anywhere in my body. Right now, I feel like I've been working out pretty healthily.

It's made me wonder though: how do you judge whether or not you are pushing your body too far? How do you tell good, muscle-building workout pain from bad, body-damaging "this is your body saying don't do this" pain?

I think as a general rule, anything that results in immediate sharp/burning pain (different from the lactic acid "burn") is a sign that something is wrong. Also anything that makes you go "ow" and stop mid-activity is likely doing some damage. Of course there are exceptions to this rule (i.e. if you're learning to box, you're going to have to take some shots to the head). Otherwise, what Waldo said. Push your boundaries and see what happens.

[ETFnerd]

elite athletes have problems dealing with this issue... everybody does the best they can... helps if you develop the ability to check compulsive tendencies in your personality...

[thatgirljj]

I'm curious... how active have you been for months previously and did you run on concrete/asphalt regularly before this? And do you typically wear flat shoes or shoes with some sort of heel (including cowboy boots & work boots)?

Honestly though, that type of pain sounds like the kind of thing where you may want to do more active recovery techniques, rather than just bagging the activity completely (especially if it was fun). I'd try again, and see if following up with some foam rolling/tennis ball type "myofascial release" activity on your calves, feet & IT band, possibly also compression socks or leggings and see if that improves the pain or if it's just as bad.

-jj

[TheOxfordComma]

@ Waldo & Scotticus: Ok, yes. That was mostly along the lines of what I was thinking. Thanks for confirming I wasn't way off base with my expectations.

@jdanger: Thank you for the advice about heel walks. I'll work a few of them into my exercise routine today and see if that helps with the shin pain.

@ JJ: I'm basically an exercise newbie; most of what you said in your second paragraph made me go "huh?" and open Google in a new tab. That being said, I would not consider myself very active in the last few months, and while the running I've done to and from campus buildings for classes has been mostly on concrete, asphalt, and brick road, it was mostly done in ballet flats or sneakers with little to no arch support. I'm trying to remedy as many of those habits now as I can, but I recognize that I'm essentially starting off at zero. I would be interested if you could suggest some "active recovery techniques" since I am interested in continuing to go to the parkour club meetings.

[thatgirljj]

OK... well, T-Nation is totally ridonkulous, and I apologize to linking to it (you'll have to explain the weird looking guys to anyone who peeks over your shoulder), but this is a really good intro to the idea behind foam rolling and here's a good article on how to use a tennis ball to get a similar effect. (I would work on a rug if you're using a regular tennis ball, so it won't roll too much.)

Basically, I'm guessing because of the way you describe the pain and how I've had similar pain before, that some of your muscle and the fascia that hold your muscles together may be shortened or have bits of scar tissue and tension that are causing you to be more sore than you need to be after a tough parkour workout. IF doing some self-massage and rolling helps relieve the pain, than it's probably not a "unhealthy challenging" workout, but a sign that you need to do a better job of working some of that stuff out and maybe correcting muscle or posture imbalances. On the other hand if you try parkour again and the pain is worse next time, or takes more time to clear up, or spreads to other areas, then maybe it's pushing yourself too far for your body right now and you need to put in some time to improve your overall conditioning.

And flat shoes are good! The reason I asked is because high heels can cause some of the muscles in your calves to become shortened, tight and uneven, causing exactly that kind of shin pain. I was guessing you were a guy, but as a girl this is even MORE important to know. Flats should be your everyday shoes, if you care about your legs, your hips and your back. Whether you want something with arch support is a personal thing, but say no to heels... except when you're on a hot date.

-jj

[alice-on]

If a workout feels like too much, I just keep doing it for a week or so. If it's good-challenging then my body will get used to it and I will keep doing it. If it's unhealthy, well, my body just keeps feeling more and more like I should just stop and take a break. But I have to be able to discern between feeling lazy and feeling like I'm really doing too much for my body to adjust to. That is my challenge.

If shin splints is the only bad thing you got out of it, then I don't think it's unhealthy-challenging. Just be aware next time of movements that you can feel affecting your shins, if they keep hurting give them some time to heal.

[TheOxfordComma]

Aha, I see, jj. Thanks so much for the recovery tips.