02/12/2021
Little known fact about me: I have exercise induced asthma!
Basically, when my heart rate gets too high too fast, my lungs start to close up. This means I stay away from most high impact cardio and don’t do 1-rep maxes.
While I was getting my degree in Kinesiology and studying for my PT certification exam, some people questioned my choice because how can a person with a limiting physiological condition make a whole career in exercise??
For a while, I would even limit my own self in my thoughts and actions. I would stay away from cardio full-stop. I wasn’t actually progressively overloading my muscles when lifting. I ended up not really challenging myself at all.
Eventually I got frustrated by not making progress and realized how much I had been unnecessarily self-limiting. Now I do low-impact cardio that I really enjoy (walking my dog, hiking) and am stronger than I ever was, lifting much heavier (within a range my lungs can handle) and feeling good.
Our limitations don’t have to dictate our outcome. Yes, sometimes we have to make necessary modifications, but it’s important that we challenge our thoughts and beliefs about our capabilities because usually, we are capable of so much more than we perceive.