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How to face the different types of exhaustion

In this article, we are going to explain how to be able to train even when we have not yet developed sufficient discipline (read Having discipline: do not contradict ourselves).

Not all states of exhaustion are similar.

To understand how to succeed in our workout goals we must first understand what stops us from starting and / or continuing our training sessions:

Physical exhaustion – We did activities that have concretely consumed the resources of our body (sports, work, etc.)
Mental exhaustion – We feel exhausted / weak even if we did not do special physical activities (this can be caused by sadness, anxiety, anger, poor digestion, etc.)
Projected fatigue – We are (consciously or unconsciously) frightened by the idea of addressing an effort that will test us (make us sweat, expose us to risk, etc.)
Fatigue caused by illnesses – This is normally linked to a poor state of general health (eg. a headache) or localized in a specific area of the body (eg. sprains)

In martial terms and particular in 6 Dragons Kung Fu, these lack of will or physical deficiency can be summed up in the concept of Qi deficiency (read The use of Qi in the 6DKF’s meaning).

How to overcome what does not allow us to train

So let’s see how to solve the physical and / or psychological problems listed above (where we can and where it makes sense to do so):

Real physical exhaustion – Against the real physical fatigue we cannot do anything if we struggled so much to not being able to stand up, it is absurd to think about starting a martial exercise; at best we can do some stretching (read How to correctly perform stretching) or execute a 6DKF’s form in a light way; insisting we risk to cause us a damage or worse to accustom our bodies to poor performances (very bad); in this case, the error is in the intensity of the past training sessions, we cannot ask our body more than what it can give, a long-lasting training path is made of patience (read Patience) and graduality (read How to train safely)
Partial physical exhaustion – If instead, we are only slightly tired, we can start with mild / light exercise and continuing to grow gradually (with the idea of a spontaneous body conditioning to the workout); the important thing is to start, to do not skip any appointment with workout; we can start with a delicate static stretching, pass to dynamic stretching and finally practice the real exercises (choosing them and adapting their execution to the level of performance that we can express, read Intensity of training: depends on what?)
Mental exhaustion – If we feel exhausted but we have not made any particular physical effort (the most common case, especially for beginners), we can use external tools (sensorial stimuli, etc.) and / or small tricks (read Fighting and mind control: the anchors) to reactivate the motivation within us; in a few words we have to choose the most adapt stimulations to change our state of mind, they can be visual (film, videos, etc.), auditory (music, podcast, etc., read Workout music: how, when, why), etc.

A note by Master Kongling – The biggest difficulty s to overcome the first 2 years and the 2 daily hours of training, after that training start to become a physiological need of our life, like eating, drinking, (etc.): we suffer if we cannot train.

How to solve the problem at the root

A note by Master Kongling – Grandmaster Fung Yip Ko told me so many times that cunning people adjust the problems improvising at the last moment but intelligent people prevent them from arising.

There are several ways to create a good disposition to practice and, in this case, to “heal” our Qi deficiency (if we want to talk in these terms) but the one that we want to analyze is one of the most effective and lasting (before the pure self-discipline).

To be able to effectively train every day, we must “simply” pay attention to every aspect of our daily lives:

Take care of what and how much we eat / drink (read Qi and proper nutrition)
Take care of what and how much we are in contact with bad substances (smoke, drugs, alcohol, polluting substances, smog, etc. read for example How to stop smoking)
Take care of our mind (actions, reactions, sensations, etc., read Meditation method 1 and for example Revenge and resentment, knives taken from the blade side)
Take care of our bodily functions (read for example The correct position for defecation)
Take care of our overall health (with periodical controls, etc.)
Take care of our social relationships (work, family, feelings, etc.)
…

Everything is cyclically connected

We have to consider that:

Just as sometimes it is the body that sustains the mind and sometimes it is the mind that sustains the body
In the same way, training sometimes helps everyday life (eg. producing serotonin), sometimes is the life of every day to give us the strength to face a constantly growing effort (read How to start practicing 6DKF)

If we are sportsmen or martial arts practitioners, when these 2 aspects are working together, we are projected in a positive spiral that influences everything:

Happiness / tranquility
Work / school results
Social / personal relations
Health / wellness
Martial performances (read Achieve maximum performance)
…

In-depth articles

Resume training after a period of inactivity – A few tips about how to restart training after an interruption
Motivate ourselves – What distinguishes an amateur from a real martial arts practitioner

Questions

Reply in the comments and share your experience:

How long have you been training?

Author: Master Kongling

Founder of 6 Dragons Kung Fu.

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