How do you differentiate normal exercise fatigue from psychosomatic pain?

[selenium17]

I like exercising but for around 3 years have not done it much because when I do my muscles tend to stay sore long enough that it’s hard to keep a regular schedule (I could try spacing workouts farther apart but if I’m not doing something everyday the habit falls apart). I’m beginning to suspect that this is partially or fully psychosomatic with the first case being that my perception of exercise is making my recovery slow or that all the fatigue is just psychosomatic.

I can’t really tell though and as such err on the side of balance with what feels ok (which is just very basic calisthenics for 10m a day and some reasonable amount of walking). I don’t know how to push it because I can’t actually tell what the boundary is and I’m not sure how to figure this out.

Any advice?

 

[JanAtheCPA]

Hi @selenium17 and welcome.

This is a good question which is hard to answer. When I discovered this work and recovered from a crisis of mindbody symptoms at a pretty advanced age (60) I had been working with a personal trainer for a year, with a goal of pushing myself, without hurting myself. I was active all my life, but this was the first time I'd actually gone to a gym and worked on a specific program of building muscles and challenging myself, so I felt that a trainer was the only way I was going to achieve anything - and I was right. Continuing to work with her as I was experiencing severe symptoms in 2010, and then recovering late in 2011 thanks to this work, was awesome, and really took me to a level of fitness I'd never experienced.

I'm going to assume you're a lot younger than I was but my advice is the same: find a properly qualified experienced trainer. They will have seen it all, including psychosomatic pain, and they'll be able to help you figure that out and push on through.

Also, if you haven't read one of Dr Sarno's books, now is the time to do that, and you might also consider doing our free Structured Educational Program which is on the main site at TMSwiki.org