Then one day my hip started to hurt. But being a creature of habit who took pride in her self-discipline, I pushed through it. The next day it was still there. Over time it got worse as I limped through the beginning of my runs. Finally I was limping all the time, so I gave in and shuffled over to the university medical center. One X-ray later and I was on bedrest with a stress fracture in the neck of my femur. Further bone scans showed I had two additional stress fractures in my other femur. I had to take my exams from a hospital bed since I was not allowed to walk for two weeks. My most vivid memory of that hospital stay was trying to go to the bathroom in a bedpan!I learned a lesson at 21 years old. Doing the same thing every day can actually be detrimental to your health and your fitness. Athletes are especially at risk of “Workout OCD” because we tend to be both driven and methodical, often relying heavily on numbers and technology. Think about how crazy it would be to stop your 6K run at the 5.9K mark? Oh, the terror! This is something I’ve actually forced myself to do, just to prove I can!
After my university swimming (and ill-fated off-season running) career ended, I gravitated to the sport of triathlon, which in itself is the definition of cross-training. While triathlon has its own pitfalls, the cross-training benefits are incredible, especially when you look at the 60-to-64-age group on the podium. They all look 40 as they leap up on the stage as if they hadn’t just finished an Ironman.
The benefits of cross-training are endless. Switching it up helps prevent overuse injuries, builds new muscles (especially important as we get older), helps break through weight-loss plateaus, and improves your social life among other awesome things!
I am writing an upcoming three-part series about cross-training focused on three fairly accessible activities: hiking/walking, cycling, and metabolic training (aka high-intensity interval training). Stay tuned!
