Mental Toughness Always Happens Outside the Comfort Zone
To Achieve Anything, You Have to Get Outside of the Comfort Zone
(and get comfortable being uncomfortable)
Our brain has one job if you really think about it. Keep us from hurting ourselves and surviving. Discomfort is, unfortunately, the way to build mental toughness; however, our brains tend to have the first say in whether we push through thoughts of staying comfortable, safe, and pain-free.
It's a common internal struggle: is your body truly giving out and needs rest, or is your brain shielding you from discomfort? Learning to tell physical fatigue from mental resistance is a skill that even top athletes need to sharpen regularly.
Here is a question I answered on a recent LIVE QA on YouTube: (click)
Here is how to tell the difference and decide whether to push through, pivot, or rest.
The "10-Minute" Rule (Give the Warmup a Try)
The most reliable way to know the difference is to simply start. Commit to a 10-minute warm-up at a low intensity. I make it to the workout and let the warmup decide for me. Usually (9/10), the warmup wakes me up, clears the fog in my brain, and loosens my body for training. However, there are days when I know I should pull back (fatigue, muscle-heavy, elevated heart rate, pain). I have made this mistake of pushing through many times to either eventually break (injury) or push myself to illness and inevitable rest and recovery. Try this:
- If it’s Mental: Once the blood starts pumping and the endorphins kick in, the "fog" usually lifts. You’ll find your rhythm and realize your body was ready all along.
- If it’s Physical: After 10 minutes, you still feel "heavy," your joints feel stiff, or your heart rate is unusually high for a low effort. This is a clear signal from your central nervous system to back off.
Physical Fatigue vs. Mental Resistance
Save this list of symptoms of over-training. This may help you audit your current state. Consider rest if the physical fatigue is real.
When training hard, especially those preparing for a Special Ops level selection program in their future, multiple challenging workouts in a week always require a strict recovery regimen. That means your sleep, nutrition for fuel, nutrition for recovery, electrolytes / hydration, recovery days, and a smart balance of training using split routines that allow for muscle group recovery ALL have to be in perfect alignment. When any of those get neglected, you will start to see the signs of over-training or under-recovery start to show themselves, usually as lack of energy to train and decreased performance. But there are many more symptoms when you need to pull the reins on yourself and simply follow the axiom - LESS IS MORE. Here are some of them:
NOTE: Beginners are susceptible to these over-training symptoms too as it is easy to do too much, too soon, too fast when getting started.
Call it over-training, under-recovery, but it really just over-stressed. When your workouts start to negatively affect your mood, it has entered the central nervous system and is becoming a chronic form of stress. Not only is a rest day needed, but maybe several. That means reducing weight lifted, calisthenics reps, miles run, intensity of all workouts, and purely focus on all of the recovery mentioned above. Do a de-load day or two (mobility day), and you will see your performance come back, and you may even reach new personal records.
The Decision Matrix
Once you’ve identified the type of fatigue, use this guide to make the call:
- Mentally Drained, Physically Fresh: TRAIN. In fact, a moderate workout is often the cure for mental fatigue. It acts as a "reset" for your brain and lowers cortisol levels.
- Physically Sore, Mentally Driven: PIVOT. This is the danger zone for injury. Don't do the heavy lifting or the sprint session. Switch to "Active Recovery"—walking, mobility work, or very light technique drills.
- Both Mentally and Physically Exhausted: REST. If you push here, you aren't "building character"; you are digging a hole for overtraining syndrome and suppressed immunity.
Know Your "Resting Heart Rate" and Grip Strength - If you have a smartwatch or a way to check your pulse in the morning, use it. A resting heart rate that is significantly higher than your average is the most objective "data point" that your body is still recovering from previous stress.
Grip strength using a dynometer - Squeeze a baseline hydraulic hand dynamometer to measure grip strength, measured in pounds per square inch (PSI). If you see a decrease is normal grip strength, you could be over-training.
Resilience and Durability: These traits involve more than just handling a single day's training decision. It’s about adapting positively to adversity and learning from each experience, becoming stronger on the other side. Resilient individuals demonstrate flexibility in their thinking and actions, using failures as learning experiences (not failures) for personal and professional growth. Their ability to maintain optimism and persistence even in the face of repeated challenges sets them apart. It is a mindset, a Never Quit Mindset.
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