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Ep 380: “When I Start Exercising, My Fatigue & Pain Will Only Get Worse”

A Better Way with Kersten Kimura

Release Date: 03/14/2025

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Episode 380

 

 
In today’s episode, I want to discuss a common belief that people with neuroplastic problems, such as chronic pain, fatigue or anxiety often have, which is this: 
 
“When I move my body, I end up WORSE than before.”
 
I was inspired to record this episode after a conversation that I had with my client who worked with me for a little over 6 months. Previously, she had had years of chronic sensations. When she contacted me for strength training, she had already gotten better using different modalities, but still had some symptoms and she had never strength trained. 
 
When I asked her what had kept her from starting strength training sooner, she didn’t need much time to think: It was the fear that her symptoms will get worse when she starts working out which of course means spending more energy that she didn’t have a ton of to begin with. 
 
That’s totally understandable, because if your body is in pain, you have intense fatigue or you suffer from anxiety, you want to do whatever it takes to make sure these things don’t get worse. 
 
So, you too may be telling yourself things like:
 
What if I start to work out and my pain gets so bad that I can’t get up from bed anymore? 
 
What if I start to work out and my fatigue gets so intense that I can’t even make myself dinner? 
 
What if I start to work out and my anxiety gets so bad that I can’t leave my house anymore? 
 
I’ve heard similar fears from many people. But the interesting thing is when they started exercising, in many cases they actually had more energy, pain went down and anxiety reduced. 
 
And the same was true for my client as well. 
 
She didn’t get worse, she got better
Her symptoms and sensations actually went down. 
Sure, sometimes she would get a symptom during her workout, and then she told herself that she is perfectly fine and there’s nothing wrong with what she is doing
By now, she has lifted weights for 6+months!
 
She said that at first she didn’t believe she could do it. Until she DID.
She said also her husband couldn’t believe that she can do it. Yet, she DID.
She said that she didn’t believe that she could work out 2-3 times a week almost every week since we started in March last year. She has DONE it. 
She didn’t think that she could be much stronger — she started with 10 lbs dumbbells, and the other day she accidentally (because she did the math wrong on her adjustable dumbbells!) lifted 60 lbs. Yes, she DID that!
 
So, her fears didn’t come true. She didn’t get worse; she got better in countless ways!!
And this is possible for you too!
 
LAST 4 DAYS to use the discounted rate and sign up to work with me 1:1 and get individualized coaching: https://kerstenkimura.lpages.co/strength-training-2-months/
 
Check out this episode: 3 Life Changing Truths About Strength Training https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCeuHMWX34w&t=272s
 
You can apply whether or not you have chronic symptoms!
 
Check out my FREE 14-day course Strong + Sensitive, meant for Highly Sensitive People and people with TMS: https://kerstenkimura.lpages.co/ss-14-day-course/
This course combines mindset tools + FREE strength training workouts!
 
Emotionally Fit is my new emotional healing program for chronic pain or other chronic symptom recovery. You can find it here: https://kersten-kimura.teachable.com/p/emotionally-fit
 
If you are looking for a safe and effective, BEGINNER level strength training program, check out my brand new Train to Build STARTER: https://kersten-kimura.teachable.com/p/train-to-build-starter
 
For an INTERMEDIATE level strength training program, check out Train to Build: https://kersten-kimura.teachable.com/p/train-to-build
 
Connect with me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taara_wisdom/
 
 
 
Check out my website: https://kerstenkimura.com/