Not Every Exercise is for You
It’s true. Our bodies are all built differently. Yes we have two eyes, ears, arms, legs, and a nose. And a butt, BUT! Not only are men’s bodies very different from women’s, we are also individually put together differently. For example, we all have a hip socket, hip joint, and neck of the femur, but mine is different from yours in size, shape, and location. And we have two, and even they can be different from each other. So having a one size fits all exercise is a tall order. I want to be clear that I am referring to exercise, not sports. Sports come with passion and injuries, and sports people will push no matter what it takes. They need to, until they can’t. I have some clients in PT so they can still play their sports, but they are also not playing in fear of an injury. That is important! Exercise is a fearless exploration and we need to be confident and brave on that path. In the other direction, I had a client who had to overcome her fear of movement, which puts the body in severe stress.
There is a point to exercise: to be hard and challenging. Pushing our bodies is how we create change in the body. For more details, you can reread the Part 1 and Part 2 of the Seven Laws of Fitness. But when do you know an exercise is not great for you? How do you know if pain is good or bad? When can we really push or is the ego pushing us too much? The best answer to those questions is to become in tune with your body.
Space and Boundaries
Firmly commit to days of exercise, rest days, and figure it out. You are the owner, so take that ownership. A trainer can usually help with sorting the good from the bad exercises and troubleshoot, but it’s really important to develop and rely on your own instincts. Trial and error will let you know what your body can and can’t do. I mention good pain and bad pain, which are quite loaded words. I have had clients say something was painful, when it was really just a stretch, but that can be considered a good “pain”. Something that shoots down your leg is a bad pain and can signal a nerve is being trapped. Pain can be widely interpreted, but pain is not always bad. It takes fine tuning inward to figure out the difference. Progression is also important, make sure you take the time to improve on exercises in small, manageable steps. You can’t take an advanced class if you are a beginner. Same with an advanced exercise. Start with something simple, and layer on the progressive challenges as you get stronger. Being able to push the body to it’s edges is important in order to define its space, but boundaries as well. Those boundaries come in forms of injuries, age, structure, genetics, and fear - but there are so many ways to work around to find what you can do well, joyfully, and for the most part, pain free. That requires giving up some exercise that isn't made for you. Or exercises you could do in the past that don't serve you anymore. Our bodies are dynamic and constantly changing, so should our movement.
In Pilates, I have seen limitations in every exercise. Maybe someone has a short torso and long legs and the teaser has lost its proportional balance. Or exercises that invert the body, like roll over or tree on the reformer, will create dizziness if someone’s blood pressure is too low. I secretly want to be a runner, but not only do my injuries prevent that, my body just doesn't like it. I tried adding sprinting up hills for more cardio on my daily walks. Nice try Paula, my body stated, but we don’t do that. I don’t fight it, I just accept that because there are so many other things it CAN do and do well.
Find the Positive
So what can your body do? It’s good to make a list because we don’t want to emphasize the lack, but be proud of the abundance. Exercise is not meant to be punishing or painful. Whatever exercises you choose should bring joy, a healthy challenge, and should make you feel amazing...or at least, feel amazing when you're finished!