Movement Over Fitness
The act of “working out” is not always an easy habit for people to find consistency. I am absolutely one of those people. My husband can hit the gym or go to our garage to workout without hesitation. I, on the other hand, can find any excuse under the sun to not.
This is something I had to begin working through, and I am still in the process of doing so. With that, I am going to start this by giving three definitions:
Fitness: the condition of being physically fit and healthy.
Movement: a change or development.
Exercise: activity requiring physical effort, carried out to sustain or improve health and fitness.
Definition number one: physically fit. Definition number three: requiring physical effort plus it adds fitness (again, physically fit). To me, that was a lot of pressure. Working out with the expectation that externally there needed to be visible change seemed impossible. Some days the task of putting forth even more physical effort when I was already tired, was not something I was willing to do. I was in a state of being physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. Being physically fit was not on my radar, which means the idea of working out wasn’t something that seemed like a priority.
Working out was a task. Working out was something I “had” to do if I was going to reach my physical (external) goals. When I didn’t see those results in a short amount of time, I felt defeated and broken. When I focused on the physically fit part and only worked out to look a certain way, consistency was not going to happen.
Movement: a change or development. When I gave myself the encouragement to simply move my body during the day, the act of working out did not seem as daunting. When I began to view movement as a way to change the way I was feeling, or develop a more positive approach to my day, it was much more appealing. Put the two together, and the whole consistency thing was something I craved. Movement became my way to FEEL better without zero thought towards LOOKING better.
To add, I always had the assumption that if I was going to see physical changes to my body, I had to do these crazy workouts. I had to push myself at the gym, in a class, running as far as I could. I felt forced into doing something I didn’t enjoy. This also made me go way too hard right away and my body suffered from being sore, which dissolved any hope at being consistent.
Here is what has helped me:
I move my body based on how I am feeling. I go for a walk, a yoga class, a run, a hike, a swim, run around with my kiddos, roll out a mat and stretch my body. I dread super intense workout classes, I don’t enjoy myself. I had to start telling myself that if I was going to be even slightly consistent, I had to do it in a way that I enjoyed. Some days I take a slow and steady approach to my movement. Some days I have more energy and I am able to push myself a little more with ease.
I patiently meet my body where it is at. Every day is different. Especially if you’re a female, your cycle has a lovely way of changing things up. I work hard to give myself grace. I am also in a season of life where consistency is hard (the schedule of three tiny humans), I may not be exactly where I’d like to be and I am not able to give the amount of time I’d like to, however, I am proud of what my body can do right now. I release any expectation of how “hard” I can go in a workout.
I am willing to try new approaches. I have movement practices I enjoy doing, yet I have new goals. My energy levels are at a better place that I’m ready to focus on making myself stronger. I want to get faster with running and I want to keep up with my very active children. Going and lifting weights multiple times a week is something I have zero interest in. I have recently started doing more functional movement (thanks to my chiropractor husband) and I love it. It’s quick, it’s effective, and I don’t feel like I got hit by a bus the remainder of the day. It makes movement a lot more enjoyable when I go at my own pace and I bring in new practices that I don’t dread.
I value the benefit. It becomes much easier to get myself moving when I know what will follow. I no longer move my body as a way to LOOK better, my intention is to FEEL better. On the days that I feel anxious, irritable, tired, I know that I can create momentum in a more positive direction when I intentionally move my body to get energy flowing.
I do NOT attach my movement to my food intake. Gone are the days where I eat crappy foods because “I worked out today”. Gone are the days that I choose to not eat something because “I didn’t workout today”. Movement is to FEEL my best. Eating is to FEEL my best. And that is the only way those two things intertwine.
Ask yourself this (as a way to bring awareness, not to guilt or shame), what is your movement practice? Why do you move your body? Where can you make slight tweaks or small pivots to adjust your approach towards movement? What could you do that you would actually somewhat enjoy? What movement practice would help you FEEL your best? What movement practice is realistic for your season of life?
