START AND THEN CONTINUE. THE POWER OF MOVING MORE.
I’ve said it before, but here I go again…. MOVING is
MEDICINE.
I acknowledge the privilege I have of watching people’s
lives change through fitness. I love
that I get to coach and train all levels of fitness levels, and it is amazing
to witness the power of moving more at ALL levels of fitness, from an Ironman
athlete and committed marathon runner to the everyday person trying to stay
healthy, mobile, balanced.
Let me share :
Some of you know I started a “PRIME FITNESS” group and I
just discovered that it was almost exactly 5 years ago that we began
together! The class began as a group of
ladies from my church who wanted a fitness class for I think it was above age
55 or 60 or whatever the age they said.
Of course, this was before COVID, so we all began together, in my
exercise space in my house. We started
very beginner- I got an idea of where people were in their movements, taught
good form and alignment, modifications for wrists/ knees/ shoulders/ hips/
backs (including my own!). And we
progressed. And we progressed. And we progressed. For 5 years, this group has met 1-2x/week for
a 45 min fitness class. Over covid, we
began zoom and kept consistently moving.
I delivered beach balls to their houses to celebrate “summer” of covid
with this fun new little exercise toy.
Everyone has dumbbells, a stability ball, and ankle band, and we now
continue on zoom. This class….
(shhhhhhh… is now ADVANCED). That
doesn’t mean new people cannot begin- I’ve been doing this enough years to make
it work for everyone, for modifications- you just have to have an open mind,
not judge where you are against where someone else may be.
So, let me tell you about NOW. These women.
I do not think they have any idea of how well they move, how fit they
are, how strong they have gotten in 5 years.
They do cardio intervals, they do wall squats, stability ball pushups,
jackknives, side planks, they move nonstop in SUCH challenging ways. (I huff and puff while teaching them). I sometimes just want to stop and smile and
die laughing at AMAZEMENT. THIS IS NOT NORMAL! It is PHENOMENAL. They LUNGE AND TWIST! They lunge, touch the floor then lift up into
a balance on one leg. It sounds like
bootcamp? (ummmm because it IS! Except
the running). I know for a FACT
that they have ALL DONE THINGS THEY DID NOT THINK THEY COULD DO.
How freaking amazing.
We literally sometimes get through the first 15 minutes of a
class and I think- good grief, we have ALREADY DONE SO MUCH! It is my job of course, and also my passion,
but I need to express how IMPORTANT it is to:
REACH OVERHEAD! To TWIST! To side
bend! To balance on one foot! To move the spine (cat cow). To know how to
STABILIZE! To notice where the body is
in space. To lose balance! And then try
again! To move feet quickly! To move
SIDEWAYS. And we do it all. I’m like a mama bear gushing with pride.
And honestly, yes, I plan to always vary the workouts…. To
hopefully keep things moving, fun, different challenges….. BUT THEY ARE
THE ONES WHO SHOW UP. FOR
THEMSELVES. On days when I am SURE they
sometimes really don’t want to! We all
have those days! And they SHOW FREAKING
UP. And we end up connecting, smiling,
doing life together.
The
POWER. Of CONSISTENCY. Making a choice
day after day after week after week and year after year. It has made a change.
This is just like all my groups. I’m SO OVERLY filled with gratitude that I
get to be a part of all of this!
One of my favorite quotes of all times: You get what you train for, not what
you wish for.
Likewise, I was brought to TEARS earlier this week. I was training someone who I have now been
working with for 2 years. Various
situations had hit this person hard mentally and physically during COVID, and
she was in a place that was not healthy.
She couldn’t reach up with her arms easily overhead and get into an
extended position. Sitting fully UPRIGHT
with good posture in a chair wasn’t accessible.
She had a foot injury, so walking was limping, NOTHING WAS GOING
RIGHT. And. Ummmm….. She did NOT want to
exercise. But she knew she had to. AND SO SHE DID. And we are not where we yet are GOING TO BE,
but we are ON OUR WAY! She is now
SHOULDER PRESSING 8# dumbbells overhead.
Squatting with energy and stepping up stairs, doing WALKING LUNGES that
I wasn’t sure would be able to happen yet with her foot, but we have worked
mobility everywhere in her body. And
this week, we got through a first half of yoga sun salutation- moving up and
down, going down to lunging low on the floor, then stepping up BIG and standing
and reaching again. This is NOT A
SMALL THING. This is what she will
need to do if she has grandchildren that she wants to play with and go from the
floor to standing. This is just LIFE. And I cried to be a witness, to be watching STRONG
PEOPLE DO HARD THINGS FOR THEMSELVES.
GOSH.
So. This is why I believe in the power of movement so
FIERCELY. I SEE the difference it
makes. I see the difference that I have
been able to manage my back pain for the past few years by working core to keep
my spine stabilized. That people
are being in their bodies with awareness, being brave and trying new things,
showing up to something that is UNKNOWN! I mean--- I GET that when you work with me,
you show up OPEN to whatever I have up my sleeve!!! YIKES! That’s brave,
right?! And you just DO WHAT YOU CAN …. And sometimes a bit more. And that is the magic.
It’s really pretty cool.
