R&R Fitness Week 3: Listen to your body - it has a voice too

R&R Fitness Week 3: Listen to your body - it has a voice too

January 18, 2019 Jennifer McCamish

In this third week of the R&R Challenge we are focusing our efforts across the board on listening to our bodies. Our minds love to be in charge, but the body speaks to us all the time when it comes to fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness. Allow yourself to hear it and learn from it.

Take it from me (an ex-professional dancer) where pain was part of the game. It took several injuries for me to realize how to listen to my body and work with its specific needs:

Stick with the types of exercise I enjoyed and felt best in my body.
It’s ok to modify, I don’t have to push 110% ALL of the time.
Do not work through pain.
Taking a day off or participating in a lower level class is not shameful. In fact, these realizations helped me stay at the top of my game.

Whether you are a fitness buff or a fitness newbie, it is completely normal for your body to fluctuate in how it feels during your workout from day to day. What felt easy one day may feel extraordinarily difficult the next. This could be due to lack of sleep, stress, not eating appropriately, muscle fatigue and on and on. This is when we need to listen to our bodies and give it what it is asking for. The more you cultivate this relationship, the more you understand how to fuel it for longevity.

Here are a few suggestion to apply to your fitness routine to get the most out of your daily classes or exercise of choice.

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1. If your Shape class feels extra difficult one day, then take those “shake breaks" or "modification” the instructor always encourages. Don’t let a break or a beginner modification define the amount of effort you are exerting. In fact, taking a break or modification can allow you to finish the sequence with correct form and build better strength vs. powering through a sequence with sloppy form which typically leads to injury.

2. If something feels off during class, then ask the instructor what you can do instead. No two bodies are alike which means there may be an exercise we do that does not work for you. No worries, this is our specialty - modifying so that you can participate - pre & post natal, pre & post surgical, seniors, athletes. Instructors are always available before and after classes as well as for private appointments. Or if you have significant pain where you think you might be injured, then we suggest booking an appointment with our on staff Physical Therapist, Dr. Toussaint Biondi.

3. Allow yourself a rest day. This could mean taking a full day off from exercise, taking a leisure walk, or attending our Recovery or Restorative class instead of a more intense class like Spin or Shape. We specifically designed the Recovery class for a “rest day” to help your muscles recover, refresh, and release.

Let us know how you listened to your body and how you felt when you adjusted movement. Sharing is the best part of this journey!