Why You Should Give A Damn
She was carrying too much. She didn’t want to make two more trips up and down the stairs with her laundry. She wanted to make one final trip, everything in one basket. Then within a second she felt her foot get caught on a piece of clothing dangling from her overloaded basket. She tried to catch her balance without dropping the basket. God forbid the clothes get hurt. She falls and tears her labrum.
“Hannah, I’m so sorry but I have torn my labrum and I am unable to come in for my sessions with you this week! But I just had to tell you that my doctor told me this fall could have been a lot worse if I hadn’t gained so much upper body strength! So THANK YOU! This isn’t a great situation but because of you it ISN’T worse and now my physical therapy and healing process will go smooth and quick and I’ll be back with you in no time! Thank you, Hannah.”
This, for both of us, was hard to hear but great to hear at the same time.
Majority of people join gyms because they want to lose weight, burn fat, have an event or season they want “look good for;” like summer, a reunion, a vacation or milestone birthday.
Majority of people focus on the aesthetic and how exercise helps them right now.
Majority of my clients don’t tell me they need to work on their balance, hand-eye coordination or their posture.
A good trainer and coach knows that your clients don’t always know what they need. They know what they want which is great but when someone becomes a client of mine they should expect I will also prioritize what they need.
Mary knew she wanted to gain strength. A runner her entire life but she had commitment issues with weight training. “I’ve always incorporated weight training but never felt I got stronger or better. I know how to run. I don’t think I know how to weight train.” Mary was right.
So we began.
This will sound like a ‘if you could tell your younger self anything what would you say’ moment and in essence it is. You shouldn’t wear a helmet after you’ve had a head injury, you shouldn’t train your dog after they have hurt someone, you shouldn’t start drinking water once you're on a IV drip and you shouldn’t start exercise after you have had complications.
Point being you should work on your balance, your flexibility and range of motion, your total body strength and your cardiovascular health right now. Not when you’re 70 because that when you think it matters. If you wait until then it will either be too late or extremely difficult to improve. You don’t allow yourself to get to the point where your body is saying we can’t do this because we are unable.
Between Mary’s mumbled comments of “we’re just using bands?!” Or “bodyweight training is really going to make a difference?!” I reintroduced Mary to her body. I helped connect her mind to her muscles.
“I’VE BEEN DOING THIS ALL WRONG!”
Mary turned to me one day saying this with the most wide eyed look on her face. It had clicked for her in this moment. That all the years she had gone to the gym, used the machines, lifted weights like she had seen everyone there do, she had been doing it poorly.
Over time we added weight, increased the difficulty of her exercises and Mary gained significant strength. The time we spent however in building her base strength and helping her have more awareness in her body was the most important piece.
Incorporating balance and flexibility training into your routine now or if you are just starting, or re-starting, you will find that it helps in all aspects of your daily life right now! You will perform lifts better, you will increase your strength, you will feel confident in your body. When you do get hurt for any reason whether it be fault of your own or not or whether you are 35 or 75 you will recover faster.
Everyone should exercise. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to do the same thing. Group training classes for example are pure torture to some people and to others it is what gives them the greatest motivation.
Everyone should exercise. For the you today and the you tomorrow.