Is it just an exercise in futility?

Have you ever felt like your body was physically stuck? Does it seem you tried everything, and nothing has changed?

Does it all seem like trying is just an exercise in futility?

I can assure you; you are not alone. 

Making changes in your body, especially after any injury (even if you are unsure how you developed it), surgery, accident, etc., is much harder, and success can be achieved.

A client will ask, "Can I do this exercise?". They may have seen or read that it is good for the core or back. They see the fit, strong-looking person in the picture or video appearing to successfully do the exercise and looking great while they do it.

Again you are not alone.  

There is no one best secret exercise. Nor do we recommend believing anyone who tells you that.

Another secret that has come to light to many who work in the exercise industry and clients have shared about themselves is that just because someone 'looks' good does not mean their body feels good. Many of our colleagues are recovered 'workoutaholics' who now know better and treat their bodies better.

Recovery and change are challenging and full of ups, and downs, great days and not-so-great days.  

Here is the key, and it is not sexy.

In the article The Mundanity of Excellence by Daniel Chambliss, who followed amateur and Olympic athletes for several years to see what made them successful, he found:

1. Excellence is a qualitative phenomenon.

2. Talent is a useless concept.

3. Excellence is mundane.

How does that apply to you and your body?

Let's dive into #1 this week.

Sometimes more is just more and not better.   Doing more exercises or repetitions does not guarantee better results. Instead, focus on the quality of each repetition. This will likely equate to fewer reps.

Here are some quality control questions you can ask yourself:

• Are you keeping your joints aligned when moving?
• Are you maintaining your three-dimensional breath with each repetition?
• Are you controlling the resistance through each rep?
• Do you stop the repetition if you are unable to control it?
• Is your last rep as good or better than your first?
• Have you maintained flexibility or become more flexible after an exercise?

If you focus on the quality of exercise over the quantity, you will find that your body feels better over time.  

Get the most out of your time exercising by focusing on quality over quantity.  

If you now wonder about your exercises' quality and how you perform them, reach out. 

We can help.