Where to Start
Do you know where your body is right now?
Do you know where your body is right now?
Step One: Pain, Posture, Proprioception, and the Pelvic Floor
One of the most common issues people have with getting fit is where to begin and how to progress. Between Instagram and the rest of the internet, there are infinite workouts to choose from. So why can’t we commit to getting fit?
One challenge is that when most people think of exercise, they think there’s not a lot to it. Then they try to exercise, and oooh boy – the defeat kicks in quick. What’s good for my body? Is this the proper form? How many should I do? How often? Do I have to do 10 leg exercises in one day, or can I mix it up? Just lift the heaviest weight you can and go, right?
Most people I meet have an aversion to exercise because they go about it all wrong. They don’t know how to do it properly, they haven’t found what works for them, or how to properly progress from novice to mastery. Exercise shouldn’t be miserable. It’s kind of like vegetables—if you were force fed bland, boiled, canned vegetables “because it’s good for you,” I totally understand your aversion today. Then you go lifetime writing off broccoli because they haven’t had it oven roasted with a sprinkle of parm and lemon. I don’t blame you. But I am here to correct you, and offer a more appetizing way to get fit.
While my program focuses on factors beyond diet and exercise that influence total wellbeing, let’s take a look merely at exercise for the moment as it’s where we begin, and breakdown the primer on what everyone might want to think about before starting a workout routine.
Pain. We begin by addressing pain points in the body because pain is the body’s means of communicating to us that we are doing something it doesn’t like. Working out through pain, or “pushing through” pain is ill advised as there is often a muscular imbalance or structural issue occurring. And yes, I have to say these things to people. “Pushing through” pain will only work to exacerbate the issue, causing unnecessary wear and tear on the body that may eventually be irreparable, or at the very least, will only serve to lengthen your recovery time. Sometimes merely a few weeks of simple corrective exercises can alleviate nagging, chronic pain. And when that issue is addressed and corrected, your body and joints are more stable and better able to handle load.
Posture. This one is a bit tricky. While it’s important to straighten and align the body before placing it under load, I’m also not looking for people to walk around like they have a 2x4 stuck to their back all day long. Our spines are meant to be mobile, and our bodies should be able to handle a slouched position at times, just as they should be able to handle more erect positions. Certain postural deviations are also likely to cause pain in the future if not corrected, even if that posture isn’t causing pain now. When one hip is higher than the other, or the pelvis is rotated, or the feet regularly fall into pronation, that person will likely experience back, hip, or knee pain at some point, if they aren’t already. Think of the human body like any architectural structure: a well-designed building with sound structural integrity will be able to hold more load and withstand forces acting against it. If the pelvis is twisted, one shoulder is higher than the other, or one glute stronger than it’s counterpart, that body will likely not be able to adequately withstand forces applied to it like a body that has balanced strength. We don’t need to be perfect, but from what I understand, a generally solid foundation is a prerequisite for both skyscrapers and strongmen.
Proprioception. Do you know where your body is? How about your left big toe, right now? Shoulders- are they elevating towards your ears, or down “in the pockets’? The sooner you know where your body is in space, and how to move various parts of your body at will (and perhaps in different directions simultaneously), that more efficient your body will be. And with efficiency comes a return. When you train your brain to know where your body is and how to move it, your body begins to move efficiently, without you having to remind it to do so. It just… happens. When form, mechanics, and awareness get ingrained in your brain, day to day activities become easier. Our bodies crave efficiency, but we have to teach it what that looks like. After some training, you’ll notice your shoulders automatically stay down, and that foot that’s always a little wonky and turned out? Well that doesn’t happen anymore either. The knee that used to buckle just seemingly knows it’s place now. Awareness of what the body is doing as we exercise helps us become efficient at any kind of moving, making us stronger, faster.
Pelvic Floor. And lastly, but possibly most importantly, training begins with the pelvic floor. This is the ground floor of the building. You literally have to have it. The pelvic floor is the foundation the rest of the body relies on. I rarely see core training that includes pelvic floor awareness or training. As more women get into the fitness field, I hope this issue gets highlighted more. Deep core training is made a thousand times easier when you begin with the pelvic floor. And strength training is reliant on deep core musculature. Doing this training first makes the most sense, but almost every fitness enthusiast misses this. Most women, especially after kids, lose the ability to feel, engage, and control these muscles, and it gets written off as “normal”. Just because something is common doesn’t mean it’s normal. There are things that can—and should—be done, as it can cause myriad other issues unrelated to strength training. I love working with someone who has worked out on their own for months or years, taking them through a couple weeks of deep core training, then watching their eyes light up at the seemingly rapid progress they make. Core stability is not running, it is a non-negotiable first step in my training program. It leads to significantly faster results, and yields a much better return on strength. And yes, men, you also have a pelvic floor, and it’s important you also learn how to engage it.
That’s the snapshot of the first couple weeks. You likely won’t sweat. You definitely won’t feel like you’re dying. You won’t be out of breath. But I guarantee that after a couple sessions, you’ll start to notice your muscles working for you, and your body moving better and more efficiently. And the easier it is to move, the more likely you’ll do it, and the more you do it, the faster you’ll see results. And that’s why you’re here, right? To get to your goals as easily and efficiently as possible? It doesn’t have to be so hard. Train smart.