Recently I taught a workshop about the importance of maintaining good mobility in the body as a form of injury prevention and general personal fitness. My passion for this topic is enormous and grows by the day. As a wellness consultant and Pilates’ studio owner I assist injured clients on regular basis, and year after year the numbers steadily increase.
The mobility workshop participants included highly trained dancers, injured cyclist, 70-year young woman and numerous other individuals with varying fitness levels and injury problems. The mobility training allowed each person to utilize, move and actively “mobilize” diverse joints in the body, within their own physical limitations. Each gained benefits and expressed pleasure in how they could apply this to their own exercise routine as a means of improved functional movement.
Maintaining mobility is just one element in a total body-conditioning program. However, as I mentioned at the start of this blog, I continue to see ever increasing numbers of injured persons many of whom are young adults. I believe this is partially due to a strange phenomenon of what I call exercise regimes that “trash” the body. What the heck do I mean by that?
I’m talking about exercise so strenuous that you can hardly walk the next day. Exercise regimes designed to put unnecessary amounts of strain and stress on the body, physically and mentally. Exercise programs primarily intended for Olympic contenders or professional athletes, however often guided by unprofessional trainers.
Certainly as a former gymnast and professional dancer I have had my share of aches and pains related to training. However, this was done primarily due to my “profession” and not as a cause of a recreational event. I believe we have turned exercise into a “survival of the fittest” competition. I see a need to return to fitness as a cause for increasing energy, promoting healthy exercise in achievable habits and thereby minimizing our risks of getting injured. What I call “rational fitness.”
I believe we have to get beyond a notion that exercise is about trashing the body and back to a more normal sense of what it takes to keep a body physically active. Certainly one could say our sedentary lives do not positively support healthy physical bodies. However, this alone is not the sole culprit. It contributes yes, but other factors are also feeding a frenzy of injured and physically compromised bodies, even those of a young age.
A true physical fitness program, in my opinion, is exercise that allows you to maintain your body in order to enjoy all daily activities with energy and ease. It supports your lifestyle, age and movement requirements consistently with minimal risk of injury. It is not an exercise in how much damage one can do to the body.
Beyond trashing the body in fitness here are a few additional elements I feel contribute to the problem. I believe these components acerbate fear and encourage exclusion. This ultimately leads to a growing number of fitness related injuries and a later in life disinterest in beneficial exercise.
1) National obsession with all or nothing when it comes to working out
2) Push towards larger numbers of competitive events for untrained individuals to participate in such as walkathons, marathons and triathlons etc.
3) Attitude and acceptance that a workout must “trash” your body, meaning if you can not walk the next day your training is inadequate
4) Glorification of individuals who push themselves to extremes either in fitness training or related weight loss programs, think “Biggest Loser”
5) Attitude that “fit” constitutes one or more of the following components, skinny model type body, six-pack abs, body builder muscles, warrior type conditioning for both men & women
6) Reluctance to accept that as one ages you need to train smarter not more
7) Willingness to pay for costly medical procedures to change your body but not invest in a basic level of fitness
8) Increasing number of serious injuries from so-called recreational fitness programs like Cross-Fit that promote competitive training techniques that involve dangerous moves like Olympic snatches, power lifting, fast and furious timed competitions with heavy weights, etc.
I understand change is challenging. I also believe if unchecked complacency prevails.
What can I do?
Begin with a quick assessment of your current program, such as below.
- Does it take you days to recover?
- Is it enhancing the rest of your life?
- Do you have energy to put towards your friends, family & work?
- Are you moving more efficiently with better posture?
- How frequently do you get injured? Do colleagues get injured?
- Do you see results in terms of total body stature (not just bigger biceps)?
- Would this program help you age gracefully and with minimal injury risk?
If you feel good about all of the above then carry on! If not start experimenting with new exercise modalities that focus on total body enhancement. Search for programs that include core strength, proper alignment, good posture and technique emphasis, with minimal risk of injury. Movement is an essential part of healthy living. Make it productive not destructive.
“There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction”
Winston Churchill
