Consciousness In Fitness - A Few Thoughts For The Over 40 Crowd

With a little luck, the older we get the wiser we become. For sure, we remain emotional creatures of lots of crazy habits, but as we age and mature, we do generally try to take advantage of the experience of living and our growth to help us coast thru life more gracefully. At least we hope we do?!

So with the knowledge and experience we have in using our bodies (assuming you are like me and well over 40 years of age) it stands to reason, the older we get the more conscious we are about our fitness regime and program. If you are conscious about your health, the quality of your life and the grace and ease with which you choose to enjoy it, you probably have adopted a lifestyle approach to fitness. It has ceased to be a fad, a “start and stop again” activity, but has become a part of how you simply live your life. That means it is not an afterthought. It is not an activity that needs prioritization. It doesn’t get bumped off the calendar. It is as second nature to you as brushing your teeth, shaving your face or legs, eating and breathing.

If you can raise your hand and admit that this sounds a little like you, then the principles below may not really apply to you. But then again, you may find something you can share with a friend that hasn’t mastered your technique yet. Feel free to read on!

Consciousness in fitness implies the use of the mind to move the muscle and can be applied to cardio, resistance training, a step class or any movement based activity. Sounds like it should be normal, right? Oftentimes, however, it is not. A lot of people simply “show up” in the gym/fitness class and start moving with the intent of burning calories. Yet, when you apply the conscious mind in fitness, you may find it becomes necessary to slow down the movement, control what you are doing to allow recruitment of the correct muscle and cause the action desired to occur. Think about it this way, your mind is stronger and much more powerful than your muscle. Shouldn’t it be leading the exercise program anyway?

These are not new thoughts. I am simply suggesting an application of the Principles of Pilates to strength and resistance training to yield clear consciousness in your fitness programming. A selected few of the principles are: focus, postural stability, breath and control. In the absence of these principles, any fitness regime (class or individual training) becomes simply a series of muscular movements propelled by momentum and a desire to get thru the time slot.

Focusing your attention on the exercise, your goal for the given exercise (e.g., 3 set of 12 reps or 2:1 tempo) and the muscle to be worked; thus, block out all other exte
al distractions. Attention to stability and your postural alignment will cause you to center all your movements from your core or powerhouse. This may require some mental work initially, but with consistent practice, it will be mastered as a subconscious reaction. Attention to your breath and coordinating it with your muscle movement will allow you to “feel and hear” the action of the exercise and help you manage the pace and tempo of your body’s work. Control brings intelligence to the muscular movement such that it is deliberate, smooth, coordinated and void of pure momentum.

Remember, you do not want to “muscle” your way thru the work. As a wise, seasoned, lifestyle fitness practitioner, I know your goal is to integrate your mind’s eye into your muscle’s movement. So, slow down, focus, stabilize, breathe and control each movement.

BTW, if you are under 40, all the same rules still apply!  You don’t have to wait till you get there to try them out. And no matter what your age group, if you would like more information, please don’t hesitate to call or contact me.