By Sheri LeClair Banitt
I hurt my back the end of March and stopped going to the gym while I recovered. After a trip to the doctor, consulting with a physical therapist and ongoing adjustments with a chiropractor, I am strong enough to get back to the gym. I was worried about the conditioning I might have lost after all the weeks of inactivity. I didn’t need to worry. My body remembered me. In fact, my body has been trying to love me for a long time, and my mind has been quarreling about it.
Somewhere along the way, my mind and body stopped working together in harmony and love. I’m not sure the exact moment or the exact thing that tipped the scale, but a few life transitions made it possible; loss of a spouse, loss of a career, smaller social circle, financial decisions, exhaustion and self-doubt.
Today, I became my own advocate and cheerleader as I headed to the gym and did my first workout in many weeks. My workout was fresh and new and my expectations were different. Though I was tempted to take up where I left off, I know that my needs are not what I thought they were many months ago when I began my fitness journey.
Though I am very driven to achieve more and do better, I realize that at this time in my life more and better are softer, slower and deeper than just “running the race”. My workouts now will be at a pre-determined baseline that I can achieve on good days and bad days. I will add to the baseline as I go to ensure I can do a minimum workout each day – and I will add in pre-determined increments on the good days. I think this will help me stay active and avoid the pressure of the perfection trap. That is when I try to do more than I am ready for and rather than finding inspiration, I find the childhood voice that says, “You can’t do this, it’s not worth trying”.
My workout today, was 40 minutes of successful movement. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t too hard. I started with arm strength training and squats holding weight and progressed to the yoga mat where I did core stretching and exercise for 20 minutes with a guided app from my physical therapy provider. I finished the workout on the treadmill with fast walking for ten minutes.
So, I’m back in the saddle and looking forward to many more days of joyful movement. I love that spring is quickly moving into summer and I can spend time outside and in the pool. I’m going to trust my own plan and measure success when I have balance between nutrition, movement, sleep, socializing, and stress management.
