I exercise intuitively.

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I instinctively crave play-filled fitness.

I became an intuitive eater long before I tapped into the notion of intuitive exercise.

For some reason I was able to trust my body’s “knowing” with regards to food, yet was slow on the proverbial uptake with heeding its messaging about movement.

I created a workout plan. I followed said plain. Period.

I’d fallen in love. I never wanted to deviate from my plan to spend time with that love.

I felt strong and powerful when resistance training.

I ignored my body’s many cues to back off  and rest from the weights.

It took another kind of love (the groovy kind. the child kind.) for me to realize the power of intuitive exercise.

I changed.

I never looked back.

Here’s why.

  • It’s how I already live. Mindfully. Daily. I start with meditation. I eat. I segue to work (where my approach is still mindful). Why would I change with exercise? With hindsight this makes sense. When I was in the throes of not deviating from my “program” no matter what it would have sounded crazy. When we’re honest with ourselves we know if we want to skip a workout because we feel lazy or our bodies need rest.

 

  • Ive done the over-training thing…and it sucked. I didn’t know much when I first started exercising. I lifted weights and I grew. I lifted more more & more & I shrank (muscle) and held on (to body fat) and grew (exhausted, crabby, sleepless). If Id have known to be intuitive and listen to my body when I started Id never have over-trained.

 

  • The older I get the more rest I require. This could just be me or it could be common, but all that matters is I heed my body’s signals. Sure, Ive been tempted to get caught up in internet hype. Challenges! Competitions! People exercising twice a day!! yet I force myself to stop, be silent and listen to what my body needs. Life is my sport. I might *look* better if I exercised longer/harder, but I wouldn’t feel better.  Feeling good is my priority.

 

  • I’m a rebel. Ive shed MUSTurbation in favor of trusting myself. Living intuitively is entirely about trust. It’s creating a life-routine comprised of doing/eating/whatever’ing a wide variety of things 100% because that’s what our bodies seek. Exercise is no different.

ahh over-trained youth.

None of the above means I intuitively love all exercise (although I’m more STEPS-smitten since I discovered pedometers).

It always means exercise, whether I’m sluggish or super-motivated, is never a punishment and always a gift to my body.

And you?

  • Have you spent time exploring what your body *wants* with regards to movement?
  • Have you stopped to consider your WHY behind exercise?

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Comments

  1. Always so much wisdom, Carla! Thanks for sharing it with us. I, too, have gotten better at this over the years. I’m still not “there” yet but much better than in the past. For the most part, especially since I found CrossFit, a sport I enjoy SO much, exercise has become a total joy and I take my rest days every week. Great post!

  2. This is spot of for me! I feel like I know and listen to what my body wants for exercise most times. But with marathon training, I get sucked into “Follow the plan” and don’t listen as closely. When I’m walking like a granny because everything is stiff, I still go for a run rather than something more gentle like yoga. Thanks for the reminder!

  3. About that whole needing more rest as we get older thing…yes! I will say, I am not an intuitive exerciser. I definitely schedule out what runs/when, etc for the week in my head. I am getting better, however, and knowing when to fold and take that rest if needed. Always a work in progress!

  4. Ahhh… so true. It’s so easy to get sucked into ‘just do more’ aspect to get results quicker. No pain, no gain, right? I’ve learned so much in the last few years and am so thankful for it.

  5. I’m only 25 but I have found I need a why now in a way I didn’t used to.
    I used to just run.

  8. My problem is I am doing a lot now and not where I want to be so I can’t help but think:
    If I do more maybe I will get there?

  9. I get that. I have felt that. In the picture of me in the posing suit above 🙂 I vaguely recall thinking: I’m not where I want to be with 30 minutes of cardio I should do the 40 minutes or an hour!!!
    I just grew more and more overtrained. I held tightly onto body fat and shed muscle.
    It feels so counterintuitive initially. But it works.
    Less can be more.
    Heck more can be more – if you are not me 🙂
    All about listening to our bodies.

  10. Like you, I’ve got the eating part down and can trust my body. But I’m guilty of following a plan when it comes to exercise… I do see myself moving more toward an intuitive exercise lifestyle down the road. I know I won’t always be running distance events!

  11. I’m still a combination of making things happen and letting things happen with exercise. I like the feeling of “being in shape” so I stress aerobic stuff. I do cross train more as I get older. We have to make our choices and see where it takes us. Best to everyone on theirs!

  13. I definitely feel the need for more rest at this age than in my 40’s or even 50 – 55. I feel more things right now than before.. Saying that, I have always been one to schedule out my exercise & go for it YET, change the plan in the gym if my body tells me otherwise… Right now, I feel that the bod is talking to me so I may have to re-evaluate with the demo work that has me standing a lot & other nagging things.

    BUT, I do like to be & look a certain way & that requires certain effort so….

    I think you probably eat a lot cleaner than most due to your food issues with gluten & all that plus you just eat cleaner.. 🙂 I think that helps you with more playouts. For me, I don’t think I could be in the same shape with your type of workouts especially in the 50’s BUT I have not tried yet. 😉

  14. love this post and so timely with where I am right now. I’m not over training, I’m not under training…I’m just training. NO goals, no stress…just movement.

  15. I’ve been getting better about this. When I was younger it was always – must.follow.plan.exactly. Now, I know that my body needs more rest and respect if I want to continue to do the things that I love. And that makes me love the movement all the more.

  16. just returned from an hour yoga/meditation/lift- it’s what I needed this a.m. Yesterday I needed a run. The day before that I needed a mountain bike ride in the mud and streams with tall grass tickling my legs and getting caught in my spokes. Friday I had a long swim in the dark with lightning in the distance. I do what I love to do – no other reason. When I do that “something” in the wee hours of the morning, it sets me up to be so productive the rest of the day. Increases my focus at work and makes me crave only good things to put i not my body. I also love to race and love to win. You can have the best of both worlds. If you want.

  18. I love this! I’ve really been focusing on the why behind exercise lately. I’ve been working hard and am starting to lose weight but I still have so much to go. It can be hard to think about but then at the same time I think about how the journey is the most important part. I want to enjoy losing weight, not hate the entire experience.

  20. I wish I could be intuitive. I suck at intuition – in all aspects of everything. I cannot eat intuitively, work out intuitively, intuitively know when someone besides me is having a crap day. Blergh. Are there intuition classes? I would benefit from one of those.

    • Amy, I can totally relate. I don’t do anything intuitively, either. I eat because I’m bored or craving something crappy or because the rest of the family is eating. I exercise because I am a crazy woman if I don’t get my daily walk – no matter what! I go to exercise classes because I know that I regret it later in the day if I don’t. Very rarely do I take a day off because my body is tired. What I know I need is to do yoga every single day to feel better and get stronger and more flexible but I am so busy doing everything else in my plan that it gets sidelined.

  21. Carla, you are always a great inspiration, and a great read.

    I love how you explore things in your life, and share them with us. You hit the nail on the head with a few of the things that have (finally) motived me to move my butt!!

    First, I am a competitive person, and love my FitBit Pedometer. I love how I can taunt my brother in law when he cant get more steps than me, and fight harder to get steps when he’s ahead 🙂 Frankly, the pedometer was the first step, no pun intended, towards my moving.

    Second, oh my GAWD do i need more sleep now that I’m Forty Freaking Four! I thought we needed less as we aged. However, I’m lately finding it hard to get up at 6am to walk and exercise if I don’t get into bed before 10 🙁

    Finally, and you didnt really touch on it above, but you live it and your opening photo touched on it, exercising with my son, who’s 14, and training with him (even when he’s at his mom and all we do is talk about what we did via skype) is infinitely more fun than doing it alone. I’ve always worked out alone, hoping no one saw me. I may have tweeted the results because I liked people knowing I was moving, but i never liked being seen. Now, with my son’s motivation, I’m training for a Feb 14 Spartan Sprint, and my fat butt will be hoisting itself over a wall and through mud, with everyone watching. And you know what, it’ll be fun!

    Normally I put my own website up in my name – but this time I put my son’s! At 14, he’s started his own blog, fitness and health focused, and I couldnt be more proud! So, dont be shocked if you click my name and dont get wine info :p

    Cheers
    Matt

  22. Hmmm… I don’t know. I know I crave the endorphins from working out. I don’t necessarily LOVE working out, but I love the feeling after. I also love being with friends on runs. The social aspect and the feeling of accomplishment from a race like a marathon is like no other.
    If I am being honest, I would say that while I like to be moving (which is nothing like I thought 5 or 6 years ago), I don’t really love exercise. It’s what comes from it. Feeling good like I said, and the closeness with fellow athletic friends mostly.

  23. nodding my head the whole time, yes yes. Embrace the bodies signals. Rest, play, sleep, lift, repeat.. I feel so many people need structure to get fit. But you’ve just shown them out it doesn’t need to be that way

  24. AMAZING and a post that so many women of all ages should read…I train hard and often, but right now it feels good, but I know I need to “relax” and “listen” and “slow down”. I guess sometimes I am afraid too, but other times I just love to sweat and find that my workouts help me de-stress…Gosh now you’ve got me thinking! 😉

  25. I think that I exercise fairly intuitively – I rarely follow a set plan and usually decide my workout for the day after I get up at 5:00 – some days I have a tentative plan but if I’m really not feeling it I will change it at the last minute.

  26. I love that exercising is a gift and not a punishment. For me, one thing I have to be careful of is using exercise – not as a way to escape my pain but release it. Which I know may sound odd – but especially when it comes to running it can be easy for me to follow it as a sense of escape and not actually dealing with the problem.

  29. I appreciate this so much. I’ve read Intuitive Eating, possibly forever ago! – and I think I need a refresher in the worst way. But I agree, doing so with exercise is critical, too. Thank you for sharing this!

  30. For me there’s nothing intuitive about the marathon. It’s about pushing and challenging where I’m not sure my body will go. I know my body does not “need” the marathon to be at its best. It’s a passion I guess.

  31. I am with you! Exercise should be play. I am a very creative person and do not do well with routine. I find ways to make myself motivated by using little mind games with myself. For instance I live in a big city. So biking along the water I have bridges every 3 or 4 miles. When I go cycling, I guess how long it will take me to reach the next bridge. If I make it under my estimated time, I take a break until the estimated time arrives. That way I challenge myself to go faster – in order to get the time to sit on a bench and watch the world go by.

  32. Ever since i was a child, i saw exercise as a punishment, something you had to do, no choice. It took me away from the other stuff i would always rather be doing.

    That, of course, is the problem, there’s always something that captures my attention more. Somehow, some way, though, i need to break out of that if i’m going to make any progress in not losing bone and muscle as i age.

  33. I think this is so smart. Listening to your body is hard at first, but is much healthier in the long run. Thanks for reminding me to pay attention to me!

  34. So true, Carla! I used to exercise to simply look thinner, better. Now at 40, I exercise and try to eat healthier more for health reasons, such as blood glucose control and all that. As I got older, I learned to follow my body / intuition more, especially since I love jogging/running and I have bad knees (osteoarthritis). When I overdo it, pushing my body too much, I suffer and am able to keep the routine. Whereas when I pay attention, stop when I feel pain or discomfort, I’m able to sustain the routine on a daily basis instead of just give up altogether. We really need to pay more attention to our body cues and be grateful each day for what we can still do…in spite of our age. 🙂

  35. I do what I love for exercise. I do have to be careful though, because I can bike binge really easily to the exclusion of balance with other stuff LOL!

  36. I just turned 40. I really loved your article, and I’m taking it to heart… so thank you!

    I also appreciate these questions: “Have you spent time exploring what your body *wants* with regards to movement?” AND “Have you considered your WHY behind exercise lately?”

    It’s for health reasons, sure… but I also love exercising because it just makes me feel better…

  37. Intuitive exercise. I like that expression!

    I’ve always believed in picking activities and workouts that you love doing, but I’ve never thought about choosing the activity you want to do that particular day. Very interesting!

    I guess the key is to know when you are just being lazy and when your body really needs the rest or to do something completely different.

Trackbacks

  4. […] I exercise intuitively. by Carla – Love this post from Carla. To me exercise intuitively really means listening to your body. Yesterday I took the day off except for a 20 minute walk. I did not do the ABC challenge either. While I would love to do all 31 days straight, it is just not happening for me. My legs were screaming and a day of rest is exactly what they needed. Today? Today I will see what my body feels like doing. Maybe weights, maybe walking, maybe nothing. […]

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