Stop Punishing Yourself

If you’ve been away from the gym for a while, it may feel like that for the first 2-4 weeks.

But if you’ve been training, your body should be getting better at what you’re doing. The results don’t come from “doing more” and “faster” and “killing yourself” in the gym, the results come from 🤓learning more about the movements, 🤔 doing the things that are right for you, 🤗 and doing what’s good for your body.

We do difficult things over here at Pacific Strength. Every day. We train hard. We sweat. We get results. And yet, we feel BETTER after each training session. 💪

So. Many. Women. (Men too, but especially women.) Think they need a ‘beat down’ to lose weight or build muscle. It just isn’t true.

The tricky part is that this type of training DID work (🙋‍♀️for me too!) in the past. We lost weight, gained muscle, felt great. But once you’ve trained long enough, your body doesn’t respond the same way to intense training. And age, hormones, and slower recovery all add to an even bigger barrier.

We don’t want to stop doing what we did in our 20s & 30s because that means we’re aging. *sigh* We don’t want to admit we “can’t” do what we used to do. But… what if we CAN do it, we just realize it’s not the best way to get what we want? What if we’re just smarter & more efficient now?

I cut my training in half about 10 years ago, and then even more 4 years ago. Yet, and I am stronger & have less body fat at 40 than ever before. I am never not challenged in a training session. I also never leave the gym completely wiped out (with the exception of a once-a-year competition).

What we need is a more thoughtful approach. At Pacific Strength, I want my students to learn the movements, have a conversation with their bodies about how everything feels, check in, & adjust as needed.

My colleague @mira_beezz has been quoted by @drtyna saying “Anyone can train 20 & 30 year-olds. It takes an intelligent, experienced, and thoughtful coach to train anyone older than that.”