Body pump with intention

Intention is everythIng. 'Intention setting' is common place in yoga practice, but can (and arguably should!) be applied to everything. 

This morning I was working my way through squats in a body pump class and I had a giggle to myself about how things used to be for me back in the day (oh about 10ish years ago!) when I used to teach it. Back then my intention (although I wasn't so conscious of it at the time) was to lift as heavy a weight as possible for as long as I could so that I would look strong. Yup, achieved. I had some big plates on my bar back then but I had no real understanding of how to align myself and move to the best of my biomechanics. I was only strong to do body pump, but the strength didn't translate into the rest of my life or into my functionality. Infact, what I was doing in body pump was making my functioning movement and spinal health weaker. It was all about the external and essentially it was all for show. 

Now I go to bodypump to build my alignment endurance. It's taken me years of undoing lots of compensations in my body to realise that my joints can be fairly unstable. Body pump is incredibly good for me - now. It is now that I know my body and now that I understand how I tick. Each time I go to pump I become more stable and I find strength that I can maintain in my body for other functions.When I squat with a weight I can feel where I am potentially pushing too much through one SI joint, so I get 5 minutes to feel the weight equally through both feet and control my pesky mobile right SIJ and make my left leg do some work. When I chest press I check in with my over-rotating right shoulder and it's gradually correcting itself. When I deadlift I maintain my spinal alignment and swing my tailbone to stand me back up so that I don't compress through my lumbar. And so the picture is similarly through each of the other tracks. 

This is not all that body pump shows me. Back then I wanted everyone to like me, and I thought that if I could push a big huge weight then people would admire me. My internal acceptance was based on external reassurance. Now I understand the strength that it takes me to not care what others do or may think and instead to remain strong and stable in my own intention.

Sometimes I still have to fight my ego and resist the inclination to load up and go hard for the sake of going hard. Sometimes I have to shush my internal apology to the teacher when I prefer to go slow and steady when everyone else is pulsing short ranges. But I'm there to reground, realign and essentially sort my shit out. I always come out feeling lighter in myself, firmer on my feet and more agile through my spine.

Apply intention to your physical activities and you may find that they're as 'mind and body' as any yoga or pilates class is. Take intention out of your yoga or pilates class and it's most likely just a physical workout. Intention is everything.

Fuelled on 'Yes, I Can'

This morning I did an 8 mile run on a treadmill. It IS as boring as that sounds, and it felt kind of like this:

I'm building my endurance up at the moment to a level that it has not been at for at least 4 years and so I need to push my limits of what is comfortable for me in terms of distance and time. I did my run on a treadmill exactly BECAUSE it was boring and there was little stimulus other than the dashboard in front of me and the mirror that I was facing.

I'm a firm believer that endurance is much more about the mental side of things than the physical. Yes, you need some kind of physical base on which to build but I believe that our internal dialogue has the edge on whether we will, or won't, go the distance.

As Henry Ford said "Whether  you think you can, or you think you can't - you're right"

So, my session today was about building mental strategies back up to help me build my endurance. Looking at that treadmill dashboard and the numbers ticking away is going to do that for me! I once did a 3 hour treadmill session for the very same reason and I still look back and think that it was one of the toughest run sessions that I ever did. I'm not interested in doing that again - ever - but for now, 8 miles, about 65 minutes is right up there beyond my mental endurance threshold. 

Here's how I managed:

1. Keeping the pace comfortable

An important one, as it ensures that you aren't pushing too many things at once. My aim was to cover 8 miles and to deal with my mind. Running it at a particular pace, or within a certain time was not part of that outcome. Once I was clear with myself on that, I found a pace that was slightly slower than my usual pace, but it felt nice and rhythmic and my breathing was steady. If that changed at all and felt too fast and too intense aerobically for me then I gave myself permission to go slower if I needed. My ego was no longer in the picture! 

2. Maths! 

Ok, this maybe isn't everyone's idea of a coping strategy, but it works for me as I love numbers. I figured out that 8 mile should take me about 66 minutes given the pace that I was doing. I gave myself a contingency at first and worked on it all being done 70 minutes after starting. This is where the maths began. After 3.5 minutes I'd done 1/20th of the run. After 7 minutes, I'd done 1/10th. And so on. I continually worked out fractions in my mind - when's the next one? When will I have done 1/5th, 1/4, 1/3 and so on. As I progressed these became 2/5ths, 3/7ths. there was always a fraction just around the corner for me to aim for! Once I realised that I could maintain the pace I was on for the whole run and so it would take me 66 minutes, I had fun re-doing the fractions all over again! 

3. Rewards

I had a bottle of water in front of me which I knew I wanted to keep drinking throughout the run. I had sips of water every 2.5 minutes. This kept my hydration structured, and ensured that I continually drank, rather than waiting until I was already dehydrated. But what it also did was it gave me short term aims. Every 2.5 minutes there was something different for me to do and it chunked the whole run down into bite-sized pieces. I also knew that I would need a little bit of fuel for this run so I had a Nakd bar with me and had 2 little bites at both the one third down point and the one third to go point. Little chocolate bliss bits to work towards.

4. Having a word with myself in the mirror

There I was right in front of myself - no escape.I used the opportunity to stare myself in the face and have a word with myself when I needed it! So, when I felt like a boost or I felt the negative vibe starting to muster some energy, I looked at myself and reminded myself that I am strong, and capable of doing this. I told myself that I got on this treadmill for a reason and I would complete the task that I had set out to do. 

5. Focusing on the longer term outcome

The point that I felt most like giving up at was between 3-4 miles. 4-5 wasn't a breeze either. I knew that this was definitely my mind playing with me as that distance isn't an issue for me. I was just bored.That middle section had lost the twinkle of the challenge and I wasn't long enough through it to be able to see the end. At this point I thought about why I was doing this run. Why did I want my endurance built up again? Why did I need to tough out a treadmill session like this. I remembered the times that I had been away for the weekend and I wanted to explore the hills with just my trainers and a back pack or to be able to take off on my bike for miles knowing that I had the fitness to do so. I remembered that I wanted to feel that sense of internal strength and resilience. I also wanted to rid myself of thinking 'I can't' which has been too present in my mind for me this last couple of years. And I simply wanted to feel fit again! This thought process got me through that middle third of the run and then I was able to see the last chunk ahead of me. 

When I finally got to the 8 mile / 12.8km point I didn't seem phased at all. Surprisingly. There was a pleasant familiarity for me of how things used to be. This was the kind of thing that I just did. I also knew that I had broken through an internal barrier and that my long run next week would be in some sense easier, even if the distance is going to be longer. Positivity breeds positivity. 

While this was my current distance and time challenge, it applies at any level, wherever your endurance currently is at. That could be half or full marathon distance, or above, Or it could be running a mile or 5km. The principles apply. Give yourself something else to focus on to drown out any negative internal dialogue because that'll get to you before your physical ability does. 

Have fun pushing your boundaries and enjoy the rewards out the other side :-) 

Running's Not the Bad Guy...!

Running gets a bad name. An unfair bad name as far as I'm concerned.

I often hear, as i'm sure you do too, that 'running is bad for you'. If we hear it enough, and we certainly do hear it a lot, then we can start to believe it. But guess what? RUNNING IS NOT THE BAD GUY! Running is just the place that highlights our issues, and rather than deal with THEM, it's easier to blame running FOR our issues. 

Running is a whole body activity that requires an amazingly co-ordinated effort to take it forward at a pace faster than one we usually move at while interacting with and against gravity. Unlike walking we never have both feet on the ground at the same time when we run. Instead we swap between the two, taking both feet off the ground in between. Our heart and lungs work hard to make this happen so we require more oxygen than usual which we do by breathing quicker.  Our joints absorb the landing of each step (yes, it's often this that we specifically hear about "it's not good for the joints" (but then we're also told its good for your bones, so who do we believe..).  

A lack of a 'good enough'* foundation of stability (try standing on one leg to check how stable you feel), then continually swapping legs in the air when we run (try it now hopping from one to the other) is going to massively challenge the whole co-ordination. Any restrictions we may already have to our breathing (try breathing in slowly for 3 counts and out for 3 to see how yours is) is going to restrict the amount of oxygen that we can get into and transport around our body when we ask it to run. If we don't have a 'good enough'* alignment then the impact of each step isn't distributed around the whole body's system of joints in order to neutralise its effect.  

Here's what are actually some of the bad guys: 

Sitting all day, moulding ourselves into a flexed sitting position, then expecting our bodies to happily open up straight, agile and ready to go

Getting wound up and stressed by a hellish day, inhibiting our breathing and then expecting oxygen on demand.

Spending an evening in 2" heels shortening our calves, then not stretching them, yet asking them to work full length for x number of miles / minutes. 

Twisting an ankle but deciding it doesn't matter that its swollen up and hurting (Eh, tell me that's a stable ankle!).

Running 5 days in a row when we haven't run for months before that 

Running with the wrong intent; to keep someone else company when we'd rather be doing something else, to burn calories even though we actually loathe running, because we need to prove something to ourself...... 

Your body is going to tell you it isn't too happy about any of them when you run. But don't shoot the messenger. It can't speak English, that's all. 

I'm not saying you can't ever again get stressed, sit at work, wear heels, do clumsy things or go for a run for the wrong reason. I'm just asking that you recognise it, respect your body and where you can alter your running for that day or period of your life or do something to transition you into a better place for running. Question WHY you are running, and what it really is that you need from it. And respect the answers to those questions, even if they surprise you. Go with that intent into your running and perhaps you'll discover a better alignment all round. 

But please don't NOT run because someone has told you it's bad for you. YOU decide if it is or isn't for you by recognising why you run, or want to run, and listening to the signals your body gives you when you do. Respect them. It may well require working at a way to match your mind's intent with your body's needs but it can be done. Remember the para-olympics? Enough said. There are very many good reasons for running: socialising, time alone, being outside, sense of achievement, building self esteem, having fun, focusing on the present moment, to name a few. So don't make running the bad guy. Please :-)

* I have highlighted 'good enough' and specifically used this phrase as it really is about being good 'enough' for what we are asking of our body. This phrase is worthy of a whole blog post of its own, and I could quote Anna Freud, which I may well do one of these days. But essentially we all have imbalances, instabilities and restrictions - perfection is unattainable - but if the input we put in matches the demand of what we want out, then its 'good enough'!