Why Exercise?
Why train?
Why exercise? Why workout? Wy train? And more importantly, what exercise should we do?
September is here, along with its usual ‘I must get in shape for Christmas’ concerns as the kids finally trudge back to school.
There’s also the pressing matter of getting our own lives into some sort of ‘new normal’ routine this year.
So, what direction will you turn? How will you navigate the shiny, socially distanced gym machines? The deliriously joyful sweet-shop selection of classes? The lure of the pool, the siren Zen of yoga and BodyBalance?
What’s right FOR YOU? Right now.
Maybe you just need to be time efficient. Working from home poses its own set of restrictions. Perhaps you’re recovering from illness or injury. Maybe you need specialised rehabilitation training. You might be pregnant and need to exercise your body safely. Or menopausal and fed up with joint pain, hot flushes, and sudden RAGES! Or simply, you’re new to the gym environment and looking to find what sparks joy in you?
You may be low in energy and lacking any motivation to haul yourself into any kind of high intensity regime. We understand that. We’ve been there too.
New ‘Why Train?’ Blog Series
With this in mind, we’re going to be blogging a weekly guide to all the different types of exercise available in our ‘Why train…?’ series.
There’ll be a deep dive into the benefits and efficacy of different types of training – from Grit to Aquafit.
We’ll look at the science behind each type of training, the value of varying your programme, how to enhance your current training with tempo and visualisation hacks…all designed to help you make a better choice for your valuable time and your even more valuable body.
We’ll follow this with a ‘How to Prepare’, ‘How to Repair’ and ‘How to Care’ series. We’ll discuss injury prevention, stretching, breath work and looking after mind and body health. Including boosting immunity, enhancing our feeling of wellbeing, and living our best life through safe, joyful movement.
The narrative around exercise has become very one-dimensional lately. Particularly through social media where we see unattainable bodies parading around in a catwalk of inadvisable Lycra, where the vernacular is ‘I’m killing it in the gym’, ‘No pain no gain’, etc. If you pick up a paper the lazy hacks will describe anyone who visits a gym as a ‘Fitness Fanatic’, leading Joe Public to think their regime of half an hour on the treadmill clad in a fading race t-shirt just isn’t cutting any ice these days. Wrong. The reason West Wood Club gyms are packed with a dizzy array of exercise options, movement specialists and personal trainers is simply to offer you the best, the most personalised experience for you.
Unless you’re a competitive athlete exercise shouldn’t be about anyone else but you, and how it makes you feel. It shouldn’t be about punishing the body for the treats you had at the weekend. It shouldn’t be always about burning the calories and counting the steps. I’ll be showing you how to reconnect with yourself as well as others in the gym environment. how to feel empowered and fully present, and how to look forward to your movement programme for itself, as an investment for your present and future wellbeing.
Why Exercise? Ask Kathy.
We’d love to engage with members through this series, so post comments or email me at [email protected] if there’s something you’d like to discuss in more detail. I’ll be interviewing members, trainers, and rehab clients to give you a fresh perspective on all aspects of movement, and the benefits and joys it brings to their lives.
We were born to move. Let’s find our best way together.
Kathy O’Meara is a personal trainer specialising in cancer and cardiac exercise rehabilitation. She is a sports, massage and dry needling therapist, movement specialist, reflexologist and teaches a huge range of Les Mills classes at West Wood Club, Westmanstownwww.powerdown.ie
