What does right feel like?
Doing specific things for a long time builds a habit and it is no different from the body learning to recover from injury or avoiding restrictions and instability; the brain just figures the best way around that. Moving a specific way, undertaking repetitive tasks, moving around pain or injury, or not moving much at all, start making adaptations to the body.
It is little surprise that when I train clients and set them up for exercises correctly most, if not all, say ‘that doesn’t feel right’!
‘Right’ can feel like the way things have always been, a familiar way of doing things. Perhaps you see this in other aspects of your daily life; at work, in family, in relationships. Just because things have been done a certain way for a long time doesn’t mean they are right!
Why we shouldn't just blindly follow.
Our mind just attaches to the behaviour and, particularly in our human social construct, it feels odd to do things differently from the next person, go against the grain or, dare I say, believe in following our own heart.
Look at this video to see how easy it is, and how quickly, we just do things without questioning why.
I've witnessed people copying other people in gyms, in technique, intensity and weight, and, I'm sure, we have all witnessed social media 'influencers' performing an exercise and herds of people following suit without really knowing why they are doing what they are doing, the impact it has on their own body, and whether the outcome is going to be positive or negative for them. I'll acknowledge I put some video content up and like to think I explain how what and why I am doing the exercise. It still doesn't mean it is the right exercise for everyone.
Reconnecting body and mind
When something changes, therefore, it is certainly going to feel uncomfortable or different and the mind can, sometimes, think different is wrong.
My approach to personal training is different, I’ve not followed the crowd with the way I coach clients because I believe unless training includes an element of mindful movement it’s challenging to fully access all the body is capable of.
Mindful movement is different from mindfulness but is absolutely connected to focusing on re-patterning how the mind ‘feels’ correct movement and the position of the body when performing movement patterns in addition to working with the body to free restrictions in mobility and improving stability. Strength and performance are gained on top of mobility and stability, not in the absence of them.
My training is very purposeful, it is gentle, and it is done with care. The idiom ‘no pain no gain’ does not exist in my world, the gain comes from accessing more movement, allowing the brain to feel confident in all positions and then building on that confidence in a safe and secure way.
I’m very much an advocate of personal training directly impacting daily living, making it easier, or moving away from niggles, discomfort or pain as opposed to coping. If I don’t adhere to my core belief, and my clients don’t benefit then, to me, it doesn’t feel right…
Take care
Andrew