If you’ve been with me for a while you know that I ALWAYS give modifications to exercises. In a class, or in a program, there will always be options. Why? Because you need to feel successful in your exercises. You need to know that there may be an option that you should take for the circumstances you are presently in. Tired, hungry, hurt, whatever the case may be, I give you PERMISSION to choose your own adventure.
I get it though. Choosing your own adventure means choosing what exercise is best for you at this moment. It can be both scary and freeing.
When I was first postpartum with my second kid, I went to a yoga class. I was stoked when I was the only one in it, it was taught by my favourite instructor from before pregnancy, and I wanted to impress her by showing how nothing had changed from before. But things had changed. I had been seeing my pelvic health physiotherapist and she had told me that I wasn’t ready to do full planks yet. Yet I did it all and I relished in that fact.
I didn’t relish in what happened later that evening, and the next day, and the next. My pelvic pain was back. It was angry and that made me so very angry at myself. Not that I did yoga, but that I didn’t change the exercise to be a version that I knew to do at that moment. I knew I shouldn’t have pushed past my fence but I did. And I did it mainly because I was so stuck in the thought that I didn’t need the “easy” exercise. I didn’t want it. I wanted to do what I did before.
It was a hard lesson to learn and one that I don’t wish upon any of my clients. Choosing the different way to do an exercise shouldn’t be viewed as a failure. It should be seen as a way to empower you to make the best decision for your body at this time. Will you choose right every time? Maybe not and that’s ok. But knowing that it’s ok to try the “easier” exercise will go a long way to getting you set up for the “regular” exercise.
Are you dealing with an injury and need help in choosing the right exercise for you at this time? Shoot me a message and let's chat. Also, sign up to get my free resource "All Things Basic" for some information about ways to modify an exercise.
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