Jen Sinkler is a longtime fitness writer and personal trainer based in Minneapolis who believes that, above all else, fitness should be fun. In her weekly column, "Strongly Worded," she explores what it means to be a confident, mindful, unapologetically strong woman.
My Ecuadorian vacation last month was filled with activities that I very rarely do—so much hiking and biking, and nearly all of it at a 9,000- to 13,000-foot altitude! Endurance sports are—how shall I say this—not really my thing. And by “not really my thing,” I mean I hate them, and they hate me back.
I have a condition called deep compartment syndrome in my calves. Essentially, that means the fascia surrounding the muscles—the tissue that gives them their shape; their “outfit,” if you will—is too tight. So when blood flow to the area increases and the muscles swell, the fascia tightens down and causes an inordinate amount of pain. I also have chondromalacia in both knees, which is a fancy name for damage to the cartilage under both kneecaps (an old injury caused by former muscle imbalances), and it makes descending steep inclines mighty unpleasant. This delightful combination of conditions makes hilly hikes painful both on the way up (compartment syndrome, calves) and the way down (chondromalacia, knees).
It's a Great Thing, Then, That Fitness Comes in Many Forms
I don’t have to run marathons—or go on long hikes—to "fit" the bill (pun intended). There is no one single answer to the question "Are you fit?", only the necessary follow-up question: “Fit to do what?” Just because you are fit for one endeavor does not mean that you are fit for any endeavor. For example, even if you're an elite cyclist, you can't necessarily race triathlons (recall that Lance Armstrong discovered this the hard way); if you're an expert yogi or a good runner, that doesn’t translate into lifting big weights.
The more specific your training, the more specific your results. That means you will dramatically improve any skill and strength that you practice, whether it's swinging a kettlebell or doing gymnastics. But those who train very specifically also run the risk of developing overuse injuries. Not to mention, it can be a mental relief (and just plain fun!) to try something new every once in a while.
On vacation, I learned that—as I suspected—right now, I am most fit for powerlifting. During other points in my life, I have been fit to play rugby (a sport that involved lots of sprinting and, for the position I played, wing, lots of breaks) or basketball, or run track (again, I was a sprinter and jumper). Right now, I am much less fit for mountain biking up even gently sloped hills, or for hiking volcanoes. Right now, I am too specifically trained to adapt to varying demands. Make no mistake; I can muster my way through, and my strength does come in handy even in those endeavors, but it doesn’t mean I excel. If I were interested in increasing my endurance, there is plenty I could do, even considering my physical limitations. I could swim. I could row. I could stick to flatter land, both by foot and pedal. In general, if I wanted to be a more well-rounded athlete, I would include a wider variety of activities.
Having lots of fitness interests can be a great thing, indeed. Including variety in your training program can keep a fitness regimen from being a tedious prospect, and instead, makes it seem like a wild adventure. It’s also a wonderful way to prevent overuse injuries and promote a balanced body, so long as your activities include a range of movements. Of course, that approach, too, comes with a cost: When your pursuits are widely varied, you often can’t expect to be the best at any one activity. You simply aren’t training specifically enough. This approach, when taken to the extreme, is simply glorified program-hopping, or never sticking to any one activity long enough to really begin to excel, or to even see improvements.
The Takeaway?
There are multiple approaches to fitness, and you get to pick the one that suits you best. Don’t beat yourself up if you're not great at every activity (especially at first). There are pros and cons to every version of fitness, and very often a sweet spot in the middle.
Revel in what version of fit you are right now, and if you want to broaden your abilities, take some time, practice, and enjoy the process. Specifically, think about what you’d like to be able to do—an activity (or more than one) that you enjoy—and get fit for that.
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Jen Sinkler is a longtime fitness writer and personal trainer based in Minneapolis who talks fitness, food, happy life, and general health topics at her site, jensinkler.com, and writes for a variety of national health magazines. Earlier this year, she authored Lift Weights Faster, an e-library of over 130 conditioning workouts for fat loss, athleticism, and overall health.
Jen works with clients at The Movement Minneapolis, a facility that uses biofeedback-based training techniques. She is a certified kettlebell instructor through the RKC (Level 2) and KBA, and an Olympic lifting coach through USA Weightlifting; she also holds coaching certifications through Primal Move, Progressive Calisthenics, CrossFit and DVRT (Ultimate Sandbag).
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Lifting Big and Altering Expectations
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