Human? Train. Injured? Train more. Older? Train most!
Moving our bodies is a required nutrient. It is something every person needs in order to thrive and it is something everyone should feel confident in doing.
In all seasons of our body!
My mission is to help people to connect to their current body, in all its glory and find a way to just begin:
To begin to move from where they currently are, not where they want to be (where you want to be is a series of nows, after all, but getting there each day is pretty worth it!)
To begin to move in a way that feels good (which they’ll remember as feeling good and want to do it again next time!)
To begin to move In a way that is enjoyable and actually serves their life in a positive way (where they’re enjoying moving to move, each day, which is really what longevity is all about!)
At the moment, and for the next few months I’m injured. So training stops, right? Well, even if it wasn’t a few months, no way! And no, I’m not crazy and ‘all of nothing’ takes hold of fitness in my and my clients lives, no matter what. In fact, if you’ve followed me a while you’ll know I’m more in the ‘something or nothing’ camp (blog ‘it all adds up’).
Skeletal muscle is actually more like armour under our skin than any aesthetics could curtail. In fact, I believe this so whole heartedly (read the title again!), that I’m convinced we all need to grow our muscles and turn them into mitochondrial manufacturing plants, no matter our fitness, our injury or illness status, and especially as we age! Because it is absolutely possible to optimise and restore proper metabolic function by building and maintaining healthy muscle, at any time of your life (and most of our fitness, illness and aging problems are greatly affected by our biggest organ system declining!).
Skeletal muscle’s many superpowers is seen through its actions as an amino acid reservoir, keeping fundamental nutrients flowing in our body in the absence of food - it’s the metabolic duty of muscle! If you become sick or injured, your body will pull amino acids from your available muscle tissue to repair and protect itself. I don’t know about you, but I think I need that on tap, ready for whatever life throws at me!
Poor skeletal muscle on the other hand is like an overstuffed suitcase (book review ‘forever strong’), a simile I love from Dr Gabrielle Lyon. When we continue to eat the wrong foods in the wrong quantities we overstuff our suitcase, until the excess contents spill out: excess glucose, fatty acids or amino acids. All this substrate overflows back into the blood stream, and our body must dispose of all these extras, any way it can. When muscle, your main metabolic organ gets flooded, you gain fat. It’s also when initial disease processes begin because when you have unhealthy muscle, poor food choices and sedentary habits, it can create post prandial inflammation every time you eat, hurting muscles every time you eat and so metabolic regulation too. No wonder it starts causing a whole host of problems.
Training doesn’t stop, it changes. And, logically then, you actually have to train more so! Because movement literally can change you. It can change your mindset, your mental health, your physical health, your internal alchemy (as well as your external appearance).
