I shared my first workout of 2023 early in January with a friend, my brother and my dad. Across the room my mother was working with another trainer as well. We were all doing reformer pilates. In that studio the ages ranged from early 30’s to late 70’s, all of us doing the same form of movement for some of the same reasons and some different reasons. This is what I love about reformer pilates and Harbor. Train for life is our mission at Harbor and in that pilates studio was the perfect representation of our mission that day. Reformer pilates has helped me train for life for more than a decade. At one point it helped me gain strength and flexibility to increase my hitting power and help prevent injury while I was playing collegiate volleyball. It also helped me regain control of my body and connect my mind to my body when I was struggling with disordered eating and body dysmorphia. It helped me loosen my hip flexors and more recently it’s helped me recover from some lingering back issues while strengthening my core to get me back playing pickleball regularly.
As January comes to an end, our hope in 2023 is that all of our members can find ways to move, strengthen and stretch both their bodies and their minds. We have worked hard the past few years to reeinvision our outlook around the new year and our mindset around movement. You will notice we don’t promote things like new-year new you, new year diets, cleanses, 30 day programs to lose weight, quick fixes, weight loss challenges, etc. These Diet culture concepts are prevalent this time of year and show up in sneaky (and not so sneaky) ways. We know that these messages are empty and are not the answer for long-term health and wellness. Instead, we choose to focus on and promote ideas such as movement heals: getting outside your comfort zone is a good thing, exercise combats depression and other mental illness and finding ways to appreciate your body can empower you and help you to move more. We want to encourage you to look at the big picture and determine what motivates you.
How do you feel now and how do you want to feel going forward? Are you training to climb a mountain, or to chase after grandkids? Do you play a sport, or do you need to relax and rejuvenate after a hard season of life? Are you trying to clear your mind, or find a way to move that doesn’t hurt your body? Are you doing your first triathlon or your 20th marathon? Are you recovering from a surgery or figuring out how to exercise after having a baby? Whatever your reason, we are here to support you and help you train for life.
Here are a few quick tips on how to find a healthy way to think about exercise and working out
- Determine if you enjoy working out alone or with others. Which reenergizes you?
- What is going on in your life right now, what does your body need?
- Monitor how you feel while exercising, which workouts felt good and gave you energy, which workouts drained you?
- Try different types of movement/classes to figure out what you actually like & look forward to doing again.
- Get outside your comfort zone. You never know what else you might like and the challenge will be good for your mind.
- Don’t forget recovery days. Take time off when your body needs a break. Listen to your body.
- Reach out for help if you don’t know where to start or need accountability.
- Make sure to check out our “Love To Move” February Challenge. Fill all 16 hearts with the movement you did that day and you will get to spin our prize wheel at the end of the month! We hope this challenge helps you to reframe your thoughts around working out and stay motivated past January.
We also want to take a moment to thank you for your support and for trusting us with your health and wellness needs. By choosing Harbor, it means you are supporting a local business that is made up of a team of employees who do life in this community and who are invested in the lives of our members. We are grateful for the opportunity we have every day to serve our members and our community. We will enter our 39th year of business in 2023 and we look forward to encouraging and supporting you as you “train for life.”
Cheers,
Melissa, Sara, Todd & John