Watch the trees

3 hours ago
3 min read

with love from Pilates.

running after pilates in the park will be the easiest thing i do today.

I don't know a single mother with kids out of school who isn't about to lose their mind right now. For me, I think I might have already lost it. May is notoriously impossible, which slid into June, and somehow it's already July. How does each day feel a million years long and yet time is passing so quickly?

We talk a lot about "overload" in personal training. The the "overload theory", simply put, is that if you add more resistance to a muscle, it will eventually adapt and grow stronger. This is how we can graduate from the 2lb weights to 12s. There are a lot more nuances on how we can manipulate the variables in order to develop strength, of course. With strength training, if you are consistently curling 8lbs to build your biceps, you should expect to increase 2-10% more weight within 3 weeks. This might feel conservative, but the slow increase is to prevent overtraining and injury.

I have the absolute joy of subbing my friend's Pilates class in a park here in Grand Rapids. There is something so magical about being outside, in a group of completely different people, all working together under the trees. It brings me back to my first opportunity in group fitness leading corporate bootcamps in Central Park. Being outside in nature is so good for the soul.

this is where the clamshell series i demonstrated with bands really got me.

Looking up at the trees, and seeing everyone working together, I felt so inspired. Summer is the season of growth, of abundance, and saturation. We might be feeling that after a hard winter, everything should be easy.

I'm here to tell you, it's not. Winter is dormancy. Summer is where we are forced outside of our comfort zones. The constant push to make magic in every moment, to impart the nostalgia of our own childhoods, to juggle between commitments we look forward to or not, is a lot.

If you feel like you are being stretched too thin, you probably are. Life is feeling unbearably overwhelming for many people I am working with right now.

We don't always know when or what to put down, as moms. Everything seems really important. (And it is.) Everything seems chaotic, messy, or hard sometimes. And seasons change, because they have to.

The load of motherhood is relentless. Just like when we train our muscles, the work we do (whether it is visible or not), is making us stronger. You take on resistance, figure it out, and get better at it. Step back and look how far you have grown.

My job as a trainer is to help you push yourself to do more than you think you can. We don't get results by staying still. We all need that reminder that we truly are doing hard things, and that pivoting doesn't mean we are failing. It just means we are learning.

I think we owe it to ourselves to look back from time to time, and see how far we have come. My greatest joy as a teacher and trainer is when my client's remark on how much stronger they have become. (Of course, then I make them do something even more challenging.) Dumbbells can be milestones of our physical achievements.

So here is my challenge for you. I want you to pause, and ask yourself these three questions:

Where am I feeling the most joy right now? How can I add more?
What is feeling TOO hard? How can I lighten this load?
What lessons have I learned this month? Where can I reuse these lessons for my next challenge?

Here are mine -

*I want more time outside.

*We have too many commitments clogging our calendar. Time to reprioritize and reschedule.

*Last month I created a certification for the MamaShred method. I am looking forward to hosting more workshops and small group events in the Fall. I've got a ton of ideas, and finally a blueprint to work with.

Write yours in the comments below please. We all have so much to learn from each other.

*This is also your loving reminder to pack yourself water and snacks. You've got this, and I've got you.

Reach out if there's anything I can help with.

xoSA