I could not believe my eyes.
I was at the urinal in the public toilets at one of the large shopping centre here in Perth, when I noticed the man beside me was playing with his phone while having a pee.
You can imagine this, one hand holding the phone and the other hand… well you know what it was holding.
When did things get so important that we cannot even put the phone away for a minute to have a pee.
Don’t get me wrong technology is great, mobile phones are great. But there must be a time and a place for it. There must also be a time you can shut off from it. A time to disconnect.
For me, personally I think in the urinals would be one of those times.
Another time would be when you exercise.
This is a time to listen to your body, not listen to blaring music with your headphones on, zoned out to the world and all that is around you.
Your body gives you so many clues as to what is happening with it, if you just take the time to listen to it.
Anyone who is exercising regularly, I must commend you. It is great! You are taking positive steps to have a healthier and happier life. If you are like me, I use my exercise as “my time”.
And if your also like me, then you know how important it is to maximise your time, by not only working on your body, but also your mind.
One of the best way to do this is disconnect from technology and really be present in the moment. It is only for 1 hours – in many cases less time. You don’t need to look at a phone or have music blaring in your ears.
Here at Adaptive Strength that is exactly what we do.
No phones on the studio floor.
No mirrors.
No distractions.
You maybe wonder why I mentioned no mirrors and why this is important. When you train at Adaptive Strength, we don’t do workouts. We treat training as a practice session. A chance to get better. A chance to practice at the skill of getting fitter and healthier!
An integral part of that practice is to listen to your body, your senses and discovering what feels right and natural.
I see this so often. It is so common. So many people hurt all the time. They push it deep inside until it becomes their new normal. They try to pay no attention to it and ignore it. Being in pain is not normal.
By mindfully practicing how to move your body and listening to it, you can discover what feels good, what feels not so good. Your awareness and proprioception increases. Every person, I mean every person has an innate ability to do this. You just need to listen.
So many gym these days use technology in their sessions to gamify their “workouts”. They use screens on the wall with gadgets like MyZone and points synced to your mobile phone.
At Adaptive Strength we don’t do this. We are the complete opposite. We want you to connect with yourself. Connect with you mind and body. After all this is “your time”.
One of the best ways to start learning to connect with yourself is through breathing. This is an important skill which is often over looked by so many gyms out there. I don’t mean spiritually breathing like yoga. I mean breathing correctly into the diaphragm, full deep breathes down to the bottom of your belly.
This has 2 effects, it can relax you, but when it comes to lifting weights it is what protects your back. It is what a helps create a solid foundation for your core. But so often we are highly strung, distracted and so busy we don’t even consider the way we breathe. We have short shallow breathes (this is known as chest breathing), causing tightness in our chest, upper back and neck and don’t even realise it.
When you listen to your body you will realise this. You will see how the short shallow breathes are harming you.
Another way to help build the connection with your body is by training barefoot. This is exactly what we do here at Adaptive Strength is barefoot training. Each foot has over 7000 nerve endings. All too often we either wear tight shoes which squash our feet or shoes with spongy soles which soften and dampening our senses.
By taking the shoes off and training it opens your world to a whole array of senses and feelings that you probably have not felt in years. When you start stimulating your body, it starts to awaken and your proprioception and awareness increases throughout.
As your proprioception increases the listening becomes easier. You start to feel connected with your body. This is when true health starts to take place.
You don’t need to come to Adaptive Strength to do any of these things. You can do at home. The most important thing is your start doing these things.
But if you want a place that can become your sanctuary for some “me time” with people who encourage this and teach this then Adaptive Strength might be for you.
If you would like to find out more about all the little things we do different here at Adaptive Strength please send as a message, we will be happy to help.
Life is so much better when you are strong and pain free!
