I was always someone who exercised. My mother was Swedish and here everyone seems to exercise. It was ingrained from childhood.
But during my busiest career year, juggling children, and my ageing mother exercise dropped to the bottom of my list. It was a health scare when living in Sydney that got me back on track 14 years ago.
It isn't easy and I have to motivate myself but through working with a great trainer I learnt about my own style - I like variety so pumping at the gym over and doesn't do it for me.
I mix Pilates, different forms of yoga, weight lifting, walking and boxing. More importantly if I miss a day - well it's the not end of the world. Mindset really does matter. And recognising that gardening, housework etc count as exercise.
This is so interesting to hear and it is also fascinating to me how the social and cultural context matters in what habits we develop and how we see our selves (sporty or not). Thank you for sharing Clarissa. I love what you say about mindset.
I have always exercised, it makes me feel grounded and connected to my body and mind. I choose activities that make me connect with others as well in ways that are uplifting and fun - so running with someone, local ladies Back to Netball sessions, Azonto boxercise classes in the park, classes at the gym, walks and talks with friends. There are times when I just can't face it and drag myself but never regret it once I have done it. When I had small children and a full-time career I worked it around that by running and cycling my commute, or pushing the kids around the park in their buggy, or getting them to scoot or cycle to cheer me on.
Over time, as my body changes after children, or now in perimenopause, it has helped me to abandon some exercise and tailor a new regime that acknowledges my body as it evolves. Netball and running suddenly became too high impact and punishing for me in my 50s and I am exploring weight training, core strength and cardio things at the gym.
I love the feeling of exercised muscles and strength, I love the stretching and make sure I attend stretch classes at least once a week so it's not all about self-flagellation and body sculpting to fit some anti-feminist impossible body standard. It's about connection, pushing myself, but loving myself as well.
Thank you so much for sharing Penny. I am so impressed by your commitment to physical fitness (and wish I had some of the same!). I would be really interested to hear how you've adapted it to perimenopause.
I visit the gym to attend classes. Zumba x 2 and yoga and Pilates x 1. So four hours a week. I only joined a gym due to having a very stressful job and challenging family life. I was signed off sick from work and needed to have an outlet to deal with the issues. Before this situation I didn’t exercise in a gym, or do any regular exercise apart from house and garden activities and holiday swimming. Since realising the positive impact of exercise I have continued attending the gym. But it took a crisis to change my habits and to prioritise my health.
I am sorry to hear of the crisis that you faced and find it really inspiring how it helped change your mindset and focus. I can relate to some of that too. Thank you for sharing!
The main thing was realising that due to perimenopause I suffer from a lot of joint and pelvic pain. So I had to stop the high impact leaping about in netball and running and think about what I could do that made me feel better. I also find myself with middle age spread so I wanted to strengthen my core and focused instead of burning calories on strength and conditioning as well as flexibility.
I also have bouts of crushing self doubt or deep sadness so signing up to a gym for the first time ever has been great. I can book into different classes based on how I am feeling rather than committing to a weekly class of the same activity. That way I can have gentle weeks and more intense weeks. Also during the heatwave I just went and hung out under the air conditioning and chatted with people - it was a great option to escape the heat!
I was always someone who exercised. My mother was Swedish and here everyone seems to exercise. It was ingrained from childhood.
But during my busiest career year, juggling children, and my ageing mother exercise dropped to the bottom of my list. It was a health scare when living in Sydney that got me back on track 14 years ago.
It isn't easy and I have to motivate myself but through working with a great trainer I learnt about my own style - I like variety so pumping at the gym over and doesn't do it for me.
I mix Pilates, different forms of yoga, weight lifting, walking and boxing. More importantly if I miss a day - well it's the not end of the world. Mindset really does matter. And recognising that gardening, housework etc count as exercise.
This is so interesting to hear and it is also fascinating to me how the social and cultural context matters in what habits we develop and how we see our selves (sporty or not). Thank you for sharing Clarissa. I love what you say about mindset.
I have always exercised, it makes me feel grounded and connected to my body and mind. I choose activities that make me connect with others as well in ways that are uplifting and fun - so running with someone, local ladies Back to Netball sessions, Azonto boxercise classes in the park, classes at the gym, walks and talks with friends. There are times when I just can't face it and drag myself but never regret it once I have done it. When I had small children and a full-time career I worked it around that by running and cycling my commute, or pushing the kids around the park in their buggy, or getting them to scoot or cycle to cheer me on.
Over time, as my body changes after children, or now in perimenopause, it has helped me to abandon some exercise and tailor a new regime that acknowledges my body as it evolves. Netball and running suddenly became too high impact and punishing for me in my 50s and I am exploring weight training, core strength and cardio things at the gym.
I love the feeling of exercised muscles and strength, I love the stretching and make sure I attend stretch classes at least once a week so it's not all about self-flagellation and body sculpting to fit some anti-feminist impossible body standard. It's about connection, pushing myself, but loving myself as well.
Thank you so much for sharing Penny. I am so impressed by your commitment to physical fitness (and wish I had some of the same!). I would be really interested to hear how you've adapted it to perimenopause.
I visit the gym to attend classes. Zumba x 2 and yoga and Pilates x 1. So four hours a week. I only joined a gym due to having a very stressful job and challenging family life. I was signed off sick from work and needed to have an outlet to deal with the issues. Before this situation I didn’t exercise in a gym, or do any regular exercise apart from house and garden activities and holiday swimming. Since realising the positive impact of exercise I have continued attending the gym. But it took a crisis to change my habits and to prioritise my health.
I am sorry to hear of the crisis that you faced and find it really inspiring how it helped change your mindset and focus. I can relate to some of that too. Thank you for sharing!
The main thing was realising that due to perimenopause I suffer from a lot of joint and pelvic pain. So I had to stop the high impact leaping about in netball and running and think about what I could do that made me feel better. I also find myself with middle age spread so I wanted to strengthen my core and focused instead of burning calories on strength and conditioning as well as flexibility.
I also have bouts of crushing self doubt or deep sadness so signing up to a gym for the first time ever has been great. I can book into different classes based on how I am feeling rather than committing to a weekly class of the same activity. That way I can have gentle weeks and more intense weeks. Also during the heatwave I just went and hung out under the air conditioning and chatted with people - it was a great option to escape the heat!