What’s Intuitive Fitness?

By
Ariel H
-

We’re sure you’ve heard of intuitive eating, but have you heard of intuitive fitness? Intuitive fitness is all about staying in tune with your body and what it can handle before and during your workout to prevent injury and overuse. So, how can you incorporate it into your workout routine?

View this post on Instagram

🌿 UPSET YOU’RE NOT SEEING PHYSICAL CHANGES FROM YOUR WORKOUTS?⁣ -⁣ Not seeing drastic physical change does NOT mean that you or your workout program has failed. ⁣ -⁣ While you’re letting that sink in, keep in mind that a huge component of many models of business in the health and wellness space revolves around manipulating you into thinking that you should only eat and exercise to mould, sculpt and trim your body. Add in a healthy dose of internalized fatphobia and you’ve got an entire society dedicated to exercising themselves silly toward a different body. ⁣ -⁣ As hard as diet and toxic fitness culture tries to make you believe that a smaller, “leaner” body is a healthier body, studies actually show that health outcomes can improve from increased activity levels regardless if weight loss/fat loss occurred. Which means that just because you might not be seeing obvious differences, doesn’t mean the activity isn’t helping you live a longer, healthier life 💚⁣ -⁣ One last thing: those images of impossibly ripped, toned and tanned men and women selling workout plans and supplements? More often than not, their physiques require a level of food restriction and dedication to exercise that is SO beyond what is necessary for a healthy body, and are also purposely unattainable so that you continue to strive for it – and therefore pay for it ⁣ 🤑🙅‍♀️ – Next time you feel down on yourself because your workouts aren’t making you look the way you thought they would, remember that our bodies aren’t meant to look the same and that the benefits of exercise are so far beyond anything that you can see on the outside 💕

A post shared by Kira Onysko | Female Fitness (@kiraonysko) on

Before you start working out, do a body scan to access your stress level, how you’re feeling, if you got enough sleep, and if you ate properly. Your exercise routine will probably look different with intuitive fitness as it won’t be as rigid and it will be less stressful.

If you still want to workout every day, that’s totally okay, but ask yourself why you’re choosing not to give yourself a rest-day and what your goals are. Exercise can be used to help with stress or it can be used to compensate for something you ate, which isn’t a healthy way of viewing fitness as it doesn’t take your body’s needs into consideration. Rest days can make the days you work out more effective.

We all have those days when working out isn’t what’s best for our bodies and allowing yourself to listen to your body can help prevent injuries and fatigue. It also makes your workouts more enjoyable.

Are you ready to try intuitive fitness?