I have a client starting The Metabolism Plan (TMP), and she was asking me about what kind of workout she should do. TMP helps you find the type of exercise, intensity, duration you should use when working out. But I didn’t have a straight answer, because there’s never “right” or “wrong” when it comes to exercise. Just finding out what works for YOU. So I told her my exercise story.
In my 30s I was a workout fanatic, running 50 miles a week and working out pretty much daily. At 40 I had my son and decreased exercise a bit, but worked out whenever I could find the time. A few years years ago, when I was 48 or so, I was having a LOT of stress, I found I couldn’t work out with heavy weights like kettlebells anymore. And it seemed like ALL of my go-tos for exercise weren’t working anymore! I couldn’t work out on Saturday and Sunday without being up .6. My body had TOTALLY started to HATE running (even 2-3 miles!).
So I did what I always do when my body talks, I listened. I found my pace with exercise, which at that time meant using light weights and body weighted exercises. Totally switching my routine, I maintained my weight and my body comp.
Fast forward 2 years. Stress decreased (thank God!) and now I am able to go back to heavier weights, and I found out something else (thanks to my lazy as all heck son Brayden). He was one of the slower runners in class and it was making him sad. So I said to him , “Maybe you aren’t a distance runner, maybe you’re a sprinter!” So we started sprinting together and he’s FAST (11 yrs old) . Brayden found out that while he didn’t LOVE sprinting, he liked it much better than jogging . As for me? I found that my body LOVED sprinting . And now that stress is down I can exercise on Saturdays and Sundays with no weight gain.
So the moral of the story is…. your body, and what works for you for exercise (and food) will change. But when you use The Plan (and TMP) to help you when things just aren’t working anymore, you will always be paid off with best health, best weight, and best body comp!
ps this is a picture with me with my kettlebells, they are back!