I just saw a sad article on Yahoo about a woman who pushed her body so hard on a spin bike that her muscle was destroyed and she ended up needing surgery and is still on crutches: https://www.aol.com/woman-almost-loses-leg-spin-195852995.html

First, let me say the thoughts that follow are in no way attacking this woman. After all, she was just doing what she thought was right.  She was following behaviors that are very mainstream and enforced with the exercise culture that seems predominant in our country today.

Second, I thought the article was interesting because it actually mentioned the fascia!  The fascia really doesn’t earn much screen-time in media – so I thought that was pretty cool. Plus, apparently, a ‘fasciotomy’ is a thing -which I totally didn’t know.

I gave up exercising the way we are encouraged that we ‘should’ by media – I do Koga.

This article is perfect proof of my whole point – we have gotten WAY off base with the way that we exercise if we are fooling ourselves into thinking we are doing this because we CARE about our health and our bodies!

We’re taught that more is always better, and that we should push ourselves PAST the point where we want to stop.  I’ve been there. I followed fitness fads in the past – you literally feel that pride and accomplishment when you are forcing your body into this extreme fatigue and grueling burn. Forcing yourself into ‘misery’ – we feel like we are ‘doing what we should’.

It is really messed up.  We are literally IGNORING what our body is telling us.  But what our body is telling us is that it wants LESS. More is NOT always better.  Working the same muscle group especially, over and over, till its breaking point – is just plain cruelty.

Think about it – what *message* is your body receiving when you force it blindly past all its screaming to stop?

Would you do that to a child?

And yet, WHY are you exercising? Sure, for some people it is “just” for aesthetics, but I’d wager most people also *believe* it is making their body strong and healthy. They *think* they are doing it because they *care* about their body and want “health”….

But if we care, wouldn’t we listen? Wouldn’t we accept feedback from the body?  Wouldn’t *listening* to the thing we are trying *to care for* lead to better holistic health?

We all know that horking food past the point of full isn’t ‘good’ for the body. Why? Because you are not listening to the feedback of the body.   I think forcing the muscles and joints past the point of ‘pleasure’ is an equivalent cue. And if we really want to show our body that we care, and that we want the best for it, then it is about time we start acting like it.  This push-push-push-some-more-till-you-collapse is not showing your body love – it is showing your body punishment.   It will respond in kind.  It is not the fastest nor best way to get to where you want to be for many people out there.  Like the Beach Boys always said, sometimes “you get there faster when you take it slower”.

This poor woman is the victim of bad guidance, as so many of us are (as I was before my injury, which compared to her suffering, was very mild).  She is now seeking to “be kinder to my body.”  If I could contact her, I’d tell her to give Koga a try.