If you had the opportunity to go back in time to learn how to exercise all over again, what would you change?
Without hesitation I would place my focus on skill acquisition and not trying to hit PR’s as rapidly or as often as I attempted.
Let’s be fair and credit this to being young and less experienced in life. I felt pressured to keep up with or catch up with my more athletic, muscular friends.
If I invested time and patience to learn how to deadlift – how to properly set up, wedge and execute the lift, I would not have some of the hip and low back issues I manage today.
But I was impatient to lift heavier every chance I got. My ego bested me.
I also would have put far more emphasis on how well I moved, specifically my active hip mobility.
The struggle with all of this is that by nature most of us want to be our strongest yet that’s a fine line to balance. There is a need for lifting heavy and pushing yourself, but without certain compromises to technique.
If your focus earlier in your exercise career is more geared toward the process than the outcome, you’ve got a healthy movement history ahead.
I am certain I would feel better today and would not have some of the life-lasting obstacles I deal with daily if I knew that.
This is what we teach and deliver at ELEVATE, helping active adults improve their movement skill, increase their strength, while developing their endurance.
Here’s a recent message from one of our members:“Today I lifted 145 on the trap bar, something I could have only dreamed of a year ago. Thank you for creating such an amazing community and environment at Elevate. I have never once felt pressured to push beyond my means or over-do it. I LOVE how the gym is so focused on good form and effective movement rather than the workout to lose weight mindset a lot of gyms carry. I have felt so safe to ask questions and receive feedback… Again thank you all sooo much for supporting me and helping me achieve a healthy mindset around working out (and all my PRs too!).”