You Can’t Perfect Fitness

What is perfection, anyway? When someone does something well we will often exclaim how “perfect” it is… but whether it’s a delicious meal or beautiful musical performance, it’s more than likely that the person behind the perfection is still striving to do better. This is also true about fitness. It’s great when my clients want to keep learning and improving their fitness because that’s what it’s all about: the journey. Yet so many people quit (or don’t even try) because they expect themselves to be amazing right out of the gate, or are comparing themselves to the person next to them. This is a reminder that you can’t perfect fitness.

It’s Okay to Be a Beginner

We all know that we can’t expect to be perfect the first time we do anything. For example, look at how we talk to children when they are trying something new. What do we say to them? 

“Great first try!” Or “It takes practice to learn something you’ve never done before.” Or even “Each time you try, you’ll get a little better.” 

We can be so hard on ourselves as adults, so here is a gentle reminder that it’s okay to be a beginner. I’ve taught many (man!) people who have never done Pilates before, and I can reassure you that no matter what it looks like on the outside, they each have their challenges and advantages in the beginning – just like you. In one beginner’s class alone, there may be any combination of people who: 

• Played competitive sports as a teen
• Have a dance background
• Just had a baby
• Are recovering from an injury or surgery
• Have not exercised in years (or ever!)
• Run daily, but have never done anything else 
• Are nervous to start something new

This is true of any beginner’s fitness class, not just Pilates. So give yourself a break and let yourself get messy and find your feet. 

Get Messy with Pilates

Doing messy Pilates in the beginning is more than okay – it’s expected! The movements and equipment are brand new to you and it will take a while to learn them. This is one reason why all my new clients do three private sessions in the beginning; so they aren’t lost when they come to a group class.

There’s no doubt that a dancer will find certain Pilates exercises more attainable than a bodybuilder. That still won’t make them perfect at Pilates, nor the bodybuilder bad at it. Rather, Pilates will help them both, but in different ways. I once worked with a ballroom dance instructor who admittedly forced herself into the proper dance positions, but didn’t use her core to do it. Her back always hurt. I had to keep a close eye on her and use touch to help her find a tall posture using her core strength. To the person next to her on the mat, however, she probably looked flexible and graceful. 

In comparison, a bodybuilder can move the equipment with their brute strength which is quite impressive. However, they likely have limited mobility or lack of strength of the smaller muscles behind the big, bulging ones. 

No matter your starting point, your messy Pilates will become “cleaner” as you practice. It will all start to make sense, including why some exercises that you once thought were challenging become easier, and vice versa. As you learn to use more muscles to execute the exercises and you become more aware of how your body moves, the exercises will become harder. I still have these “aha!” moments with Pilates.

Messy Pilates is okay in my book, but dangerous Pilates is not. This is why there are modifications of the more difficult exercises to help you build up to the full versions. In some cases, you may never reach the full version, but it’s important to challenge yourself along the way to get stronger and stay interested. Perfect fitness or Pilates is never the goal, but progression is. 

Take Your Time with Strength Training

Just like with Pilates, when you start strength training you’re going to make mistakes along the way. But because you are using weights or other equipment, you need to be a bit more cautious about your form. If you have no experience working with the equipment, it’s best to get a good trainer to introduce you to it and how to use it safely. 

A good trainer will be able to offer progressions or regressions for your ability and be able to show you the proper form for movements like squats, hinges, presses, and lunges. There are great online resources if you know what to look for, and I’m always here to help. Here are some ways to ensure you’re lifting weights safely: 

• Start with lower weights or use bodyweight alone
• Do fewer reps
• Keep the exercises simple and progress to more complex movements
• Focus on control in your movements

The last tip takes me back to an embarrassing moment from the past. Well, it’s only in retrospect that it’s embarrassing because I had no idea at the time what I was doing. 

When I first started working out, I was a huge aerobics fan. You know, the high energy, high-knees, jumping around type of fitness. In 1992, a friend and I hired a coach to help us get in shape for the Canadian National Aerobics Championships. One of the workouts she gave us came with the instruction to “do it fast.” I remember my friend and I speed-lifting our weights and people kind of snickering at us. 

Oh, what we must have looked like at twenty years old swinging our weights around! We thought we were doing what the trainer had told us to do, but thinking back, I’m sure we weren’t. Live and learn! I’ve learned a lot over the years, and you will too. When it comes to strength training, getting stronger and having good mobility should be your goal, not pain, and certainly not speed. And again, with practice, you’ll get there.

Remember Your Reason for Exercising

I’ve talked about comparison in the past, and why it has no real place in your fitness journey. You should go to the gym, Pilates studio, run club, or turn on your home workout to get better than you were before. For yourself! Your endgame shouldn’t be about being faster or bendier than the person next to you, because they have different goals than you. 

The reason that I lift weights and do Pilates is so that I feel better in my daily life. I run and cycle because I enjoy them as hobbies. And all of them make me feel stronger and more confident in trying new things, like the “snowshoe grind” on Grouse Mountain. It was tough, but I wasn’t afraid to try because I knew I could tackle the challenge. 

Now I want to know… What challenges do you want to tackle? What goals is fitness helping you reach? I bet it isn’t achieving perfect fitness, but to feel and do better.