Happy New Year everyone, and thank you all for the warm welcome back these past few months! 🥰
Lately I’ve been reflecting on how much our relationship with fitness can shift and evolve over time - and how that’s actually such a gift. Fitness is one of those rarer things in life that can constantly adapt and meet us where we’re at. Throughout different seasons, it shows up and serves different purposes. During my pregnancy, it allowed me grace when I needed to prioritize rest. More intensive cardio didn’t feel aligned so I leaned into various types of strength training that felt good on my growing body. Early postpartum, I was drawn to short, restorative routines and loooved foundational strength training to build back a baseline level of strength across my body. Now, 10 months postpartum, my workouts have lengthened again, I’m feeling comfortable diving into more advanced progressions, and surprisingly, I’m craving cardio again!
Although I felt resistant to the changes at times, feeling like the familiar was slipping from my grasp, it was teaching me this beautiful lesson that fitness, much like life, isn’t static. It’s not supposed to always look a certain way, and just because life was putting my energy into different places, that didn’t mean it was going to feel different forever! Our bodies, energy, and needs shift, and that’s normal. It means we’re adapting, growing, and responding to what life is asking of us. As I read comments, I also think many of you have felt this in your own ways. We all go through seasons when routine feels predictable and dialed in, and seasons when everything feels unfamiliar. But every shift has something to teach us. Sometimes we gain strength in new places even while we’re still rebuilding in others. Here’s to trusting the journey, showing up in a way that supports the season we’re in, and allowing fitness to evolve us!
A Quick Note About Weights in My Workouts
You might notice something shifting in my videos - I’ll be sharing my exact weights less often. I know many of you like knowing the specific weights I’m using “for reference,” and I totally understand that. It can feel helpful when you’re learning how to gauge your own system in knowing what weights to choose for various workouts and exercises. Over time, though, I’ve realized that sharing exact numbers isn’t fully aligned with my coaching philosophy. I can still share them next to the exercises in the written workout, but in the video itself, you’ll hear me refer more to categories like light, medium, or heavy as opposed to bringing the focus to a specific number. Let me explain why:
I want you to build your own internal reference point. The most effective training happens when you choose weights based on your body, not mine.
My weights change, sometimes drastically. Pregnancy, postpartum, tiredness, my own goals at the time, and general life shifts all affect what I pick up on any given day. When my numbers fluctuate, I don’t want it to throw off your sense of what’s appropriate for you.
Numbers can unintentionally create pressure or comparison. There’s no “right” weight to match. The right weight is whatever challenges you with safe, solid form. That’s what’s most empowering and will move you forward!
Usinglight/medium/heavy gives you a consistent framework that adapts to your strength level. So, you’re still going to get guidance, just not such a granular number that might shift your focus away from your own body’s cues. As a trainer, I feel a responsibility to help you develop the skill of choosing your own weights. That skill will serve you far longer than matching whatever I happen to be lifting on camera that day. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this - if there’s anything else you feel would help you gauge weights more accurately, let’s work on that together!
One last thing is a reminder that the order in which I film content is not the order in which it publishes. There are different lines of content creation that go on around here between programs/challenges, daily release/stand-alone workouts and then the coordination of those publishing among us trainers. Sometimes content is sitting “on deck” for a few months before it shows up for you! From reading different comments, I think some people have picked up on that but wanted to be transparent 😃
Ok that is all, thank you all for being the great people you are! It’s a pleasure to work among this supportive community. You know I’ll see you soon in another workout!
Evolving Fitness - an Update!
Happy New Year everyone, and thank you all for the warm welcome back these past few months! 🥰
Lately I’ve been reflecting on how much our relationship with fitness can shift and evolve over time - and how that’s actually such a gift. Fitness is one of those rarer things in life that can constantly adapt and meet us where we’re at. Throughout different seasons, it shows up and serves different purposes. During my pregnancy, it allowed me grace when I needed to prioritize rest. More intensive cardio didn’t feel aligned so I leaned into various types of strength training that felt good on my growing body. Early postpartum, I was drawn to short, restorative routines and loooved foundational strength training to build back a baseline level of strength across my body. Now, 10 months postpartum, my workouts have lengthened again, I’m feeling comfortable diving into more advanced progressions, and surprisingly, I’m craving cardio again!
Although I felt resistant to the changes at times, feeling like the familiar was slipping from my grasp, it was teaching me this beautiful lesson that fitness, much like life, isn’t static. It’s not supposed to always look a certain way, and just because life was putting my energy into different places, that didn’t mean it was going to feel different forever! Our bodies, energy, and needs shift, and that’s normal. It means we’re adapting, growing, and responding to what life is asking of us. As I read comments, I also think many of you have felt this in your own ways. We all go through seasons when routine feels predictable and dialed in, and seasons when everything feels unfamiliar. But every shift has something to teach us. Sometimes we gain strength in new places even while we’re still rebuilding in others. Here’s to trusting the journey, showing up in a way that supports the season we’re in, and allowing fitness to evolve us!
A Quick Note About Weights in My Workouts
You might notice something shifting in my videos - I’ll be sharing my exact weights less often. I know many of you like knowing the specific weights I’m using “for reference,” and I totally understand that. It can feel helpful when you’re learning how to gauge your own system in knowing what weights to choose for various workouts and exercises. Over time, though, I’ve realized that sharing exact numbers isn’t fully aligned with my coaching philosophy. I can still share them next to the exercises in the written workout, but in the video itself, you’ll hear me refer more to categories like light, medium, or heavy as opposed to bringing the focus to a specific number. Let me explain why:
Using light/medium/heavy gives you a consistent framework that adapts to your strength level. So, you’re still going to get guidance, just not such a granular number that might shift your focus away from your own body’s cues. As a trainer, I feel a responsibility to help you develop the skill of choosing your own weights. That skill will serve you far longer than matching whatever I happen to be lifting on camera that day. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this - if there’s anything else you feel would help you gauge weights more accurately, let’s work on that together!
One last thing is a reminder that the order in which I film content is not the order in which it publishes. There are different lines of content creation that go on around here between programs/challenges, daily release/stand-alone workouts and then the coordination of those publishing among us trainers. Sometimes content is sitting “on deck” for a few months before it shows up for you! From reading different comments, I think some people have picked up on that but wanted to be transparent 😃
Ok that is all, thank you all for being the great people you are! It’s a pleasure to work among this supportive community. You know I’ll see you soon in another workout!
xxErica