I know I should exercise but...

I’m a health coach and I don’t exercise.

I do do 'movement.' I have prioritized, flexibility, mobility and body alignment a lá biomechanics with Katy Bowman. In her book, I Know I Should Exercise But (with Diana Hill), they, ironically, don’t name my particular excuse, that is, I’ve been afraid to move into macro-exercising (cardio and strength training) because I so often see and hear stories of how ‘conventional’ exercise can be as damaging as helpful. I have had many conversations over the last decade with older people who walked loads, exercised, trained and engaged in sport in their younger years and ended up wrecking their body in the process. Then there are those who didn't exercise in any way who are crumbling into old age in a different way. And then there are the middle grounders who just stayed active in their day-to-day living where they were just always moving while going about their day. They seem to have fared a lot better and yet they could be safer in their bodies. They are good as they are but if they have one injury in old age they are not likely to fully recover and then decline sharply. This is all anecdotal observations, of course, but also, this is what shapes my perception of 'exercise' and my motivation to engage. Then I learned about hypermobility, accidentally, and this changes the landscape of exercising even more.

Not overlooking the fact that I also find traditional exercise mindnumbingly boring (an understatement). This is where Katy-style biomechanics really bridged the gap of my wanting to be an 'exerciser' for health and wellness but I'm unable to get my brain to pay attention to doing anything I actively dislike for lack of having something to for my brain to do. (I live in my head. A big reason it feels important to build a lifestyle that supports my body.) Biomechanics gets into the nuance of using the entire body to engage in one activity. There is no space to be bored. So finding this niche approach to exercise was huge for me and now I need to be able to bring what I learn through biomechanics into the cardio and strength training applications bearing hypermobility in mind as I go. Who has got time to work this out before starting the exercise-for-health lifestyle? So, this is my main excuse for taking a decade to get to today. The day I start the macro exercising lifestyle.