Your body feels off. You’re starting to make comments about being “old.” Here’s what showing up consistently actually changes.
If you’re like many people and sit at a desk most of the day, you might have noticed that your body just doesn’t feel the way it used to, you are not imagining it. The stiffness, low energy, and that general sense of sluggishness was not there a few years ago. For most people, the change is pretty simple – you just stopped moving as much.
This article is not about motivation. It’s about what is actually happening in your body, and what structured fitness classes can do to reverse it.
When your body starts feeling off, inactivity is often the reason
Your body is built to move. Muscles and joints stay functional when they are used regularly, and start to feel stiff and weak when they are not. This is not your a character flaw! It is just your body working exactly as it has evolved.
Your body adapts to what you ask it to do. If you spend most of your day in a chair, it will adapt to that. Muscles shorten and tighten around the positions that you hold most often. Joints that do not move through their full range of motion gradually start to be more restricted. Over time, the physical capacity you built up earlier in life quietly declines. Many people attribute that to age (“Oh, I’m just getting old”), but for the most part, it’s because you stopped asking your body to maintain that capacity
What sitting for long hours does to your muscles and energy level
Most people understand that muscles stiffen up when they stay in the same position for hours at a time. What is perhaps less obvious is what happens to your circulation.
Blood and lymph circulation are partly driven by muscle contraction. When your muscles are not contracting (working as pumps essentially), that circulation slows down. Waste products move less efficiently, oxygen delivery is reduced, and your body starts to feel heavy and slow. This is why you may feel drained at the end of a desk-heavy day… even though you haven’t done anything physically demanding.
The energy piece is a bit counterintuitive. You have to burn energy through exercise in order to have more energy available during the rest of your day. It sounds backwards, but it’s a real thing. Regular physical activity improves how efficiently your body produces and uses energy at a cellular level. Sitting more does not conserve energy. It just makes your system less capable of generating it.
On the mental side, being more physically active and knowing you are strong and capable – that knowledge also makes you feel more energetic and ready tackle your day.
Our group fitness classes help you achieve this physical reset
Working out on your own when you have been inactive for a while is harder than it sounds, and we talk to many, many people who have experienced this. The struggle is real! Your body has inertia, if you will, and it would rather keep sitting on the couch… at least until you get back in the groove and start building some momentum. Working out on your own, your motivation is likely inconsistent, and the constant starting and stopping makes it harder to build momentum. Knowing WHAT to do in the gym is also important, and many people feel they don’t have enough knowledge to put together their own workouts. Most typical gyms may give you a quick orientation session to show you the machines, but you don’t have a coach there every day to help you with your technique and provide motivation.
Humans tend to be social beings. The group format helps you get past the initial resistance of starting, because you all have a shared goal. When other people are moving alongside you, it is easier to push through a tough workout than it would be alone in a gym or at home. The energy boost is real!
We provide your daily workouts, and we have knowledgeable coaches who can help you work around physical issues, and modify workouts and movements to suit your abilities on that day. As we say… “Scaling isn’t failing!” We adapt your workout, you stay healthy and uninjured, and you come back the next day ready and able to make more progress.
What to expect after working out consistently for your first few weeks
Within two to three weeks of consistent fitness classes, most people notice that their workouts are starting to feel easier. The movements that felt awkward or exhausting in week one are becoming more manageable. You’re not an expert yet, but you’re on the path to improvement! Outside the gym, you’ll find that your daily energy levels start to improve.
This is not a dramatic overnight shift – it is a gradual recalibration. Your circulation improves, your muscles start to loosen and strengthen, and your body starts to adapt to the new demands being placed on it. In the grand scheme of your life and training, 2-3 weeks is not a long time, but it’s enough to feel a real difference if you are showing up consistently. The real magic happens when you maintain that consistency over months and… dare we say it… years! But let’s start small.
Expect some initial soreness, particularly in the first week or two. Your muscles are being asked to work in ways they have not for a while, and they will let you know about it. This is normal and it passes.
If you are a former athlete, don’t go into this expecting that you will perform at the level you were at years ago. That is not your starting point. The starting point is where you are now, and the classes are designed to meet you there. Your body will adapt with time.
How do you know if you’re ready to start?
If you are ready to commit some time and energy to this process, and you’re okay with getting at least somewhat uncomfortable… you are ready. That is genuinely the bar. You don’t need to be fit to start fitness classes. You don’t need to have your diet sorted out, your sleep perfect, or your stress levels all under control. You just need to be willing to show up and put in the effort.
Exercise is referred to as a keystone habit, meaning that if you get that in place first, other aspects of your lifestyle will start to fall in line.
If all this sounds like where you are, reach out to us at CrossFit Steinbach. We can take it from there.
