We’re all so spoilt for choice these days with a variety of fitness classes like Spinning, Bouncing, MMA, HIIT and CrossFit workouts etc that we rarely stop to think about the purpose of the workout.

Intent and purpose mean very different things. While the intent could be weight loss, to build muscle or cardiovascular fitness, your purpose should be to do it at a cellular level so as to develop body intelligence. What I mean by body intelligence is : to become aware of your movements as you exercise. It is being mindful of your movements, slowing down these movements and practicing them to achieve mastery over your moves. It is owning your movements and not progressing till you do so. 

Scientifically, owning your moves helps develop the right myelination. Myelin is a fatty sheath which surrounds each axon (Axons are grouped in a bundle to form nerves). An axon is a nerve cell that conducts electrical impulses known as action potentials away from the nerve cell body. These impulses are what gets your muscular skeletal system to move.

When you are unaware of your musculoskeletal dysfunctions/imbalances or when you are not paying attention to your movements, you are actually reinforcing bad movement patterns. Once you’ve developed myelination for this bad movement pattern, it becomes harder to correct them. In order to do so, you’ll need to regress your moves and possibly start from scratch, building from a foundational level. Exercise is a conscious effort so pay attention to your moves.

There’s nothing wrong with executing an exercise or movement slowly as long as you have mental acquity. Stay focused…feel each move and OWN IT!

Ann-Marie Pereira