Finding joy in movement means understanding what moves you.

It means understanding that you are a unique individual with your own desires, likes, dislikes, abilities, and limitations. The practice of respectfully listening to our bodies can guide us on our fitness journeys.

As a Size-Inclusive Fitness Specialist, I know that we all must respect the signals our body sends – from tiredness to exhilaration – by acknowledging how far we can push ourselves physically while still being mindful of our limitations.

Principle #5 of Joyful Movement invites us to pay attention to what serves us best in any given moment and make those choices accordingly – without forcing or pushing beyond comfort levels or abilities.

Prefer to listen?  Check out this episode of The Joyful Movement Show to hear me speak on this topic.

Respect Your Limitations

We’d all love to think we’re iron women.

That we can do anything that we set our mind to, no matter what, with no hesitation, and while the sentiment is true, we’re also human beings with human limitations. 

Getting motivated to exercise or beginning a daily movement practice can be a major struggle for many, while there are people on the opposite side of the fence. Where maybe they exercise too much, push themselves too hard, and set too big goals that are unrealistic and realistically unachievable. There is a fine line between challenging ourselves and going too far, and overtraining and understanding where that line is can be hard to find. But finding it and living from it is one of the most important aspects of finding, what I call “joyful movement.”  As a Size-Inclusive Fitness Specialist, I myself have learned the lessons of respecting my own limitations. It wasn’t until I learned to listen to my body, figure out what my own strengths and weaknesses were, and discovered what I actually enjoyed doing and what my actual goal was (which is really just a consistent movement habit) that I was able to find joy in movement. Doing so has changed my life.

Respecting your limitations means meeting yourself where you’re at and progressing toward your goals in a safe body-respecting way and providing your body rest and recovery time. It means knowing what you’re capable of and also what injuries or mobility constraints you have; having a clear vision of where you want to go with your fitness and why then taking the appropriate action to get there.

7 Signs You May be Overtraining and NOT Respecting Your Limitations

Through this journey, it can be difficult to figure out if you are respecting your limitations or not. Here are some signs that you may be overworking and not respecting your limitations:

Workouts that you’d normally be able to do feel unusually hard.

That’s a sign that you haven’t given adequate time to recover, and you’re starting to see a decline in your overall fitness. For example, if you can normally run five kilometers and that’s easy for you, but lately your legs feel like lead and you have to just plow through it- that’s a red flag.

You have trouble falling asleep, or staying asleep.

This means that your sympathetic nervous system is still working even when you’re trying to rest and that’s a major sign of overtraining. It can also indicate that your stress levels are high.So if you’re tossing and turning in bed or you’re waking in the middle of the night, that could be a sign that you’re overtraining.

You Feel Pain or Stiffness in the Limbs or Joints.

If you already have a diagnosed injury, you must keep yourself safe and prevent further damage. You should be listening to the advice of your MD or physio and working within the parameters that they’ve set for you. If you have the belief that you just need to push through it that’s the whole, “no pain, no gain” belief (and you should probably revisit Principle #3 of Joyful Movement- Just Say No to Punishment.  This way of thinking gets you hurt. However, if you’re noticing an increase in pain in a preexisting injury or muscle soreness that’s extreme or frequent or new aches or pains, that’s your warning sign that you’ve overdone it. Remember the goal here should always be to get better, to make progress. Injuries happen from time to time, but hopefully, they’re just a fluke or the result of some accident or mishap, not a result of your daily movement.

You Feel Moodier and Constantly Tired

Movement is supposed to make us feel good due to the high level of endorphins and dopamine released and circulating in your body. After a workout, it’s supposed to be a good feeling. But if you’re not getting that anymore, or if you feel like napping after every exercise session or worse, you just dread the thought of getting up to do it in the first place- it’s probably time to scale down a little bit.

You Frequently Crave Sugar

Now I’m not saying at all that sugar is a bad thing. As a nutritionist who practices intuitive eating, I really believe there are no good or bad foods. Go ahead and eat sweet things to your heart’s content. But, if you find yourself craving it or are ravenously hungry due to upping your exercise intensity, that’s a sign that your body’s depleted and starving. Cravings result from restriction or insufficient nutrition to meet our energy expenditure. Failing to fuel your exercise is super risky. 

You Get Sick More Often

There are many reasons that a person could get sick, but exercise shouldn’t be one of them. Movement is known to be one of life’s natural immune boosters, but over-exercising can deplete the immune system and make it harder for your body to ward off illness. If you’re getting cold after cold and that’s not normal for you, that’s a sign you could be overtraining.

You are Gaining Weight

I absolutely do not believe that exercise should be used as a way to control or shrink our bodies. I know you’ve heard me talk about this. It’s totally normal for weight to fluctuate from time to time, and I don’t think focusing on weight or even weighing ourselves does anything to help us. However, if you find yourself feeling like your clothes are getting tighter, even though you’re exercising a lot and eating reasonably, that could be a sign that your body is stressed.

Respecting Your Limitations means Respecting Your Body

Respecting your limitations starts with respecting your body. Here are a few ways that you can show your body some respect:

• Nurture a relationship with yourself. 

• • • Consider the needs of your whole being, not just your physical body. Your mental, spiritual, and emotional health matter as well. What level of intensity allows you to feel your best and give your best in all of those areas? 

• Take a minute and rethink your goals around fitness. 

• • • Get really clear on what’s important to you, and why. What are you actually wanting to gain from your daily movement practice? Is it possible you’re already fit enough? Do you need to keep progressing? And if yes, why? How will getting stronger or faster or more flexible, better nourish your whole self and help you become the person you desire to be? 

• Scan your body before each movement session.

• • • Ask yourself “what is the most respectful choice for my body today?” It’s okay to have a training plan, but if following it rigidly causes you to dread working out or causes you to push through pain or discomfort, or ignore your need for rest, then it’s not respectful. Try to do a body scan at the beginning of your workout, maybe while doing some mobility warm-ups. The whole purpose is just to connect with our body, and take a moment to notice how you feel so that you can set your intention. Then at the end of your session, check in to see if the intention you set at the beginning was met.

• Consult a professional if movement is causing pain. 

• • • If you’re injured or have physical limitations of some sort, you need to figure out how to move your body without pain. So maybe you need to consult a sports medicine doctor or a physiotherapist or a personal trainer, who’s trained in working with injuries to find ways to move that don’t hurt. I honestly believe that movement is needed and available to everybody. There are so many fun, challenging, and interesting ways to move, no matter what obstacle you’re up against.

• You need to know that your limitations don’t mean anything about you. 

• • We all have limitations. None of us are excellent at everything, and we all have setbacks. Choosing to believe that there’s something wrong with you or that you’re less than if you’re not the best or that you deserved it if you got injured, is only going to set you down a path of using exercise as punishment. Respecting your limitations also means respecting yourself, even if you’re not where you want to be in life or in your fitness. If you wish to grow and improve, you deserve to treat yourself with respect in the current moment.

If you’re exercising at a level that is right for you, you will notice that you’re getting stronger and faster, your daily living activities seem easier, you get great sleep, wake feeling well-rested, and you’re able to focus on tasks, make decisions and communicate well. 

If you are experiencing any sort of chronic pain, feeling excessive fatigue, or just generally run down- it may be time to take a step back and reassess your training. Your body is constantly communicating with you and it’s important that we learn to listen to its needs. Learn to respect your limitations in order to stay safe and prevent injuries. 

If this blog post has left you feeling inspired to get started on your own fitness journey but not sure where to start, contact us at Radiant Vitality. As a Size-Inclusive Fitness Specialist, I offer intuitive eating and body image coaching as well as online personal training services.