I can still remember first “learning” to workout, back in my undergraduate school days. I would go to the college armory every night and teach myself how to lift weights then run round and round the track for cardio exercise. Mind you, at that time, I knew of no authenticated distinction between cardio and strength training and how best to complement one with the other.

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Come to think of it, I don’t even think our school armory had cardio equipment of which to speak. After all, it was the still the late 80’s, and although the fitness craze of Olivia Newton-John “getting physical” was finally fizzling, it was still a few years before high-tech elliptical trainers, recumbent bikes, and supercharged treadmills overtook the world. In fact, it was back when “cardio” was a term you read in a Muscle & Fitness magazine but not a term known throughout mainstream America. “Aerobics” was still a catch-all phrase for exercise, and even though Richard Simmons did his best to convince men that they, too, could and should aerobic-ize, men still focused primarily on weight training while women were left to bounce around in colorful leg warmers and leotards to do their aerobic training.

Despite the limited information made available to the general population, it only made sense in my mind to balance the two kinds of working out – strength and cardio. It just seemed natural to me and at no time did I consider it an option to do one and not the other. It was only years and umpteen “scientific studies” later that it became common knowledge that a comprehensive fitness program includes both cardio and strength workouts – even for men.

Since those early days of dabbling with my physical fitness development, I have not only become a die-hard gym rat but, more importantly, I have remained a huge believer in continuing to do what feels natural to me, following what my body tells me feels “right.” It was only when my doctor once commented that he rarely meets a patient so in-tune with her body that I realized not everyone is programmed like I am. Not everyone “listens” to the signals their body is sending or “reads” what their body wants/needs to grow.

Not everyone can differentiate between a “good hurt” and a “bad hurt” – the kind of discomfort caused by muscular growth pains versus the kind caused by improper technique or, even worse, injury. Instead, people treat their own bodies like third parties that they can “outsource” to personal trainers, or that they can load with “magic” supplements and have “fixed” by people and pills that don’t have .01% the insight into what their bodies need as the individuals do themselves… if only they’d learn to listen!

Now Please Don’t Misunderstand. I Am Not A Trainer-Hater. In Fact, I Am Studying For My Certification Now!

And I am definitely not a supplement-hater. Heck, I jokingly refer to myself as the guinea pig for supplement science! I get a rush from reading about new product releases and, after examining all ingredients and considering whether they will work for me (knowing historical responses I have had to certain ingredients in the past), I am the first in line to order the latest and greatest product if I think it might help!

However, I do believe the fitness industry would reap huge long-term rewards if, rather than promoting band-aids to people so they can lose 5 pounds on a cookie diet or tighten their cellulite with a potion or lotion for one afternoon (which often leaves the buyers disillusioned and pessimistic when the band-aid comes off), it went one level deeper and started marketing the art of listening to its audience. Once people start listening to their own bodies, the value that personal trainers, supplement companies, and umpteen other fitness-related service/product providers can add would increase ten-fold.

One size does not fit all in fitness. That applies to workouts as well as to nutrition. Good personal trainers always recognize that no two people have the same bodies and respond in the same way to identical exercises. In fact, some people may have adverse responses to an exercise that other people’s muscles love, simply because of the way their unique musculoskeletal systems are designed and how they are able to perform the technique required. Likewise, one fat burner may do wonders for one person but do nothing for another.

There is no limitation to the variations that can be offered by trainers and supplement companies to meet individuals’ fitness goals and needs. The crucial distinction is that, once people are encouraged to listen to themselves, trainers, supplements, and other fitness products become add-on’s to the fundamental bedrock that is the person’s body and the potential for long-term success multiplies for the individual as well as for the supporting cast of goods and services! The loyalty established between consumers and the suppliers of products and services that align with individuals’ needs and actually produce results would be intense.

A complaint expressed by many of today’s fitness industry consumers is that the choices among competing products are often overwhelming and confusing. If encouraged to listen to their bodies and better understand the signals being sent BEFORE enlisting the help of supplemental products and services, consumers would become less confused and intimidated. They would be educated about their own selves and better able to find solutions that meet their needs.

Furthermore, in this scenario, no one is professing to be able to magically swap one body out for another, and no one is professing to know the exact formula that will work best for the individual without trial and error. No one is set-up to be disappointed, each person remains accountable for him/herself, and a new network of overall support becomes available to the person as he/she continues on his/her quest for tuning into what the unique body truly needs.

Some might consider this approach to fitness to be somewhat holistic or new-age. I don’t like to label things. I think of the approach as simply being logical. We were each given a unique body. It’s our obligation to care for that body. Who understands this body better than its owner – i.e., us? No one. Once we tap into that understanding and start listening, the fitness industry should be there to support us in our quest to give our body all the things it needs – guidance on exercise, nutrition, rest, etc. And as we work in synchronicity with our bodies, supported by the fitness world and all its latest technology, we can only expect to continue seeing growth and progress in ourselves. We will become what we envision and what we know deep down that our bodies can be.

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