I will admit that this weekend my body has been sore. The good kind of sore.

Here’s Why

I did an intense series of “leg exercises” the other day at the local YMCA.

I put leg exercises in quotations because it wasn’t a generic squat or machine-driven leg exercise that most people would do at the gym.

It was a potpouri of balance and counterbalance movement, lunging, squatting, as well as some very primal crawling movements thrown in for good measure that challenged my trunk musculature while my legs were being asked to be fully present and active.

It definitely felt amazing at the time…and now I’m feeling that delayed onset muscle soreness. Ouch!

The good thing is that there isn’t any sharp pain in my joints or asymmetrical soreness in my muscles.  This means that I’ve exercised in a way that is functional, healthy and balanced.

A Little History First

It was around 2005 when I first noticed this kind of symmetrical and pleasant muscle soreness after a similarly intense workout. I was in the second year of my training in The Feldenkrais Method and decided to visit the local recreation centre for a workout to try out my new-found body awareness.

It was a pivotal moment as I finally felt that my body was working for me and not against me.

I also have to add that before this time I was trained as a personal trainer and my major in university was Exercise Science – meaning, I did know my stuff and I “thought” I knew what good fitness was and how to teach it. How little did I know back then!

When your self-awareness is online and you don’t workout against yourself it means you are taking the steps towards real body conditioning.

There is a type of good fatigue that comes after a challenging workout, a soreness that is required for your body to grow and get stronger, and then there is a different kind of pain and stiffness that comes from faulty use of your body.

I get a feeling that most people are living with this latter kind of experience after a challenging workout.

When I look around at the gym I see so many people harming and damaging their joints. They think they are doing good for themselves, and yes many may argue that at least they are doing something, and yes, I would agree with that.

But remember, they may be improving their cardiovascular fitness, and burning off those calories, and they are also slowly killing their joints.

Wouldn’t it be amazing to exercise and keep your joints healthy and in good working order?

If you’d like to experience this kind of functional body conditioning, or if perhaps you already do this, then post a comment below.

I’d love to hear from you.

For more reading on this topic check out this article I wrote a while back.

Irene.