This intuitive training explainer is part of Street Smarts, FLEETSTREET’s series where we, with an unvarnished eye, explore the who, what, where, when and why of new trends.
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When my doc, my physiotherapist, my chiropractor and my massage therapist ask me about my workouts, they don’t usually like my answer: A bit of this, a bit of that. Often they see it as wishy-washy, mostly due to my delivery, and prescribe me to do more weights. But when my osteopath asked me the same question, we talked about why my workouts were all over the place.
My glutes like barre. My shoulders appreciate ballet. My legs nudged me for bodyweight and dumbbell workouts. And whenever I feel fatigued from muscle compensation, I take a yoga class. For good measure, I throw in a spin class for cardio. And with my good Canadian manners, I apologize for my lack of what I perceived as consistency.
“That’s alright,” she said. “You’re doing what’s called ‘auto-regulated exercise’.” Yup, I was intuitive training.
What is intuitive exercise?
Also called auto-regulated fitness and movement, intuitive training is about your body telling you how to exercise. “Auto-regulation is a process that is used to manipulate training based primarily on the measurement of an individual’s performance or their perceived capability to perform,” according to the research journal Sports Medicine. And it’s been considered a “fitness framework” since the 1940s.
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Are you intuitive?
Ever really, really wanted to do a certain type of exercise?
I’m not talking about what types of workouts you lean toward, like whether you’re a Pilates princess or not.
Although from my experience, it can feel like you’re choosing workouts by your physical and emotional mood when you’re starting out with intuitive training.
Ever had a thirst for the small movements of barre, the precise tension and stretch of Pilates, or the all-out exertion of weights? Or can you picture the feeling of your legs pounding the pavement before you tie up your laces for a run? Or do you long for the feeling of space in your body after a yoga class?
“Energy and tiredness can be part of it, but there are other things to look at as well,” says Vancouver trainer and kinesiologist David Zhong, of NYC-based fitnessrefined.co. He points says to look how an exercise feels, whether you have control of your movements, and whether you underperform compared to previous sessions.
And, all types of fitness, from Pilates to running, from yoga to HIIT and functional training, all work and all have their physical and mental benefits. And yes, you can do it all.
If it works for you, of course. Ariel Swan, head of product and co-founder at Jaybird, with locations in Toronto and Vancouver, says, “The questions I would ask are: ‘Does this feel good in my body?’ ‘Is it something I enjoy and can sustain?’ ‘Am I finding balance between challenging myself and taking time to rest and recover?’ Ultimately, it’s about listening to your body and recognizing that what we need changes from day to day and as we age.”
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Is your personal trainer intuitive?
Kind of. They definitely ask questions to find out what your body is feeling and what it needs, even if you aren’t necessarily in tune with it. According to Brenden Millstein of pickitup.ai, he asks clients three things to figure out just that.
- Are you injured? Do you get pain when working out?
- Why are you working out?
- What equipment do you have access to?
If you’re wanting someone to be your intuitive exercise translator, seek out someone who asks lots of questions and responds to your answers.
I’ve also worked with instructors who come around to each person in the class, ask how they’re feeling, and adjust the class format to suit everyone. Not all trainers do that, but those are the classes I often return to.
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How I use intuitive training with at-home and group fitness classes
After a collarbone injury resulted in frozen shoulder, I could not lift a blanket off of myself, let alone a weight. But with the urge to break my shoulder free, I did ballet workouts on YouTube and later at InStudio, along side physio of course. As my light hand-weight sessions evolved into ones with dumbbells, I could feel the time was right for impact. So, I signed up for boxing classes at Rumble.
But I also use it to work other muscles, joints and even energy levels. As a health editor (and a Yes Person), I’ve tried and repeated many, many types of workouts. So I dig deep into how I feel after certain movements.
When I’m feeling tight, especially in the hips, I take a yoga class that also encourages movement in my spine. Sometimes my legs feel empty or sluggish and my hips feel off balance, so I take a lower-body class. When my neck is tight, I foam roll my lats.
I know what the results should be. But I also try new things when my body is open to it, to learn more. It’s like I have this mental spreadsheet of how my body feels after something, so when I’m looking for something to do, I seek what my body is coveting.
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The pros of intuitive training
A big pro for me has been filling in the gap from being released from caring for my shoulder to working out like normal after the injury. Since I just couldn’t jump into a Hyrox or CrossFit class, I had to listen to my body to keep it happy and safe.
I can recognize the difference between good “pain” and bad pain. DOMS (delayed-onset muscle soreness) is that tightness after a workout that can sometimes impede movement.
For me the muscles just need recovery and gentle movement. Then there’s the good burn of a stretch (never pushing it of course. Bad pain can be an early tell the body is doing too much or is injured, like a sprained muscle or broken bone. Good: dull, releasing. Bad: sharp, stabbing, throbbing, with or without swelling or bruising.
“Intuitive training can be incredibly beneficial because it allows you to modify your training to account for what your body is dealing with,” says Zhong, adding that can come from feeling overly sore, a lack of sleep, or not having a lot of energy.
Making modifications helps promote consistency and avoid excessive stress on your body when it needs more recovery. (So I wasn’t as inconsistent as I thought!)
“Say, for example, a weight feels significantly harder than it used to, or you find it more challenging to perform an exercise with good technique and form; it might be a good idea to scale down the load or switch exercises. Muscle soreness that influences range of motion and/or movement patterns can also be an indicator as can sleep quality and recovery in general.”
The big picture matters, too. Training intuitively means reacting to patterns. If recovery and/or your physical performance is declining and what challenges you have changed, “it might be a good idea to make some changes in your training to ensure sensible, long-term progress and continued strength gains.”
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The cons of intuitive training
One big con, according to that same Sports Medicine article mentioned above, is the lack of structure. And not just from planned workouts, but how it’s used, including academic terminology, broad study, and more. But individualizing and personalizing workouts is widely accepted, according to the same researchers.
Other issues can come up around understanding your body’s tells. What if you got it wrong? You could get injured, skip workouts, stall at plateaus, and more. The body does like to be comfortable, too, right?
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Training intuitively
“There will always be a new workout promising to be the next best thing, but the most important thing is to listen to your body,” says Swan. “Some days you might want the challenge of a strength or reformer class; other days, a slower practice with breathwork or deep stretching.”
You know the saying, “the best workout is the one you actually do”? What if we tweaked that to “the best workout is the one your body is nudging you to do”
That’s how I’m looking at my workout regime now. And I think my body is OK with it.