HOLD YOUR POSITION. It is easy to believe that you have to be in motion to be actively making progress, but it is simply not true. Take the example of isometric exercises. When someone says "strength training", they are often referring to weight rooms and barbell squats or bench presses. Those things do matter BUT they are not the foundation of strength. There are plenty of people who can lift weights but they can't lift hold up their own body for an extended period in a fixed position. It takes lots of skill and inner strength to keep your muscles activated without elongation and contraction. But practicing this consistently makes your entire body get stronger and builds endurance for stability with heavier weights.
If you skip the step of building foundational muscle endurance, you run the risk of injury or causing your bones and muscles to develop improperly. Suddenly have joint pains or body aches that you struggle to fix or your body doesn't move properly as you age. Life treats us the same way. When we are going through terrible or inconvenient times, we just want to skip to the end. However we are rarely afforded that luxury. We are forced over time to be temporarily stuck until we build up enough strength that we have no choice but to change position. Until we develop the skills we have to develop, we will continue to struggle to properly move to the next step. Isometric exercises are excellent for warm-ups or cool downs in your fitness journey. Your body gets leaned out and stronger with exercises like handstands, planks, bridges, and so forth, even though you can't physically see movement during the process. Where in your life can you apply isometric strength when working through your goals? Do you always need to rush to return that call before you think it through? Do you always need to punish that person or can you step back and ponder how to teach them? What is the free stuff you can get done while you build the funding for the other stuff?
In workouts and in life, we can't always be in a rush when we want to see results. It is in the resting -- the pauses, that growth happens. It can be tempting to move fast when sometimes the movement needs to be slow and controlled. Being paused doesn't mean lack of production.
When you find yourself next stressed out, set a timer for 10 -15 min of isometric strength poses. They can be variations of yoga, martial arts, dance or whatever interests you. Concentrate on the task of still strength. I promise you will more in tune with your body and more in tune with your outlook, no matter the circumstances.
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