High intensity is not a requirement of a good workout

A “good” workout cannot be measured in sweat or muscle soreness. It is subjective and changes based on your needs. All movement can be “good” and “valid” just because it brings you joy. 

Recently, I have been taking a pilates class as a form of ACTIVE recovery. This is still an activity and it is still working my body. Active recovery is good if you still have gas in the tank. Full rest days are good for when you are recovering from sickness, injury, or being completely overworked. Knowing the difference between these things can be crucial for your performance and how you feel!

During pilates, I found myself wincing as I did tiny circles with my legs and heavy my hips into the floor. I felt like I actively had to remember to breathe, otherwise, I would hold my breath and tense up my body. I did not sweat, my fitness tracker watch didn't explode from all the burn, and I didn’t feel an exercise high. I just moved my body intuitively and felt warm and connected. That made me think about how many people think that the only “good workout” is the intense, pounding-the-floor, high impact, sweaty mess session. 

I was recently asked to contribute to a piece suggesting the best home workouts and I purposely picked one HIIT workout (that provided ample variations) and one pilates workout. Not every single workout needs to take you to the brink of death. And a lot of folks never really slow down enough to check in with their bodies, their breath, and any areas that may need extra attention. 

I have been to so many 60 people, dark rooms, music blasting fitness classes where the seasoned veterans of the class have zero mind-body awareness. I have seen people throw themselves down in burpees with no engagement, heave themselves into crunches while their pelvic floor chills out, and curl weights at lightning speed while their arms are like rubber. This is not an attack on them, it is more a warning to them. With big, intense classes, the teacher does not have the time and bandwidth to correct everyone's form. A teacher can cue engagement nonstop but in a speedy, intense class, there is no real-time for quality control. 

I have had strong, strong people come to my barre classes, which are low impact, and almost quit. These are people who consistently do exercise that I would consider more “intense” than barre. Slow and deliberate movement can be extremely difficult. Engagement and concentration can be intense in a completely different way that doesn’t torch 1000 calories. 

The truth is, intensity means something different for everyone, most people are not immediately great at everything, and intensity is not required.