The Reframe: Heart Rate
Ooh I've got a goodie for you today, friend! It’s time for another visit to The Reframe!
The Reframe series is devoted to reframing old performance health terms into ones that serve us in the Health Movement.
We've reframed a couple of terms here on SIO including:
Chin Up - The support and encouragement you give to your fellow babes, and receive from others.
Spotter - The person in your life whom you can trust to have your back, be real with you and pump you up when you deflate.
In that same vein, we're gonna reframe a real cringer in the fitness world today: heart rate!
Today's Reframe: Heart Rate
Have you ever heard of heart rate training? You gauge your heart rate with a monitor as you work out for the purpose of getting into certain heart rate zones that are supposed to be effective for specific benefits. There are whole gyms dedicated to this shit.If you've ever done heart rate training, you may also be familiar with:
The difficulty of keeping up with a heart rate zone that your body might not be ready for.
Feeling like shit as you get more fit because a lower resting heart rate makes it harder to reach heart rate goals (twisted, right?).
Feeling like you have to trust the numbers over what your body's telling you.
Looking for validation through metrics is downright triggering to a lot of people. Early on in my training life, I'd wear a heart rate monitor for every workout. If my heart rate wasn't in X zone for most of my workout, then I felt like a failure because I didn't work hard enough (even if I worked really freaking hard).
For many people, monitoring heart rate is just another form of external validation. If you get high enough, you're "good." If you don't, you're "lazy."
Imma say NOPE to that and I hope you'll join me. Here's how we're going to take our power back from this term.
Reclaim That Sh**
In SIO's side of the world, our focus is on empowering you with terms that help you build individual health: mind, body and spirit. To do that, we're gonna wrap one of my favorite tools into this reframe.In our balanced health world, Heart Rate is a verb and it means this:
Heart Rate is the inner process you go through to make sure you're digging the movement you're doing.
I'm a big believer in actually liking the movement you're doing. I know–radical stuff! To help you achieve a love-love relationship with movement, you're gonna Heart Rate yourself through your workout. Here's how:
Throughout your next workout, take a mindful pause every 5 minutes or so to Heart Rate where you're at.
Heart Rate yo self by asking: Am I still feeling the way I want to feel? If I continue, will I feel the way I want to feel? Do I need to slow down? Do I desire more intensity?
Then, you're going to make a choice whether or not to keep moving and how to do it from the information you discover from your Heart Rate, seeking to honor your body's needs (not what you think you're "supposed" to do).
When we push our bodies beyond their healthy limits, we not only grow to hate working out; we become more prone to injury, overtraining and burn out. Learning how to honor your body's needs is a process, and the Heart Rate is your key to making it all happen!
If you're craving a deeper connection to your body, less resistance when it comes to exercise and more self-trust, give the Heart Rate a shot.
Just last week, I was planning to do a harder cardio workout, but when I did my Heart Rate, I realized that my body was NOT feeling it that day. So I slowed down and did something a bit different. I still got my workout in and I felt a ton better than if I'd pushed myself to do what I'd planned to do just because I'd planned to do it!
So are you going to try the Heart Rate this week? Don't go it alone - join the group energy! There are 2 ways to do it:
Head on over to my Instagram post today and comment below so I can cheer you on!
Post your own pic to Instagram after doing the Heart Rate to share your experience, use #heartrate and tag @stronginsideout in the picture and caption! You could get reposted!!! Just sayin...
And if you're not a share-it-with-the-world kinda person, just pay attention to how the Heart Rate starts to affect your relationship with movement. I bet you'll start looking forward to it a lot more often! And that's what health is all about - feeling good and loving the process. Happy moving!
Hugs n' fist bumps
,Amy