Admittedly, I had some apprehension about participating in the Move Better Series.  Let’s face it, I’m no athlete or weightlifter, I’m a woman in my late (ahem..) 40s who likes to play outside a bit, but not go extreme.  How can I participate without embarrassing myself?  What if I can’t do the exercises?  But, with Darcy’s encouragement (prodding), I signed up and I’m glad I did.  One of the many things I love about this program is that it lets me scale my movements to suit my abilities and meet my body where it’s at.   

To scale means to take an exercise or movement pattern and make it easier or harder based on your abilities.  Scaling allows me to make gains and work the same muscles as my younger, swole teammates.  Sometimes my scaling looks like decreasing my weight, lowering my reps, or hanging on the bar vs doing a full pull-up.  Even though I’m scaling, I still get in a good workout because burpees, for example, are brutal no matter what scale you are at! 

Sometimes, after I’ve done the daily check-in through the TrainHeroic app, assessing my sleep, energy, attitude and soreness, I realize that I’m feeling pretty good and probably should dial up and make the jump to something more challenging.  While you may not see me doing handstand pushups in the near future, I can do a pike pushup which makes me proud!  As Max and Darcy say, “hop aboard the gain train!”  Those days feel great and boost my confidence! 

My point is scaling is a great way to put yourself out there and it makes the programmed workouts accessible for everyone. I’m not afraid to try movements now because I’m learning how to scale them. It sometimes can be thought of as a negative thing but for me, it has gotten me out of my comfort zone, and I started seeing gains after just one month.  My knees feel better and I can’t wait to crush that hiking trip in March and be able to keep up with my kids.  So, if you are at all apprehensive about starting the Move Better program or any workout routine, I encourage you to dive in, hop aboard the gain train and learn how to find your scale.  You won’t regret it. 

                                                                                                                  -Your fellow athlete, Jen Sestrich