Wow, I’m getting in early this month. This is basically still November. However we will be taking a break at the end of the year which is when I normally do this stuff and I want to actually take a break, not just work in a different location. Not that these are work. I love writing them of course. This is fun. Maybe I’ll write seven while I’m on holiday.

A friend of ours is staying with us at the house right now. She is kind, a tremendous cook and fun to be around. 1000% committed to her sneezes too. The other day I emerged from the bed chamber to find her in the living room with no equipment to her name except a yoga mat and portable speaker.

I was drawn to rise and come out to the room because the speaker was blasting Mr. Vain by Culture Beat – a classic worth being present for. Our intrepid friend declared that she hoped it was ok that she did a cardio workout in the living room.

Of course! And great music choice by the way. She proceeded to perform a series of moves, jumps, dance moves, some fitnessy type moves in no particular order and with no particular pattern emerging to my eyes and continued doing this to the music as it flowed, concluding her workout with Sandstorm, which is how we know she’s a keeper.

The thing that struck me, someone who makes an attempt at being an evidence based and knowledgeable fitness industry professional, is the complete lack of structure to this workout. It was freeform movement. No attention to equally moving certain muscle groups, maximising work and rest, varying intensity and heart rate (that I could see anyway). Instead someone moving their body purely in a way that resonated with them and matched their vibe. It was fantastic.

This is a welcome reminder that at times we can take things too seriously. It’s great to put a lot of thought into workouts and try and be as efficient and effective as you can. I try to do that with the workouts I offer at the gym and that I do myself, however on some level I wonder if we have lost the purity of simply moving your body? Moving your body should be fun. It should feel instincive, natural.

I feel that our friend’s workout in the living room was so good and something that I had perhaps lost sight of. Movement should be fun. We have these bodies that do all these things and turning movement into work is not always the best path forward.

I understand that sometimes you are aiming for a certain outcome, training towards a certain event and the pursuit of that necessitates that you have to put some blood, sweat and tears into it. That’s a specific scenario.

Most people that come to Amplify Fitness are looking to keep their bodies moving. Of course we want to get fitter, feel less pain and even fit in our clothes differently but for the most part we’re trying to stay active and healthy. That should be fun to do.

So, the take home message of this blog, that I am taking home myself, is that movement should be fun. We don’t need to get caught up looking at what the latest trends are, what gear we are wearing, what the most cutting edge workout is and having our stopwatch to time our movements down to the second. We need to move and some freeform movement to Sandstorm is a pretty good way to get it.

Kind of like that VB ad. You can get it dancing, you can get it sportsing, you can get it lifting, you can get it any old how.

As a matter of fact I got it now.

And the thing you got isn’t a VB but endorphins from having fun with this cool body you have and get to use.

Have a great holiday break, don’t take anything too seriously. Eat the food, move the body and be kind to yourself and others. That’s what I’ll be aiming for.

See you all next year, most likely in this format on Jan 31st.

Peace!