Shhhh, I have a secret to share
with you today. Did you know that
we, as larger bodied people, have an advantage when it comes to fitness?
Did you hear me?
WE HAVE AN ADVANTAGE over those
smaller humans we share this world with, but don’t tell them.
The advantage is that we have “built-in
weight” that we move every second of every day. When we choose to move our bodies, we become stronger than
someone doing the same movements, because we are carrying around extra weight that
they do not.
A good example of this was during
my workout today, the others in my group were doing box jumps (picture jumping
onto a surface 24 inches off the ground and then jumping back down), but it is
a movement I cannot do. My modified
movement is step-ups (picture stepping up, one foot at a time, then stepping
back down the same way). You could
choose to look at that modification as me not being able to do as much, but
guess what, not one of those in my group could have done a box jump carrying
the weight I naturally carry. In
fact, I would bet they might be able to do the step-ups carrying the extra
weight, but they wouldn’t do them as well as I do – because I am used to
carrying the weight. That is the
benefit; our bodies have grown accustomed to carrying weight, which makes us
stronger than those who do not.
If you would like to try this
movement at home and have some stairs (with a railing preferably), you can do
so on just the first step – use the railing for support.
This week we lost a great man; Pat
O’Connor, who created Lymphedema People and his, was the first support group I
found after being diagnosed in 2007.
If you never had the privilege of reading something from Pat, I share
with you that he was both comforting and informative and he would remind you
often that life is not about what you can’t do, but what you can do. I dedicate this post to Pat, thanks for
everything.