Workout About It - The Meaning Behind the Message

Some days, the last thing I want to do is workout. I'm tired, I'm overwhelmed, upset...but, I do it anyway. Why? How? Where does the motivation come from to get the workout done even when it is the LAST thing I want to do? Easy...magic! I'm kidding, that would be cool though. The secret, just doing it anyway. I know, because I've tested it time and time again that if I just get moving, even for 20-30 minutes, I am going to be a better version of myself on the other side. Just like our new Workout About It gear explains, "when your mind feels heavy, your body can help." Movement isn't always about pushing harder or fixing myself. It’s about allowing my workout to serve as a way to process, regulate, and reconnect — especially when life feels overwhelming. “Workout about it.” is a reminder that clarity doesn’t always come from thinking more. Sometimes it comes from moving, breathing, and letting your body lead the way.

But where did this perspective come from?

I started playing hockey at the age of five and I literally have never stopped. The landscape of youth hockey in the valley at that time was predominantly male with few really amazing girls sprinkled in here and there. Kerry Weiland, Brie Baskin, Katie Applin...to name a few...lead the way and showed me that I too could make a place for myself even though there weren't many of us girls playing at the competitive level with the boys. But boy, could we skate.

And so we did, we skated and skated until each one of us skated ourselves onto the rosters of Division 1 hockey teams. Along the way to college hockey I fell in love with the opportunity of improvement. I mean really, isn't it amazing!? I still make my friends laugh whenever I say this, "I can do anything if I practice," is a phrase you will commonly hear come out of my mouth if we spend any time together. The idea that you can choose a skill, decide you wanted to be better at it, and through practice, make it happen...I absolutely love it. As a young kid my world revolved around hockey and being the best player I could be, it wasn't until much later that I would realize that entire system of thought, belief, and achievement was shaping so much of my future.

It was through hockey that I found the practice of yoga. At the end of my sophomore season of college my coach said he thought my skating could improve through mobility work and suggested I try yoga classes. Lucky for me our school had (and still has) an amazing fitness center and class programs. What I thought was a practice that would just help me foster a better stride, soon became one of the best things I ever did for my mental health. Playing a college sport is an incredibly rewarding experience and one I would never change, but it can also be incredibly demanding, through yoga I was able to find a way to let my brain breathe. I would visualize it taking an inhale and an exhale and I could feel my entire body relax along with it (Go ahead, give it a try. Close your eyes and visualize feeling your inhales and exhales circling around in your brain). Yoga encouraged me to notice my breath, how my body felt, how my brain felt and it helped me realize that taking care of my body was a HUGE part of being a high level athlete. Through the practice of yoga, movement started to become an even safer place to be myself.

It's been 14 years since I graduated from college and I am so grateful that my connection to movement has only continued to strengthen. As a kid, hockey was always there, no matter what else was going on in my life. Good day? I'm going to hockey. Bad day? Thank God, I get to go to hockey. Raining? Hockey. Sunshine? Hockey. It was a constant, it was a steady and solid friend. For decades of my life my training and movement always had a focal point, there was one goal in mind, "be the best hockey player I could be." But that wasn't the only thing happening, the routine of consistent movement I had was also building a safety net for my nervous system to lean into whenever anything in life got too heavy or my brain was moving just a little too fast. I could turn movement and let my body help me sort things out. And so, I was "working out about it," long before it became a brand.

Sometimes when I go "workout about it," there’s no answer, no big revelation and sometimes there is...I’m currently writing this paragraph in between sets of bench press. But what there always is, is a little bit of space from everything else that’s going on. I get to set everything aside and I just move, breathe and spend a little time in gratitude for all I’m capable of. That, more often than not sends a ripple effect into the rest of my day - I can handle anything, I know this, I just needed the reminder.

The physical benefits of consistent movement are endless, that's another blog post topic in itself (stay tuned), but Workout About It exists to remind us that when life feels heavy, your body can help. As an added bonus the brand also serves to give back to our community, that same community that once supported that five-year-old girl in her quest to someday play in the NHL and still supports her now as a businesswoman.

If you're struggling to find a way to make movement a more consistent part of your week here are three tips to help you cultivate a routine:

• Figure out what you like to do. It's easier to go to the workout if you like it.

  
  

• Put it on your calendar, just like any other appointment that you would NEVER skip. It isn't extra, it's essential. Trust me, this really helps.

  
  

• Join a group class, the team like feel can help you lean into more accountability and it's really fun to move in a room full of people who are there to accomplish the same thing you are. Hello built in motivation and inspiration!

Remember, this isn't about being perfect, this is about showing up exactly as we are and working towards becoming a little bit better. Need a little more support? Send me an email (innergyak@gmail.com), I'm here to help! Have a blog topic you'd like to see? Send that too! --Jordan