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Couldn’t have said it better myself.
I am Fit: And No One Is More Surprised Than Me
By Susan Cooper
Growing up, I was never very physically active. I didn’t like sports and considered myself to be generally goofy, uncoordinated and terrible at anything physical. In fact, I was thrilled when a bad concussion in 9th grade got me out of taking PE for a whole year. Really. A serious head injury was preferable to me over physical activity. As an adult I tried to get in shape to keep the pounds off but didn’t really know what to do other than walking and playing around with the machines at the gym. I was prone to muscle strains and had frequent back, neck and knee pain.
I will never forget the first week of 2009 when I threw out my back so badly that I couldn’t get out of bed for a week. Standing and sitting up were excruciating and all I could do was lie flat on my back and take muscle relaxers. It sucked. My orthopedist told me that my problem was that I was actually too flexible with no core strength to support my spine and joints and keep my muscles from overextending. If I wanted to stop straining my back, I needed to get in much better shape and build muscle. He recommended pilates, strength training and more cardio.
