“I don’t know when it happened…”
That’s how Jannine started our conversation at Core Principles.
“One day I just noticed everything was harder. Walking around the city after a Broadway show. Walking up the stairs with a laundry basket. Even getting out of those soft restaurant booths.”
Understanding Your Brain’s Hidden Battle 🧠
Here’s something fascinating about your brain: it’s constantly weighing effort against reward. When you think about starting exercise, especially if you have had a hard time sticking with it in the past, your brain immediately starts calculating:
- Effort: High (unfamiliar movements, potential discomfort)
- Reward: Distant (results take time)
- Risk: High (fear of failure, looking foolish, getting hurt)
No wonder it feels overwhelming! Your brain is literally telling you, “Whoa, this seems risky and hard, and the payoff isn’t guaranteed.”
Why Most Fitness Programs Get It Wrong ❌
Traditional approaches try to overcome these natural brain responses with:
- “Just push through it!”
- “No pain, no gain!”
- “You have to challenge yourself!”
This approach is like trying to learn piano by starting with Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. It’s a recipe for frustration and failure.
The Success Spiral: Our Different Approach 💫
Instead, we’ve developed what we call the “Success Spiral” approach:
- Start with movements so simple you think “Is this too easy?”
- Experience immediate success (“Hey, I can do this!”)
- Feel the right muscles working (“Oh, so THAT’S what it should feel like!”)
- Notice small wins quickly (“I did two more seconds than yesterday!”)
- Build confidence through consistent success
Real Results: Sarah’s Story
Remember Jannine? Her first exercise with us was simply sitting back against a wall. That’s it. No complicated movements. No heavy weights. Just learning to feel her legs working properly.
“I actually thought it was too easy,” she told me. “But then something interesting happened. The next day, I could feel my legs had worked – but not in a painful way. Just in a ‘Oh, those muscles exist!’ way. It made me curious about what else I could do.”
The Science of Sticking With It 📊
Research shows that the key to forming new habits isn’t willpower – it’s experiencing success early and often. Each small win creates a tiny hit of dopamine (your brain’s reward chemical), making you want to come back for more.
Here’s what a typical journey looks like with our approach:
Week 1: “I can definitely do this!” Week 2: “Hey, this is starting to feel more natural.” Week 3: “I think I’m getting stronger…” Week 4: “I just got up from the floor without using my hands!”
Compare this to the typical exercise experience:
Week 1: “This is too hard.” Week 2: “I’m so sore.” Week 3: “Maybe I’m not cut out for this…” Week 4: Quit and feel guilty
The Simple Truth About Building Strength 💪
You don’t need to:
- Love exercise
- Do complicated movements
- Feel sore all the time
- “Push through the pain”
You just need:
- The right starting point
- Clear instruction
- Early wins
- Consistent progress
What Our Members Say
Eight weeks into her journey, Sarah shared: “For the first time in my life, exercise isn’t a struggle. I’m not trying to convince myself to go. I just go, because I know I can do it, and I know it’s working.”
Ready to Experience “Easy to Start”? 🤝
We invite you to see our approach in action. Come watch a session at at the studio. No pressure, no sales pitch. Just see how other people just like you are getting stronger, one simple step at a time.
