When it Comes to Movement, Less Really is MORE

Today, I am here to dispel the myth that movement has to be in large quantities in order to be valuable. In fact, my own research over the years has proven that less really might be more--especially if it means greater consistency and sense of accomplishment.

Ever since I began Movement Remedies I have been battling this question: what is the appropriate duration of a movement session? In many circles, the established Pilates session length is somewhere around 1 hour. Like most things in our industry, though, from what I can tell, this is arbitrary and not based on evidence. It likely came from precedent rather than demonstrated value.

In my world, the obstacle most clients are facing is how to show up consistently. Even beyond that, symptoms that occur alongside pain like fatigue, inflammation and dizziness can make a long Pilates session unbearable. So I started experimenting with what I called the “Express" session, which was a 25-minute private movement experience. This was initially designed for my clients with neurological conditions or long COVID for whom this duration was optimal for exercise without complete energy depletion.

What I discovered, though, was that EVERYONE loved this session length. People with busy jobs found it easier to fit into their schedules, others with a particular injury or issue to address liked to have a focused experience, and still others just had other sh*t to do and wanted to get on with it. Perhaps most importantly, it was easier to show up twice per week when the sessions were shorter (and also, more affordable).

What I was really amazed by, though, was the fact that even my clients who only did an Express session once per week made huge strides. I found that because we were able to be so focused and intentional in the movement sessions, clients started taking more ownership of their practice outside the studio (or virtual session). They started coming to me with the “aha!” moments they had in their daily lives based on what we had worked on together. And the amazing thing is that I saw strength, balance, mobility, confidence and pain levels all improving.

When you look back at the recommended exercise guidelines, they were largely informed by cardiovascular health issues and adherence has been found to be terrible, less than 50% of adults. 150 minutes of aerobic exercise a week is simply unsustainable for huge amounts of the population and so the natural response is typically to give up--what else is there to do when the bar is so high? Additionally, the guidelines around aerobic exercise are entrenched in diet culture and weight stigma, making it very difficult to discern if these recommendations are associated with actual health outcomes or the expected benefits of intentional weight loss. Which, as we all know, has never been shown to work.

All of this is beside the point, though, when it comes to recommending movement duration and frequency for chronic pain and related complex conditions.There isn’t really a discussion out there, that I have seen, on physical activity recommendations for populations already experiencing chronic conditions with all the fluctuating symptoms that entails.

Mostly, clients have been told by their clinicians to “do as much as possible”. This opens up a great big chasm of interpretation especially since it is so difficult, when in the midst of a chronic disease flare-up for example, to accurately determine what is, in fact, possible. We lose touch with our own dynamic sense of strength and power when under the fog of life-altering conditions, and that is very normal.

Over and over again I have seen that intentional movement every day, for ANY amount of time is far superior to doing nothing at all, or even doing one super strenuous thing one day a week. What we want is to train our bodies and minds to maintain, and maybe even expand, functional ability over our lifespans. It is the long game we are after. Also, we want to figure out the incredibly difficult conundrum of making enough time and space in our lives to nurture our bodies and minds. Everything about our modern lives fights this and so trying to just make room for movement in any way is a big win all on its own.

We move to feel good in our bodies and settle our racing thoughts. We move for the way it alleviates nervous system overload, prepares us to face daily physical challenges, and helps us strengthen that very important muscle of self-awareness and self-compassion. We move to rebuild and to care for ourselves and others. For these things, I would argue that what we should be seeking is the minimum necessary duration. What is the least amount you must do in order to achieve the outcomes you desire, so that you are more likely to keep it up over the long haul? So that it becomes a part of you.

Since I am catering to a population that is trying to answer this question, I now recommend a private session length of 40 minutes. This to me is the sweet spot that both makes my services more affordable and also guarantees that my clients can make the greatest amount of progress in all over strength and mobility in the minimum amount of time. This also means there is no “fluff” in my sessions, as my clients can attest to. We get right to work and clients are often given their own cooldown routine that they can complete in the studio or their home while I am prepping for the next client. It keeps things running smoothly and it means my clients are more likely to show up with regularity. It’s a win-win as far as I am concerned. And of course, I still offer my “Express” 25-minute session, as both an in-studio and virtual option. Because for some people and specific situations, this will always be the ideal.

Never forget that no one needs to live in your body but you, and so you are, without a doubt, the expert on what is best for it. You don’t have to justify or shift your expectations to meet anyone else’s and the world has unfortunately set out some arbitrary rules that have nothing to do with the actual needs of most humans. If you are ready to find an accessible and impactful movement plan that is just right for you and your goals, I invite you to set up an Initial Movement Assessment.