A note to the woman in the “thick of it”
Hi all, Coach Kerrie here! At our studio, February was about setting intentions in the gym, choosing to push with purpose instead of going through the motions.
But what happens when your life plate is so full you feel like you’re barely keeping your eyeballs above water?
Maybe you were in a consistency groove, even got to the “best version” of yourself… and then life smacked you in the face. Hard.
You feel like you fell backwards off a cliff. And now every workout feels like punishment. Every rep reminds you that you’re “behind.” Every mirror feels like evidence.
There’s shame around how far you spiraled. Maybe so much shame that you’re afraid to step back into the gym — afraid of what people will think. Afraid they’ll notice.
But here’s the truth:
That internal critique beating you up? It’s just a boulder in front of you, and you’re the one who parked the Mack truck there. No one in our community — at KFIT — and hopefully no one in yours — gives a shit about the “better version of you” that you’re clinging to.
At any given moment, women in our space are navigating divorce, miscarriages, involuntary career shifts, illness, caring for sick parents, grief, burnout, identity shifts, and more.
Life doesn’t move in a straight line. Why would your fitness?
I’ve been in this industry for 15+ years. There have been seasons where I’ve taken months completely off. There were years where I removed the word “progress” from my vocabulary altogether. No tracking. No chasing. No optimizing. What kept me balanced wasn’t going hard through seasons that needed tenderness.
It was asking myself one question:
What’s the best thing I can do in this day and moment?
Not, “How do I get back to where I was?”
Not, “How do I undo the damage?”
Just — what’s supportive today?
Some days that answer was lift.
Some days it was walk.
Some days it was rest.
Some days it was cry and not pretend I was fine.
Strength isn’t built by overriding yourself. It’s built by honoring yourself. Sometimes a pause is absolutely necessary. Sometimes stepping away is the most regulated, self-respecting thing you can do.
But if those 60 minutes are the few minutes in your day that feel like yours…Stop diminishing it with shame.
If You’re in a Hard Season, Here’s What I Recommend
1. Showing up is the only goal.
During some of my hardest seasons, walking through the doors was the check mark. That’s it. Not performance. Not PRs. Presence. Move your body because you can. Not because you need to prove anything.
2. Steer clear of what challenges your ego.
If life stress is high, it’s okay to step back from “hard” in the gym.
For me, that meant:
Avoiding heavy loads
Not pushing cardio intensity
Skipping my “suck” moves (hello, pull-ups)
You can get a great sweat without triggering your inner critic. Time in the gym should leave you feeling encouraged, not discouraged.
3. Modify, modify, modify.
Movement matters more than reps, duration and load in this phase. What is written on the board is always adjustable. Check in with a coach and tell them you need a mental modification. Less is more.
4. Regulate first, progress later.
Your nervous system sets the ceiling for your performance. When life is chaotic, your body needs safety more than stimulus. Anchor into how you want to feel, not what you can’t do.
5. Burn the past chapter.
Burn the past chapter. I mean it. Let that shit go. The jeans in the closet, the fastest 5K time, the body you’re comparing yourself to — light it on fire. You weren’t built to live life looking in the rearview mirror. Eyes forward.
You did not lose the “best version” of yourself. She didn’t disappear. She expanded. Life gets hard. Allow the gym to be a space where you practice coming back to yourself, again and again.
And the woman walking back through those doors, humbled and wiser, is not a step back.
She’s depth.
