What happens when fitness technology, training plans and the pressure to perform become louder than our own physical experience?
By Dee O’Mahony MSc
Founder, Movement Reset Studio, Bristol
We have more information about our bodies than ever before.
Our watches tell us how far we have run, how quickly we have moved, how many steps we have taken and how well we have slept.
Training plans tell us what to do today, tomorrow and next week.
Fitness apps encourage us to maintain streaks, reach targets and compare our progress with previous performances.
Much of this information can be genuinely useful. It can help us train consistently, recognise improvements and understand how our bodies respond to exercise.
But I wonder whether, in our enthusiasm for measuring movement, we sometimes forget to experience it.
When a training plan tells us to push harder, but our body feels unusually tired, which do we listen to?
When our watch suggests we have recovered, but we still feel exhausted, what should guide our next session?
And when exercise becomes something we feel we must complete rather than something we have chosen to do, are we still making informed decisions about our movement?
For me, listening to your body is not about avoiding effort or abandoning goals.
It is about developing the awareness and judgement to recognise when to challenge yourself, when to adapt and when to recover.
That is a skill worth developing.
What does “listening to your body” actually mean?
There is a scientific term for our ability to sense signals from within the body: interoception.
It includes awareness of internal signals associated with breathing, heartbeat, hunger, thirst and other bodily states.
Interoception helps us notice what is happening inside us, but noticing a sensation is only the beginning. We also need to interpret it in context.
A faster heartbeat may be an expected response to exercise.
Fatigue may reflect a demanding training session, inadequate recovery, poor sleep or illness.
Breathlessness can be a normal part of exertion, although unusual or severe breathlessness may require medical attention.
Our internal signals do not always tell us exactly what is happening. They are information to consider alongside the activity we are doing, our circumstances and, when needed, professional advice.
Listening to your body is not simply asking:
“Does this feel comfortable?”
It is asking:
“What am I experiencing, and how should I respond?”
That distinction matters because worthwhile exercise is not always comfortable.
Developing strength requires effort. Improving endurance involves challenging our cardiovascular system. Learning a new movement skill can feel unfamiliar and demanding.
The aim is not to eliminate those experiences.
It is to become better at understanding them.
When useful fitness technology becomes another source of pressure
I find fitness technology fascinating because it can offer so much.
A sports watch can help us understand pace and training intensity. A step counter may encourage us to move more. Tracking progress over time can make improvements visible that we might otherwise overlook.
For runners in particular, information about distance, pace and training load can be valuable when planning and reviewing sessions.
But there is an important distinction between using information to support a decision and allowing a number to make the decision for us.
Imagine you have planned a run.
Your watch suggests you are ready to train, but you have slept badly, your legs feel unusually heavy and you are recovering from an illness.
The watch may be providing useful information based on the signals it measures. It does not, however, have access to every aspect of your experience. If you are unwell or still recovering, a readiness score should not override the need to rest or seek medical advice when appropriate.
On another day, when you are well, you might feel reluctant to begin a session but find that, after a gentle warm-up, you feel comfortable and ready to continue.
Neither the watch nor your first impression necessarily tells the whole story.
A more useful approach is to bring these sources of information together.
What does the training plan suggest?
What does the technology measure?
What am I experiencing today?
What happens when I begin to move?
And does continuing make sense in the circumstances?
Technology can inform that judgement without replacing it.
Why do we sometimes ignore what our bodies are telling us?
Exercise rarely happens in isolation.
It takes place alongside work, family responsibilities, social commitments and everything else going on in our lives.
For some people, a training session is the only time they have set aside for themselves that day.
For others, exercise is closely connected to an event they are preparing for, a personal goal or a community they enjoy being part of.
Missing a session can therefore feel like more than missing exercise.
It can feel like losing progress, disappointing someone or failing to meet an expectation.
Group training can be particularly motivating. Training alongside others may encourage us to attempt something we would not have considered possible on our own.
That can be a wonderful experience.
But the same environment can sometimes make it harder to adjust a session when our circumstances change.
If everyone else is continuing, we may feel reluctant to stop.
If we have committed to a particular target, we may feel that changing it means we have failed.
And if we are accustomed to measuring success through pace, distance, repetitions or intensity, a gentler session may feel less worthwhile.
Yet adapting a session is not necessarily a failure of commitment.
It may be an appropriate response to the demands our body is experiencing that day.
Consistency does not require every session to look the same.
Challenging yourself and listening to your body are not opposites
There is a risk that the phrase “listen to your body” can become another oversimplified piece of fitness advice.
If we interpret every difficult sensation as a reason to stop, we may never challenge ourselves enough to develop strength, endurance or confidence.
Exercise creates demands that our bodies can adapt to over time.
A challenging set of strength exercises may produce muscular fatigue.
A demanding run may increase our breathing rate and heart rate.
Learning a new movement may require concentration and feel awkward before it becomes familiar.
These experiences are not automatically signs that something is wrong.
At the same time, the ability to tolerate effort does not mean every sensation should be ignored.
There is a difference between the expected demands of exercise and symptoms that are unusual, worsening or concerning.
Sharp or increasing pain, dizziness, chest pain, faintness or unusual breathlessness should not be treated as ordinary training discomfort. Stop exercising and seek appropriate medical advice; severe symptoms may require urgent help.
The challenge is to develop enough awareness to recognise the difference between expected effort, ordinary discomfort and a reason to change course.
That awareness develops through experience, reflection and, where appropriate, guidance from a qualified professional.
What does the research tell us?
Research into interoception suggests that our ability to perceive internal bodily signals is complex.
It is not simply a matter of having good or bad body awareness.
Researchers distinguish between different aspects of interoception, including how accurately someone detects bodily signals, how they perceive their own ability to detect them and how they interpret or attend to those sensations.
These aspects do not always align.
Someone may pay close attention to their heartbeat, for example, without necessarily interpreting every change accurately.
This is one reason why listening to your body should not be presented as an infallible way of knowing what is happening physiologically.
Our sensations matter, but they benefit from context.
Research into exercise behaviour and fitness tracking also raises interesting questions about the relationship between measurement, motivation and personal experience.
A mixed-methods study by Nuss and Li (2021) examined motivation and physical activity among current and former wearable fitness-tracker users. It provides insight into how people’s experiences of tracking can differ, rather than establishing that trackers have the same effect on everyone.
For some people, tracking can support motivation, enjoyment and a sense of achievement.
For others, numerical targets or the expectation to record every session may become an additional source of pressure.
These experiences are not universal, and they do not establish that fitness trackers cause unhealthy exercise habits.
They do, however, remind us that the value of a tool depends partly on how we use it and how it influences our decisions.
A useful question to ask is:
“Is this information helping me make better decisions about my training, or am I changing my behaviour simply to satisfy the measurement?”
The answer may be different for different people, and it may change over time.
What can Pilates contribute?
One of the things I value most about Pilates is that it gives us an opportunity to pay attention to movement.
In everyday life, we often move automatically.
We walk, climb stairs, reach, carry shopping and get in and out of chairs without thinking about how we organise our bodies.
When we run or take part in a demanding workout, movement can happen so quickly that there is little opportunity to notice the individual components.
Pilates gives us opportunities to slow things down and explore movement more deliberately.
We can explore how the spine moves, how the hips and shoulders contribute to a task, how breathing changes with effort and how the body responds when resistance or position changes.
The Reformer, Tower and other studio equipment provide different ways to experience movement and progressively develop strength, mobility, coordination and control.
For example, a simple bridging exercise can become an opportunity to notice how movement occurs through the spine and hips.
Footwork on the Reformer can help us explore how the feet, knees and hips work together.
Standing exercises can challenge balance and our ability to organise movement while supporting our own body weight.
The purpose is not to monitor every movement indefinitely or to search for imperfections.
It is to develop a greater range of movement experiences and become more confident responding to different physical demands.
And, importantly, Pilates does not need to be easy to be thoughtful.
As skills develop, exercises can become more demanding, dynamic and complex.
Body awareness and physical challenge can develop together.
Learning when to challenge yourself — and when to adapt
Imagine two people arriving at the studio for their Pilates sessions.
One has had a good week, feels energetic and is ready for a challenge.
The other has slept poorly, has been under considerable pressure at work and feels unusually fatigued.
They may have similar movement abilities and long-term goals, but that does not mean they need identical sessions that day.
The first person may be ready to explore more demanding exercises, increase resistance or work on more complex movement sequences.
The second may benefit from a session that allows them to move, maintain their skills and work at an intensity that is appropriate for how they are feeling.
Neither approach is inherently more successful.
The question is whether the session is appropriate for the person, their goals and their circumstances.
This is one of the reasons I value individual Pilates teaching.
It allows us to consider the person in front of us rather than simply following a predetermined sequence regardless of how they arrive.
Over time, I want clients to develop the confidence to make these decisions for themselves, both inside and outside the studio.
A more useful way to think about progress
We often measure progress through what we can do more of.
More repetitions.
More resistance.
A faster pace.
A longer distance.
A more challenging exercise.
These can all be meaningful achievements.
But progress can also involve developing greater confidence and understanding.
Recognising when an exercise needs to be adapted.
Learning to distinguish expected effort from pain that needs attention.
Becoming comfortable with movement that previously felt unfamiliar.
Knowing when to take a recovery day without feeling that everything has been lost.
Or discovering that you can challenge yourself more than you previously believed.
These are not always easy things to measure.
They are nevertheless valuable skills.
The aim is not to become dependent on constant feedback from a watch, a training plan or a Pilates teacher.
It is to become increasingly capable of making informed decisions about your own movement.
The Movement Reset philosophy
At Movement Reset Studio, I want people to develop more than the ability to perform Pilates exercises.
I want them to understand their movement, build strength and confidence, and recognise how their bodies respond to different demands.
For some people, that might mean becoming stronger and more confident in everyday life.
For others, it might mean complementing their running, skiing, gym training or another activity they love.
And for someone returning to exercise after a period away, it may mean rebuilding confidence gradually and learning what feels manageable.
There is no single version of progress that applies to everyone.
Nor is there one ideal level of effort that every person should aim for on every occasion.
The most useful approach brings together personal goals, physical experience, appropriate challenge and the best available information.
Fitness technology can help us.
Training plans can help us.
Coaches, teachers and healthcare professionals can help us.
But our own experience of movement deserves a place in that conversation too.
Perhaps listening to your body is not about doing less.
Perhaps it is about developing the knowledge, confidence and awareness to make better decisions about what you do next.
Feel strong. Move with ease.
Explore your movement at Movement Reset Studio
At Movement Reset Studio in Bristol, private one-to-one Pilates sessions are tailored to your movement experience, goals and individual needs.
Using the Reformer, Tower and other studio equipment, we explore strength, mobility, balance and coordination while helping you develop greater confidence in how you move.
Whether you are new to Pilates or looking to complement an activity you already enjoy, we can work together to develop a programme that is appropriate for you.
Explore Movement Reset Studio and book your introductory one-to-one Pilates session.
References and further reading
Khalsa, S. S., et al. (2018). Interoception and mental health: A roadmap. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging, 3(6), 501–513. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.12.004
Garfinkel, S. N., Seth, A. K., Barrett, A. B., Suzuki, K., & Critchley, H. D. (2015). Knowing your own heart: Distinguishing interoceptive accuracy from interoceptive awareness. Biological Psychology, 104, 65–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2014.11.004
Mehling, W. E., Price, C., Daubenmier, J. J., Acree, M., Bartmess, E., & Stewart, A. (2012). The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA). PLOS ONE, 7(11), e48230. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0048230
Nuss, K., & Li, K. (2021). Motivation for physical activity and physical activity engagement in current and former wearable fitness tracker users: A mixed-methods examination. Computers in Human Behavior, 121, 106798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.106798
World Health Organization. (2020). WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128
