There are thousands of classes, methods, and opinions–saying the fitness market is oversaturated is an understatement. As a lifelong dancer, I got into fitness in high school as a way to maintain flexibility and strength on the break between high school and college (because I was fully ready to minor in dance and IDK maybe dance backup for Britney one day..?). I started attending classes regularly at a local barre studio (since the exercise method was invented for injured or on-break dancers anyway) to keep up the strength of my glutes and ability to do the splits. While my dance career did not extend past one season of pom-poming during the halftime of basketball games, I was already hooked on fitness since moving my body every day was a habit since I was three years old and started ballet.

Since then, I’ve dabbled in Orangetheory, spin classes with a cult-following, pilates, HIIT, weight-lifting, and basically every boutique fitness class I could get my hands on. While a lot of the “passion” for exercise came from the habit I had built up through dancing, a lot of it also came as a means to burn calories I had over-consumed in margaritas or Taco Bell the night before. But throughout my exercise journey, I learned that there are thousands of reasons to work out (elevated mood, stress relief, confidence, longevity), but not one of them is calorie burn (exercise is powerful because it makes you stronger, not lesser).

When I realized the true power of movement, I stopped going to the bootcamp classes with treadmill sprints and instructors that yell at you in the name of motivation. I was drawn to classes in happy environments, with strength-focused workouts that I would look forward to instead of dread. I loved circuit classes in a dark room with loud music and lit incense, and studios like P.Volve that used equipment to gently (but effectively) work every muscle. However, I started to miss the feeling of getting my heart rate up and leaving a workout sweaty and a little sore, so I switched to Bunda, which was heavy weight training combined with the stair master (way more fun and enjoyable than the treadmill or stationary bike). I guess you could say the workout studio scene is a little like Tinder: There’s always something more attractive to swipe right on.

“Exercise is powerful because it makes you stronger, not lesser”

But over the past year, I have grown more in listening to my body and trusting that overworking the body is just as bad as not moving at all. I also started to understand that while every fitness method, instructor, and studio I had attended had promised that “consistency was key,” my body needed variety to keep me interested (and prevent studio-hopping), but more importantly, because our bodies need different things every day, every week, and every month. In fact, research has shown that exercising out of line with our cycles can actually cause hormonal imbalances, increase in stress, and weight gain (which means doing the same thing every day, or forcing the body into vigorous exercise during phases where it needs gentle movement instead). I teach clients to eat a variety of foods and that their caloric needs will change day by day, so why should our exercise routines be any different? Instead of jumping studio-to-studio, doing the same workout every day for the sake of “consistency,” and forcing myself into exercise, here’s how I updated my fitness routine for optimized health:

Find a studio that offers a variety of class types.

Our movement needs vary day by day depending on energy and stress levels–sometimes a sweaty cardio session will motivate you, decrease stress, and improve your energy, while other times it will release excess cortisol and decrease energy because your body needs something gentle, calming, and steady. But more scientifically, we are rhythmic beings. The female body works in cycles, and through every cycle, our hormones, energy levels, and needs are different. Research has shown that intense, fast, or heavy workouts during the follicular phase is beneficial, while you should avoid overheating and instead focus on endurance for higher fat utilization during the ovulatory phase. Bottom line: The body needs different forms of exercise at different times. Now, I found a studio (AKT) that offers a variety of dance cardio, low-impact toning, circuit HIIT, and strength to vary based on what I’m craving that day, and eventually (once I finally get off birth control) based on my cycle.

Look to childhood hobbies to see how you should move.

Over the past few years, there’s always been something in me that craved getting my heart rate up and getting a little sweaty. But I detest running (and am not convinced I even can run…), spinning left me exhausted, and cardio movements like burpees just felt draining and uninspired. Trying any other exercise, I burned out quickly. Looking back, I can see that all along, my body was not trying to get me to do more intense cardio–it was trying to get me back to my childhood passion where I feel my most in-flow, grounded, and creative: dance. I believe that as children, we innately are tuned into our truest, healthiest lives, and the world conditions us to listen to experts, methods, or opinions that are not our own. Whatever we loved as children–whether it was dance, play, sports, being outside–gives us insight to how our bodies are meant to move and what we innately crave. When we give the body movement in a way that feels most true to us, the body responds–in weight, in toning, in health, and in longevity.