Why That Workout Feels Amazing for That Influencer, But Not for You
Not every body is built for the same kind of movement, and that’s not a flaw, it’s biology.
Some people finish a sweaty, intense workout and feel alive. Clear. Powerful.
Other people finish the same workout and feel shaky, inflamed, exhausted for two days.
Neither of them are bad, the problem starts when we treat exercise like a one-size-fits-all prescription.
These workouts are usually delivered by influencers whose hormones, stress levels, sleep habits, childcare load, trauma history, and nervous systems look absolutely nothing like ours.
Your body is not an algorithm.
You can’t plug in “glutes + abs + 30 minutes” and expect identical results.
Bodies differ in metabolism. In nervous system tone. In joint structure. In muscle fiber type. In recovery speed. In stress tolerance.
Bodies also differ in trauma history, sleep quality, life demands, parenting load, emotional stress, and overall capacity.
But they also differ in life load.
Some of us are raising kids.
Some of us are under chronic stress.
Some of us are sleeping six broken hours a night.
Some of us are carrying tension we don’t even realize we’re holding.
One Size Fits All Approach With Health and Wellness Just Doesn't Work
A workout that energizes one person can dysregulate another.
A routine that builds strength in one body can cause pain or burnout in another.
A trend that looks “healthy” online can quietly push someone further away from balance.
I had to learn this the hard way. This is why copying someone else’s routine rarely works long-term.
Instead of asking what workout you should be doing, it’s more useful to ask yourself ...
How does your body feel before you move? How does it respond during movement? How do you feel later that day, or the next morning?
It's very important to understand that listening to your body is not laziness, it’s regulation.
What Supportive Movement Looks Like (Depending on Your Body)
For bodies that feel tense, dry, easily overstimulated, or crash easily
These bodies tend to hold stress in the muscles, fatigue quickly, and feel worse with too much intensity.
Supportive movement often looks like:
Yoga and gentle flow practices
Restorative stretching
Tai chi and slow mindful movement
Breath-led mobility work
Walking, light cycling, or short consistent sessions
These styles help calm the nervous system, improve circulation without depletion, and teach tight tissues how to soften and release.
For bodies that run hot, intense, driven, or inflamed easily
These bodies often love hard workouts but can tip into burnout, irritation, joint pain, or inflammation when they overdo it.
Supportive movement often looks like:
Swimming or water-based movement
Moderate strength training with rest days
Pilates and controlled resistance work
Steady-paced cardio instead of all-out HIIT
Mobility and cooling recovery practices
These approaches build strength and endurance while keeping stress and inflammation in check.
For bodies that feel heavy, sluggish, low-tone, depleted, or stuck
These bodies often need stimulation and circulation to feel energized and supported.
Supportive movement often looks like:
Resistance training and progressive strength work
Brisk walking or incline walking
Kettlebells or functional strength movements
Short bursts of higher intensity (when tolerated)
Dance cardio or rhythmic movement
This helps wake up the system, improve tone, boost circulation, and restore vitality.
For bodies that feel mostly balanced and adaptable
These bodies can usually tolerate a wider range of movement styles and recover well.
Supportive movement often looks like:
A mix of strength, mobility, cardio, and restorative work
Listening to seasonal and energy shifts
Rotating intensity levels throughout the week
Prioritizing recovery as much as workouts
Variety tends to keep these bodies feeling their best.
How I Learned This (Personally and Through Traditional Medicine)
I didn’t always know that health wasn't one size fits all. For a long time, I pushed myself to do the kinds of workouts and yoga classes that my friends or influencers online were doing.
Sometimes they felt good in the moment. But later I’d feel drained, tense, inflamed, and off for days. I thought it meant I wasn’t doing it right.
Eventually I started noticing patterns.
Hot and intense workouts or yoga sessions often left me wired, more tense than before and exhausted. But slower, gentler movement, like aerial yoga, restorative classes, and walking left me feeling much better.
I am also studying traditional systems of medicine that have understood this for thousands of years. They never treated movement as one-size-fits-all.
Before these systems were sidelined, patterns of the body were often the focus and these systems taught me that different types of movement either restored balance or pushed the body further out of it.
That’s when everything clicked.
I wasn't being lazy. Those kind of workouts just weren't right for me.
Health Is About Recovery, Not Extremes
Health isn’t defined by how extreme your movement is, it’s defined by how well your body adapts and recovers. Influencers don’t live inside your body, you do. Let your body be the authority. Respect the signals.
Choose movement that supports your body, not one that competes with it.
And when you learn to listen, movement stops being punishment and starts becoming support.
