Hey! Listen to me, I'm talking to you!

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they are first starting out on an exercise program is not listening to their own body. It's one of the reasons that I think working with a trainer, when you are first getting started on a fitness program, can be a bad idea.

I'm not a fitness trainer. I have not been certified in Physical Fitness. I am a Coach. You can call me a Fitness Coach. You can call me a Life Coach. The company I work for calls me a Beachbody Coach. The difference between me and a Trainer is that I won't tell you to drop and give me 30. I will encourage, uplift, motivate, inspire, and never give up on you, even when you want to give up on yourself.

I've worked with a Trainer before. Trainers can be great for getting you into the maximum shape possible, but personally, I believe you should already be involved in some kind of an exercise program prior to working with a professional Trainer. The reason for this is because if you are not already doing some kind of exercise beforehand, you are not going to be familiar with recognizing your body's signals.

Your body will tell you a lot, if you'll only listen to it. It's quite common for people to ignore their own body's signals. That's when you end up with problems such as:

• Fatigue
• Dehydration
• Injuries, including pulled and strained muscles
• Physical Exhaustion
• Heat Exhaustion
• Heat Stroke
• Irritability
• Illness
• and even Insomnia

A trainer can't tell when your muscles have fatigued, or when you feel dizzy or light-headed. They can't tell when you have sore muscles (beyond the normal exercise soreness). Or when you have a strained joint. Oftentimes the trainer will push you harder because they think you are just being a whiner. And that's when injuries happen. And then guess what? You are down, for who knows how long, nursing a pulled muscle, or worse yet, a torn meniscus.

One thing I love about the 21 Day Fix program, that I am doing, is that the exercises all have modifications. And the trainer on the dvds not only doesn't make you feel like a loser if you're not keeping up with all of the super buff athlete/models behind her, she actually encourages you to go at your own pace. This is very smart and healthy thinking. If you pace yourself, as opposed to someone else pushing you beyond your capacity, you will avoid injury and all of the other issues listed above. You might make slower progress, but you might end up making faster progress in the long run because you took it a little slower and didn't end up flat on your back with a muscle strain or sprain.

So do yourself a favor. When your body is talking to you, stop and listen to it. Take it slower if you need to. Rest if you need to.

And go harder when you need to, as well. Your body is smart. It will tell you when it's ready for more.

Nobody knows you as well as you do.