Why Strength needs Stillness

Some people are surprised when I say I’m teaching both heavy lifting and restorative yoga. Like those two things have no business being buddies.

But for me, they’re deeply connected.

I’ve always had a tendency to overtrain.
I was overtrained as a swimmer from a young age.
And when I walked the length of Aotearoa, I hiked 8-12 hours everyday. I walked the last third of the South Island without a single rest day.

Later, when I discovered heavy lifting, I brought the same mindset.
No rest days. Just keep going.
I even started training for an ultramarathon while building toward some quite heavy lifts at the same time.

And for a while, it worked. My body held up. No injuries or major fatigue.
But after a few months, my progress stalled and I reached some plateaus in both my lifting and running.
That’s when I realised something I’d missed.

Hiking, walking, swimming, and other endurance activities are very different to heavy lifting.

Aerobic movement is steady, rhythmic, and relatively low impact.
The nervous system can settle into it over time. Your body adapts and gets more efficient and you can get by with little recovery (every thru-hiker develops ”trail legs” where you can just walk and walk for hours on end).

Heavy lifting is different.
It requires short, explosive, anaerobic effort. It activates the nervous system.
It’s intense physically and neurologically.

This is why a rest day after a heavy lifting session isn’t optional.
Muscle is built between sessions, not during them.
Strength gets integrated in stillness, not in movement.
And if your nervous system isn’t recovering properly, you won’t get stronger.


This is why I always ask you to check in with your nervous system and your stress levels at the start of every lifting session.

Because how well rested and well regulated you are matters more than how much weight you lift.

It’s also why I’ll keep reminding you to sit down and rest between your sets, not do something else or try to be efficient (always hard for people when they first start).

One thing that helps me keep training the way I do without burning out is restorative yoga.

Prioritising that practice, after letting it drift into the background for a few years, has made a huge difference.
It gives my body space to soften and release tension.
It calms and regulates my nervous system.

Stillness isn’t always easy though.
I see it every time someone skips their rest period or struggles to stay still.
Often there’s a desire to be efficient, to keep moving.
But underneath that, stillness can actually feel unsafe.

When we stop, we often meet what we’ve been avoiding and that can feel overwhelming.
Particularly if your nervous system hasn’t known safety in a while.

That’s why I build a practice called “resourcing” into my restorative yoga classes.
Resourcing is about cultivating a sense of safety.
When you have that foundation of safety, being present with the body can slowly start to feel less overwhelming.
With practice stillness becomes possible, and eventually deeply nourishing.

This is why I believe heavy lifting and restorative yoga belong together.

I teach restorative yoga at Embodied Soul at 5:15 pm, Fridays and Sundays.