Mel Lofgren Fitness

You ever hear “find your baseline” & think… wtf does that actually mean? 🙋🏻‍♀️

𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲. 𝗦𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗶𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻.

Being a woman in this world means I was taught to ignore what my body tells me.
The past few years have been about unlearning that, and 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘢𝘺𝘴, & 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘵.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗜 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻. 😅

As I find my new normal with hypermobility & dysautonomia, I’m not just figuring out what my body needs & when to call it quits.

I’m also learning to be more assertive with my boundaries. Prioritize joy. Say no without explanation. Watch Netflix on my break without guilt instead of helping my boss with some task that isn’t mine.

Finding your baseline isn’t just about learning to live with your condition.

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳.
Building deep trust with yourself & the people you love.

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝘁 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗲: 👇🏻
🔹Tracked what I ate & when — time of day & around what activities
🔹Noted what workouts & activities preceded a flare (cardio, power, lower body, long sessions, game night)
🔹Played around with electrolyte doses
🔹Worked with my doctors to check if my meds were causing flare-ups
🔹Tested more naps... and their length
🔹Tested the effect caffeine has on my body
🔹Practiced better sleep hygiene
🔹Planned my weeks around the activities I actually wanted to do
🔹Planned my budget around my health spending
🔹Had hard conversations with my partner around support, expectations & finances

𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸, 𝗻𝗴𝗹. 𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁’𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘁. 🙌🏻

Once upon a time — before I was a trainer, and as I was learning I was hypermobile — I found a woman on the internet who specialized in mobility training.
❓I asked how her program would differ for hypermobile people.

𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲. 🤨

It didn’t sit right with me then. Now that I have the knowledge and experience to back it up? 𝙄𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣’𝙩.

The exercises are often the same. But the intention, methodology, and ex*****on?
𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁.

Take the middle splits.
I’m not chasing my end range… I’m building control within a range I can 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I’m almost never passive or relaxing into a position, because for hypermobiles who don’t yet understand their range, that’s 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 how injuries and subluxations happen.
(𝘓𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘹𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘋𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳.)

✨And it’s not just about range. ✨

When I do pancakes (as shown in video), I’m not only engaging my core and hips...
🔹I’m pressing my heels into the ground,
🔹keeping my hamstrings active,
🔹my whole lower body switched on.

When I subluxed my hip in that exact exercise, I relaxed...and it popped. Non-hypermobile people would probably be fine.
𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝘂𝘀? 𝗡𝗼𝗽𝗲.

We don’t just get to buy a splits or handstand program and follow it as written. If your coach has never considered how a hypermobile body moves —
🔹the extra muscles we need active,
🔹the ranges we need to stay out of,
🔹the control work that has to come first

— 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆’𝗿𝗲 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘶𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩. ⚠️

If you’ve been piecing together programs that weren’t

Your foot affects your knee...and your hip... and your back.

It’s all connected. 👇🏻

A weak arch or an unstable ankle doesn’t just stay in your foot. It travels up the chain & shows up somewhere else entirely.

Many of my clients dealing with hip & knee pain have feet that are stiff, unstable & not doing their job.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼:
💥 Control your toes
💥 Control your arch
💥 Trust your ankle to catch you when you jump, slip, or change direction

𝗟𝗲𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲. 😬
I recently sprained my ankle. Once it started feeling better I stopped doing my rehab… because of course I did. 🙃

Then my knee & hip started acting up & silly me didn’t put 2 & 2 together.

I went back to working on my ankle.
🙌🏻 Behold.
My hip & knee stopped talking. 😂

𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲. 👀

Where is your body compensating right now? Drop it below. 👇🏻

𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗡 𝗠𝗘 ✨

What’s keeping hypermobile humans stuck? ➡️ Waiting to feel fixed before training. 👀

Most people think rehab & training are two separate things.
Fix the dysfunction. THEN train.

That’s backwards. 🙅🏻‍♀️

You can train AND rehab at the same time. You can be actively rehabbing while still working towards a goal or learning a new skill. They are not mutually exclusive.

𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜𝗦 𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗮𝗯 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁.
𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰? 𝘔𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 & 𝘳𝘦𝘩𝘢𝘣𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 👀

Athletic training, specifically power, plyometrics, stability, strength, body control, is exactly what builds resilient, happy joints.

🤔 𝗦𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝘆 “𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰” 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴?

Athletes don’t just train muscles. They train:
💥 Tendons & ligaments
💥 Reaction time & body awareness
💥 Nervous system & change of direction

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝘆𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗲 & 𝗶𝗻𝗷𝘂𝗿𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁.

PLUS... that’s how life actually works.👇🏻
In multiple planes. Multiple angles. Multiple directions & speeds. With imperfect bracing, rotation & a constantly “on” nervous system.

𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿? 😬

When I started training for power, my stability got better without directly training it. I had more body control, more energy & a subconscious awareness of how I moved in everyday life that I never had before.

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲.
You just need a desire to live more freely & a body worth protecting. 💪🏻

Are you training for function or just going through the motions? Drop it below. 👇🏻

Stretching more is not the answer. It never was. 😭

For hypermobile humans, 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘹 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. Half the time you can’t even feel the stretch.

What you actually need is strength & stability. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗹, which means less pain & more freedom in your body. 🙏🏻