As a movement coach, I frequently work with clients who struggle to maintain consistent exercise routines because their daily capacity for movement fluctuates significantly. Whether due to chronic illness, hormonal changes, varying energy levels, or the shifting demands of daily life, many people find that traditional workout plans simply don't account for their lived reality.

This observation led me to develop The CAMP Framework - Continuously Adaptive Movement Practices. Unlike rigid training programs that demand unwavering commitment to specific workouts on specific days, CAMP acknowledges and honors the natural ebbs and flows of human experience.

The CAMP Framework is specifically designed for people whose capacity for movement varies day to day. This includes individuals experiencing fluctuations in:

• Hormonal cycles that affect energy and motivation
• Chronic pain or illness symptoms
• Daily responsibilities and stress levels
• Mental health and emotional wellbeing
• Overall energy and vitality

What makes CAMP different is its fundamental premise: your movement practice should adapt to your daily reality, not the other way around. This means:
Your workouts respond to how you feel in the moment, rather than adhering to a rigid pre-planned schedule. Some days, this might mean a vigorous strength training session. Other days, it might mean gentle stretching or a short walk around the block. And yes, sometimes it means complete rest - and that's perfectly okay.

CAMP isn't just about making exercise more manageable - it's about creating a more sustainable and compassionate relationship with movement. By tuning into your body's signals and responding accordingly, you develop:

• Greater body awareness and mindful embodiment
• Improved ability to recognize and respect your physical limits
• Reduced risk of injury and overtraining
• A more flexible and sustainable approach to physical activity
• A healthier relationship with movement, especially for those moving away from diet culture

​For those working to leave diet culture behind, CAMP offers a particularly supportive framework. Unlike traditional fitness approaches that often trigger thoughts of weight loss and body dissatisfaction, CAMP focuses on meeting your body where it is each day. This alignment with weight-inclusive health principles makes it an excellent tool for those on a journey toward body liberation.

​While I've previously introduced The AIM (Adaptation-Inspired Movement) framework, which focuses on sustainable progressive overload, CAMP offers a complementary approach. Even those who generally thrive with The AIM's structured progression can benefit from incorporating CAMP principles on days when their usual routine feels overwhelming or inappropriate.

The truth is, everyone can benefit from CAMP's principles, regardless of their fitness goals or current relationship with movement. Learning to:

• Listen to your body's daily signals
• Consider external factors affecting your capacity for movement
• Respond flexibly to changing circumstances
• Honor your body's need for rest

These skills enhance any movement practice and contribute to a more sustainable, enjoyable relationship with physical activity.

Whether you're dealing with chronic health conditions, navigating hormonal changes, managing varying energy levels, or simply seeking a more flexible approach to movement, CAMP offers a framework for making peace with the natural fluctuations in your capacity for physical activity.

As we continue to challenge toxic fitness culture and move toward more inclusive, sustainable approaches to movement, frameworks like CAMP provide cognitive containers that help us reimagine our relationship with physical activity. They remind us that movement doesn't have to be rigid or punishing to be beneficial - in fact, it's often most beneficial when it's flexible and responsive to our needs.
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Remember: Your movement practice should serve you, not the other way around. By embracing the principles of CAMP, you can develop a more compassionate, sustainable, and ultimately more effective approach to physical activity.

I often work with women whose main disruption to having a healthy relationship with movement is their belief that movement does not “count” if they don’t feel utterly depleted and pummeled at the end of every workout. While we don’t hear many people saying “no pain, no gain” outwardly anymore, that philosophy has unfortunately been internalized by so many folks. Few of my clients would say they support the concept of “no pain, no gain” but they have internalized the belief that movement should feel punishing. Punishing exercise is deeply unsustainable as it encourages over-training and thus, often leads to injury.

The progressive overload principle (or progression and overload principles) of fitness is the basis for the “no pain, no gain” concept. This principle is evidence-based and thus, “true.” Our bodies adapt to the stimuli they encounter. If we want our bodies to change, stimuli have to change. But it’s important to understand that this simple and even – in its purest form -- gentle, concept was twisted into an extreme method for manipulating and modifying the body into submission to Diet Culture’s beauty norms.

A more body-positive slogan that has arisen from the same principle as “no pain, no gain” is “change happens outside your comfort zone.” Though they arise from the same place, “change happens outside your comfort zone” is a useful phrase that can be adapted for our use in weight-neutral movement practices.
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In weight-neutral fitness, our focus is never on changing the body’s weight or actively attempting to make the body smaller or larger (because there is no evidence that supports there is any way to do this both effectively and sustainably over a long period of time but there IS evidence that doing so causes stigma, disorder and oppression)… but removing that one possible focus for change still leaves the possibility for multiple adaptations.  ​