Why Ruba Ali Wants You To Press Pause More Often

Burnt out. Bored. Lacking drive.

This is where Sweat trainer Ruba Ali found herself, and she knew she was at a crossroads. She knew something had to change.

So, she pressed pause - on her fitness routine, the pace at which she was living and the expectations she was putting on herself - and the effects were lifechanging. Looking back on her journey and the evolution of her approach to wellness, she now can see how transformative it was to take a break, and it’s something she encourages all women to do.

“There is power in the pause,” she says. “It’s scary to pause and take a break, but I always feel like it’s so much better to slow down than to go fast in the wrong direction.”

“At some point, you’ve got to start showing up for yourself.”

There are no hard and fast rules about what makes you eligible for a break or what your “pause” needs to look like. Ruba simply wants you to feel empowered to listen to the signals your body is giving you, those gut feelings or those intuitive whispers, and honour them as best as you can. After all, no one knows your body as well as you do.

Knowing when it’s time

Signs that you need some kind of pause of your own aren’t so much about how your life or routine looks, but how it feels. After years of intense training without enough downtime, Ruba was left feeling burnt out - physically and emotionally.

“I felt drained, exhausted and unpassionate… My cortisol levels were really high, I couldn’t push my body the way that I used to be able to. I looked the part, but I definitely wasn’t feeling the part. I looked very strong and athletic, but I was neglecting my emotional and spiritual wellbeing.”

When Ruba first discovered how good fitness made her feel as a teenager, she was focused on gaining strength - loving what it did for her physically and mentally. Years later, something that started as a stress reliever had become a stress producer. What should have been one part of Ruba’s multifaceted life had quietly become her whole life.

Whatever it is that makes you think you need to press pause, taking a step back isn’t something to be afraid of. In Ruba’s experience these moments can be pivotal, bringing you closer to the person you’re supposed to be.

“I think you start to know who the real you is when you’re feeling really down, stuck and unpassionate. These are all things that your body is trying to tell you, this is not you. You’ve got to make a change. Stop. There’s so much power in the pause.”

Going within

For Ruba, taking a break meant hitting pause on her workout routine to work on her internal state and focus on her faith and spirituality, where she says she began to focus less on how she looked and more on how she felt. Without pressing pause, it’s hard to imagine where she would be right now.

“The breaks I’ve taken were at my really low points,” she shares. “But they built me into who I am. There was a lot of mental resilience built in those breaks - in the uncomfortable questions you have to ask yourself, the habits you have to break and the work that no one is going to show up and do for you.”

It’s all too common to feel a sense of guilt for resting or taking your foot off the gas, and Ruba explains that when you truly focus on health and longevity, you’ll realise that rest is non-negotiable if you want to avoid burnout and feel your best.

For her, these breaks have been moments to tune in and ask why she’s feeling the way she is, if she’s around the right people, in the right career, and truly happy or not. By hitting pause and reflecting, Ruba was able to step into the happiest, most energised version of herself.

“Taking a small break of any kind to check in with yourself and to redirect yourself towards a path that feels most authentic to you is so powerful and important.”

“Any time I feel like I’m stepping away from who I really am, I know I need to take a break to get everything realigned and I always come back better.”

Fitness that fits you best

Working out isn’t always easy, but at the end of the day, your ideal fitness routine shouldn’t leave you feeling depleted or burnt out. It should energise you and elevate the rest of your life.

There is no one-size-fits-all, and Ruba can’t emphasise enough how important it is to find what works for you like she did. Her functional strength training program, Thrive, is designed so you can train in the same way that has Ruba feeling her best, but ultimately, she just wants you to feel your best.

For someone who used to neglect rest and push her body to its limits, Ruba now proudly incorporates multiple rest days each week, has a stronger focus on mindfulness, avoids rushed mornings whenever she can, and tunes into her mind-body connection every day. And this isn’t some temporary fix until she can resume regular programming - it’s a routine she has fallen in love with because for the first time in a long time, she feels like her fitness routine is loving her back.

“Find your sweet spot of what works for you and what you enjoy,” she encourages. You’ll know when you’ve found it because you’ll never have felt better.