Less, can be More
Blake and Gwen Beckcom of Fitness Together.
By Blake Beckcom
In our fast pace, easy access to everything, high demand for instant gratification lives it is easy to lose sight of fitness being a journey. We want it now. We want the weight off now. We want the svelte look now. We want the skinny jeans now. We want off of our blood pressure, cholesterol and assorted meds now. We want more energy, less stress and better sleep NOW. It is part of our nature, the nature of impatience that brought about so many good things in our culture. If it weren’t for impatience the automobile and airplane may never have come to pass, or the LP become the IPod. We all have it within us. I can feel it at the red light, or standing in the grocery line. It’s that little part of us that screams “hurry up and get there would ya!” I too, also feel it when I look in the mirror at those body parts, wrinkles, and excess fat I want changed, now.
One of the most important and perhaps, at times overlooked elements of fitness is rest. Rest is important for us in the physical, as well as the mental realm of the journey. Though some of my best work outs have come on the heels of not “feeling like it” or “feeling tired” or “mentally down,” I also know the importance of listening to my body and getting ample rest in order to recover. The secrets to recovery revolve around our nutrition, hydration and rest. Lots of water and eating clean go along way, as do training days of the week and “off day” placement within that week. Spacing a day or two, or even three, between sessions and keeping your workouts in a change orientation are part of the answer. From time to time in my fitness journey I have crossed paths with folks that train every day, but are on a plateau due to lack of change mentality, over training, and inadequate rest, yet their mind is stuck in the gear of impatience on the “I want it NOW” highway. The little aches and pains you may be feeling in a knee, foot, shoulder, hip, or any joint for that matter, as well as a continued level of fatigue in a muscle group, lack of results, and or a consistent sense of emotional burn out can all be signs that you are over training.
How do you beat it and stay on track? In your workouts: Add greater rest spacing between your sessions. This will give you better rest and more than likely, a shot in the arm mentally. Change your workout. Do your existing workout in reverse order and change the order of the entire week of workouts. On Monday for example, do the workout you would normally do on Wednesday, but do that workout in reverse order. This alone can reinvigorate you. In your daily life: Get more sleep. Study’s show we need seven to eight hours of sleep consistently, to be at our best. When you sleep, your body is in repair mode to prep you for your next day. Too little sleep, too little repair time. Say no to the over crammed day timer and find ways to create “margin” for do less, do nothing periods in your week. When was the last time you sat on sofa and read a book or took a nap? Saying yes to everything crowds out you. Don’t sweat the small stuff. Part of our burn out can be brought on by the emotional content of our mindset. Worry for example, will not solve our dilemmas and only adds to the stress component of our fatigue. What was the last thing you worried about? Did worrying help you solve it? Probably not, so why give your energy to worrying?
Fitness is a journey and small steps in the right directions taken over the long haul get you there. For information about how to take appropriate steps for where you find yourself today, call Fitness Together (619) 794-0014. Follow our blog at BetterBodySanDiego.com.
Category: Life Style
