You are a system of systems
If one system is weak or doing poorly it impacts the others, forcing them to work harder. This extra work wears down the overall capacity of the other systems through many different mechanisms.
With this kind of web-like effect on our systems we need to look at our body holistically. Approaching our health from many angles. Not just the typical diet and fitness model. The diet and fitness model is outdated and neglectful of the way our body is impacted through other human functions like sleep and stress. (TENSEGRITY?)
None can give you health or maintain your health for you!
Develop sovereignty.
Feed yourself.
Manage your stress.
Keep your body healthy.
Work hard.
Recover.
Repeat.
Do it until you have enough energy to help others.
Do it because not doing it is an unfulfilled life.
Many people get stuck focusing on the pieces of the puzzle that they are already good at. Continuing to get even better at it. Neglecting the big picture. Each system is much like the pillars of a building. If one is shorter or weaker than the others, it is the others that must bear the extra weight and become weaker themselves because of it. There are clear gains to be had in the department you do worst at.
There are four physical pillars to focus on:
● Movement
● Diet
● Sleep
● Stress
Each pillar has many facets within it and strategies to focus on to gain more effectiveness out of it.
Take the time to analyze yourself and your goals, then put together a strategy to build your pillars into the antifragile supports you want and need them to be.
Why these four facets of human life?
STRESS
Stress. Almost a bad word in our society. Definitely has negative implications.
The reality of stress is that it is the lever in which we improve our lives.
The foundation of strength training is built on the principles of overstressing the system and then allowing it recovery to elicit change.
Learn how to quantify stress, measure it and eventually harness its potential to change your life for the better.
Learn the difference between mindset, discipline, willpower, etc.
When to utilize one over the other and how to best use your existing skill set to grow in the direction that fosters your goals and intended life.
Goal setting, expectations, and possible perspective switches can go a long way in a person’s life. Ensuring that your output matches your intent starts with having intent.
DIET & HYDRATION
Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food”. Pretty important role for food I would say. Simple choice to put diet as a pillar of physical health. It can be your healer or your demise.
What is your diet doing to you? Can you answer this?
Do you eat for; necessity, taste, love of others, performance, doctors orders, etc.
Diets cannot do all of these things at once.
But all of those things are at play at the same time.
Learning where to place our priority surrounding our diet can be invaluable. I will help you do exactly that.
Although we all understand the role of food in our lives. Many people do not give food the respect it deserves.
Family and work events tend to be held around food. What type, where at, who brings what, etc.
We create our energy, our bodies, and our world with the food we eat.
Eat better, eat consistently, and create abundant energy.
Digestion > Ingestion
Learn how to better utilize your time in the markets, kitchens, and create better experiences around the dining room table.
I bring a lifetime of being an athlete, a culinary arts certificate and a decade of nutrition coaching to utilize in the kitchen for you.
Whether it is more time or less time that you are looking to spend on this part of your life, we can help you manage it better. Make you more capable. We should even be able to make life taste better!
SLEEP
The role of sleep is often overlooked, even belittled and demeaned in society today.
“You can sleep when you are dead”
“The early bird gets the worm”
“I work 14+ hours a day…”
The list goes on….
The problem is that everything you paid for in hard work, through your movement practice, is redeemed during your sleep. This is when your body builds muscle.
The same can be said about learning, it has been proven that our memories are created during sleep.
Sleep is the number one muscle growth supplement on the planet.
Sleep is the number one weight loss supplement.
Get more sleep.
Consistently.
Get more out of your waking hours because of it.
MOVEMENT
This brings us to movement. We develop a daily practice of self care. Rather than calling it working out. This is because it is more important that we ensure healthy joint function, promote blood flow, maintain postural alignment and have healthy internal organs than it is to have big muscles or shredded six packs.
Although, it is possible to have it all.
Your movement practice should both build strength and bring your joints through their full range of motion.
Strength is the basis of all movement. Speed, endurance, power, grace and fluidity of movement. So the ease of your physical life stems from your strength. You need to increase your base strength. But eventually it falls to the law of diminishing returns. Where strength becomes more work than you are getting out of it.
Deciding what you want out of yourself is a key to finding out how much strength you may need for your life.