Ya Basic

 #19

Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet. Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Welcome back everybody! Whether you have just begun your fitness journey, have been at it for a while, or are beginning again for the 8th time, be patient. Take your time. It took time to get out of shape, it is going to take some time to get back. Don't believe any promises of a fast-track to health. Not only is slow and steady the best way to get healthy, it is the only way. Look closely for signs of improvement. Celebrate the small wins, whether that is a small increase in weight lifted, mastering a new skill in the gym, or just building a better eating habit. Consistency is the key to success in gaining health. Being consistently 'good enough' in your workouts and diet is still better than only occasionally killing it.

Fit Tip: Master the Basics

If one were new to the fitness space and looking to get started they could easily get a false impression of what is most important. When you look online or peruse social media for tips, most of what you get is someone selling something; it might be a physical product or just their personal brand they are selling. One might become convinced that supplements are vital or that complicated exercises are necessary for tapping into true health. All you really need, beginner or advanced, is to master the basics. Here are the basics: Diet, exercise, and sleep. Now let us get a little more specific and add a few more healthy habits. 

Diet: Eat mostly nutritious whole foods and be sure to get adequate protein. Learn to cook a little bit. There is simply no point in buying supplements if you are not consistently eating your meat and veggies. They are supplements, not replacements; a multivitamin does not excuse you from eating a salad. 

Exercise: The best kind of exercise is the kind you will actually do. So if you love your Pilates YouTube instructor, then do that. If you want to optimize a bit, aim for a good blend of cardio and resistance training (perhaps 2-3 days of weightlifting and 1-2 cardio sessions per week.) Regardless of your training, move every day! Some kind of movement, whether it's just getting your steps in or playing with the kids, should be done everyday. Even if you are sick or just super tired from hard training the day before, you will feel better if you move a little. Walking is underrated. 

Sleep: When I train people, one of the first questions I ask is "How is your sleep?" That is how important your sleep is. This is your number one recovery tool! You simply can not function at your best without good quality and quantity sleep. Your brain and body need the recovery time provided in sleep. If you are low on sleep, your fitness goals will be so much harder to reach. Studies have shown that your cravings are worse when you are low on sleep and weight loss is slower. No ice bath, sauna, or supplement will ever yield the recovery that proper sleep will. If you have not consistently got 7-8 hours of quality sleep, you do not know what you are missing. When I switched from night shift to day shifts and started getting more consistent sleep, I made dramatic progress in the gym that I did not expect. 

Before the new parents attack me, you get a free pass on the sleep thing. We get it. There is a reason you can survive (not thrive) on little sleep. 

Master the basics first. Eat well. Exercise regularly. Move everyday. Get good sleep. And get some sunshine. These are the big rocks that actually cause change in your health. Everything else barely makes a difference. 

Fitness Trackers: Are They Worth It?

There are a few types of people that a fitness tracker might benefit. One is the individual who may need a wakeup call to how little they actually move everyday. Perhaps they think they have an active job, then come to find out they are only racking up about 3,000 steps a day. If this kind of wake up call would actually motivate that person, and they find the data helpful rather than disheartening, they might benefit. 

The person who is more likely to get a fitness tracker is probably not one who needs it. They might obsess over a calorie burn recorded each workout (usually inaccurate and also the least important metric of a workout.) They might see a low energy score that some watches provide, and let that truly affect their energy level and even mood. Or, they might just use the expensive watch to check their phone notifications even easier (a convenient and self-destructive feature.)

One of the greatest features of a fitness tracker/smart watch (2nd only to its time-keeping abilities) is the sleep tracking. Most people neglect this as they choose to charge the device while they sleep. Using this feature at least for a while to figure out how much and how well you are actually sleeping can be helpful. It can also show you the eye-opening effects of something like drinking alcohol close to bedtime can have. If this data is used to make real change, it is good; if it creates more stress, it is bad. 

As you can see, I believe there are a lot of variables as to whether it is worth it or not. Nobody needs one, but they can be kind of fun if you enjoy data, reminders, or encouragement. If you are on the fence, start with something super cheap that tracks your steps and see if you find it helpful. 

Challenge: Test Your Ankle Mobility

I often stress mobility tests and drills as mobility is crucial for overall quality of movement and prevention of pain. Ankle mobility, or lack of, is often connected to knee pain. Poor ankle mobility also hinders your athletic ability or simply your ability to squat well. Ever noticed you can not squat very deep? Elevate your heels with a book and see if it is suddenly much easier to squat deeper; if so, you could work on your ankle mobility. A simple drill is the knee to wall test. Place your toes a fist length away from the base of a wall. Lunge the knee of that same leg over your toes with the goal of your knee touching the wall. If you need some work in that area try something called combat stretch where you basically kneel and drive the knee over the toes while keeping your heel down.