Getting Better At Life isn’t just about lifting more weight or doing more pull ups. There’s other requirements that humans have in order to live a happy, healthy and fulfilled life. Getting fitter & stronger is certainly going to enable you to do more with your body and have experiences that just aren’t possible for a lot of people.
In total there are 6 areas that we can focus on to improve our quality of life. We call these the 6 Pillars of Health.
Pillar One
Physical Activity
The one we focus on the most here at Defy. There is absolutely no question that if you build up your fitness, you are going to be in a position to enjoy life more. When I say ‘fitness’, I’m referring to everything; strength, power, endurance, capacity, range of motion – AKA Functional Fitness.
I believe that everyone would be happier if they didn’t have to think twice about doing something because of their lack of fitness. Meaning – if a friend asked you to hike a mountain, there’s no question that you’re good to go.
Aiming for 3-5 days a week of 60 mins training is the sweet spot. Train as many domains of fitness you can. Outside of the gym, play the odd sport and be as active as you can during the day. Take phone calls while walking, stand at your desk, take the stairs etc. Look for as many ways to increase your output as possible.
Pillar Two
Nutrition
It goes without saying that what you put in your body, will determine how you look, feel, perform and in general how all the cells and systems in your body work. Fuel it poorly and you won’t feel good.
Keep nutrition simple and eat real food – ask yourself “did this live or grow” if the answer is yes then it’s good to eat. Remember, real food has no ingredients.
Although eating well is simple, it’s not easy. Develop habits to make it easier. Pre-cook some protein sources so they are handy, drink water prior to a coffee or don’t have junk food in the house.
Eat to fuel your body and give you the output you want.
Pillar Three
Social Connection
As humans we need to have meaningful relationships. For some people this could be 50 friends, for others it may be 1 or 2. Either way, having relationships that give you what you need will enable you to be happier.
It’s important to know that as you go through life, you may need to change these relationships. For instance, I know many people who have tried to commit to going to the gym and eating healthy but their old social circle wasn’t supportive. This could hold you back so evaluate regularly.
Pillar Four
Manage Stress
There are stressful situations thrown at us everyday. Just driving to work can cause a huge amount of stress for some people. It’s important to have ways to manage this stress. It doesn’t matter what it is for you as long as it isn’t detrimental to health.
It could be meditation, reading, workouts, walks – these would all have a positive impact on the other pillars as well as reducing stress. Find what it is for you, have ways to deal with stress so that you’re ready when it gets too much.
Pillar Five
Improve Sleep
You can find so many checklists of what to do to improve your sleep; from making sure the room is dark to taking melatonin to not drinking coffee past noon. Sleep is important, so we must make sure we do what is needed to get good consistent sleep. I’ve found that the best thing to focus on is having a consistent sleep schedule. Go to bed and wake up at the same time. This should be relatively easy to control for most people but requires some discipline.
Pillar Six
Avoid Toxic Substances
It goes without saying that alcohol and drugs are not good for us. This pillar is closely related to nutrition and unfortunately, a lot of the food we eat contains toxic substances from the oils they are cooked in to the way it was raised or grown.
We should evaluate everything that we put into our bodies. This machine that we have is a remarkable thing but it also has its flaws. The fact that we can abuse it for a long period of time before we see any real side effects is not a good thing in my opinion.
Lacking in any of these areas will have a negative effect on your health in some way. It could be physical or it could be mental. At Defy Functional Fitness we try to have a positive impact on as many of these as possible. Pillars One & Two are the bread and butter of what we do. We coach people through fitness and nutrition and help them to find the most sustainable way for them to achieve their goals.
We also have a big impact on Pillars Three & Four too. The social connection that happens at a gym like ours is pretty special. We have people who have become close friends both in and outside of the gym. Just having a bunch of like minded people to workout with helps. The workout and the people can be a good stress management tool for many.
Evaluate yourself in each of the 6 pillars and look to improve the one you struggle most in. If there is a lot of improvement needed in many of them, don’t try to do everything at once. I’m biased but joining a good gym is a great first step, then work on each as you have the capacity.