The 5 Key Areas You Must Look At To Optimise Health, Energy & Fitness

A common trap I see with people who want to turn their health and fitness around is to focus too much on the exercise, with the belief that it will solve all their problems!

Now that’s not to say it’s not an important factor. It absolutely is! But in reality, our health and how we feel day to day is a reflection of how we live our lives ,and the combination of all our daily habits, and not just about the spin class we need to do that week!

Instead, in order to really make an impact we actually need to take a multi dimensional approach.

By working on 5 key interconnected areas we can set ourselves up to truly optimise our health and to make change that lasts.

And this is exactly the approach I take with my clients to achieve amazing health and body transformations like this.

So what are these 5 key interconnected areas upon which a healthy body is built?

1. Sleep - I have seen poor sleep be responsible for lack of daily movement, over eating, poor food choices, inability to progress in the gym, low mood, high alcohol intake, you name it! I would argue that of the 5 areas it’s the one that can impact the quality of our life and health the most and without nailing this, you will struggle to achieve optimisation of your health and fitness.
2. Exercise - Building a strong functional body is essential for optimal health, longevity, maintaining a healthy body composition and also has a huge impact on our stress levels and mental health. The right type and volume of regular exercise, which has to include resistance training,  can protect us from joint pain, reduce risk of illness, motivate us to eat well, sets us up for an able and independent life in our older years, improves our sleep, helps combat stress and boosts our mood. And the opposite is of course true in its absence.
3. Nutrition - Our physical and performance goals HAVE to be supported by our nutrition in order to reach them. An individual aiming to get stronger or reduce body fat levels will not achieve this by sleeping well and exercising alone! The quantity, quality and type of food they eat matters and has to match the goal they want to achieve. Poor food and drink habits will impact  things like sleep, exercise , hormone balance, stress levels, mood and increase our risk of disease. Good nutrition on the other hand has the power to boost our mood, promote good sleep, support our exercise and boost our health and immunity.

4.Stress Management - Stress is now regarded as the health epidemic of the 21st century, with levels at an all time hight due to the modern lifestyle and mental health at an all time low. If we don’t look at this as one of the 5 key areas, unmanaged stress has the ability to de-rail your health and fitness goals. Chronically stressed individuals do not build strength or muscle. Nor do they sleep well, eat well, digest their food properly, or have the energy to exercise regularly which is why stress management is an area that must be addressed.

5.Mindset and Behaviour Change - This is how we work to change all 4 key areas above. For me as a coach I’m not doing my job if I simply order someone around! There has to be an element of self development and learning for the client so that they change their habits for the long term because they understand and feel the benefits instead of just sticking to a plan like a robot for a few weeks and then reverting back to type. Learning how to change these areas, in a way thats sustainable and habit building is therefore key.

I hope you can see just how interconnected these areas are and that if you are seriously wanting to make a change, whether that be weight loss, improved energy and performance or optimising health and longevity, taking a more holistic and multi dimensional approach is the way forward!

And better yet if you want help working out a plan to get there please drop me an email to lizzie@onepercentclub.info.

Have a great week

Lizzie

The One Percent Club

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