Welcome to the Dec / January edition of NW Sports Massage blog. I hope everyone enjoyed the Christmas and New year period.
The new year brings a wave of new motivation to set and achieve goals for the year ahead. The most common resolutions being to exercise more, eat healthier and lose weight. However, one study showed that within just a month, 2/3rd's of people will abandon their New year resolution.
This blog today is here to offer some great tips and advice on health and fitness related goals and how you can stay on track and avoid losing focus!
There are lots of benefits to being and staying active and using the new year to give you that boost and motivation to move is a great way to start.
There is a plethora of reasons why being active is so beneficial to us, just a few include:
Exercise assists in weight loss and in helping to maintain current weight (alongside a healthy diet).
Reduced resting heart rate and recovery rate
Reduced blood pressure
Reduced risk of hypertension, obesity, hypercholesterolemia (high cholesterol), diabetes and Cardiovascular disease (CVD). A study also showed that doing just 60 minutes of resistance training per week is linked to a 27% lower all- cause mortality compared to none. (Study Ref: resistance training and mortality risk)
Improved bone density. Did you know... your bone density peaks a just 25 years old and slowly declines from 30 years old!! However, research has shown that strength/ resistance training can help slow down the natural decline in muscle mass and bone density. And for those aged 18-24 years you can be using resistance training to maximise the bone and muscle gains.
For those aged over 65 years exercise aimed at strengthening muscles and improving balance will help reduce the risk of falls. Did you know... people aged over 65 have a 1 in 3 chance of sustaining at least 1 fall a year.
Exercise has great benefits on mental health aswel, helping to reduce anxiety and stress by naturally increasing serotonin.
Now you have a few reasons to back up why exercise and a healthy lifestyle is so beneficial to us. Here are 5 top tips on how to stay on track and improve your exercise levels in 2023!!
6 ways to improve fitness
(And stay on track with your 2023 goals!)
Goal Setting- When we set our new year resolutions they can be a rather generic and therefore, lack focus. Breaking your goal down into more manageable goals can make it seem much more achievable and give you the opportunity to celebrate the wins you make along the journey. For example: if the goal is to be able to run at least 5km, you can use the 'couch to 5km' to help guide you or just start at getting 1-2km consistently and build on from that. Also, the purpose of saying my goal is to run at least 5km means that the goal has a more infinite purpose and that once you achieve 5km the journey could continue onwards to 6, 7, 8+ km. Click here to also find out more about SMART goals!!
Increase exercise levels slowly - Firstly, we want to reduce the chance of injury, you need to build the resilience and strength in your muscles and tendons and your cardiovascular system and this takes time, patience and consistency. Secondly, easing yourself in will improve the likelihood of adherence, start by ingraining the habit of the act of just going to the gym (even if just for a short 20 minute session). If you have decided that your goal is to go to start going the gym regularly and you have never been or only sporadically been, building up your bodies fitness first is essential. If we go all out and exhaust ourselves on our first sessions, at best you may have a bad case of DOM's (Delayed onset muscle soreness) the following day, and anyone that has suffered DOM's will know moving and exercising with them is not very motivating or worse you'll set yourself back due to injury. Visit my September blog that featured 'Running' for the Sport in the spotlight.
Offer encouragement - A big reason for people not pursuing their goals is due to lack of support. Everyone starts somewhere, and it can be really daunting and to start something new and put yourself out there. In one study it was found that a major factor in people's reason to quit when aiming to lose weight was lack of support. You can be the person who offers that encouragement, as lets be honest, we all know how nice it feels to receive words of encouragement or a compliment when working hard for something. You can help be the reason someone doesn't quit.
Make it fun!! The gym is not enjoyable for everyone, and neither is running (which are arguably the more common forms of exercising). Try out lots of different sports, clubs or hobbies until you can find one that you are enthusiastic and passionate about (be aware that passion often isn't instant and may take time to build). The more fun and enjoyable something is the more likely you are to stick at it.
Consistency is key! - Any health or fitness change we try to make is a lifestyle change meaning to make it a permanent change, it's a change for life not just a 3month fix until you have reached the goal. Therefore, being consistent is key. Trying to maintain a 1000kcal per day diet is not maintainable, whereas, being on a 1800kcal diet a day is (Woman on average need 2000kcal per day). On the days where you choose to go out for dinner or have a takeaway, if you have been consistent on the other days that day of indulgence should not be thought of as a derail from your healthy lifestyle change. Consistency does not mean perfection and some is always better than none and within that there will be peaks and troughs but looking at the overall progress is important. Bonus Tip: Hydration is really important, not only does it curb appetite but even slight dehydration can lead to cognitive problems, loss of skin elasticity, muscle cramping, feeling stiff, etc. (Especially in the cold winter months you may find your water intake reduced).
Aid your recovery with massage! Massage also has many health benefits that can aid in recovery. A massage can help improve range of motion and flexibility. Helps ease muscular pain and reduce stress (which can hinder sporting performance or motivation to train), aids relaxation of muscles and increases recovery time, therefore, allowing you to feel better and train harder! Book at NW Sports Massage now!!
I hope you will find this blog a useful tool for helping you with your plans for 2023 and to stay on course with your health, fitness and wellness journey.
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