Happy Monday
In today’s newsletter I wanted to talk to you about health. More specifically the question of what is health? What does it mean to be healthy?
Here is what I think…
My evolutionary perspective of health
What are we (humans) naturally selected to do based on millions of years of evolution?
What are you doing?
On a daily basis how are you compensating for the fact you’re not doing what you’re naturally designed/evolved to do?
Essentially the further you stray away from what your body is selected to do, the further away you stray from health.
The closer you are to what you’re naturally selected to do the closer you are to health.
^^hope that all makes sense^^
Breaking this concept down a little further there are 4 areas (pillars) that I believe we get the most out of our health
1 – Movement
The first area is movement. We are naturally designed to move. There are 7 key movements that I feel were/are necessary for survival. I believe that we wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for these movements. Our paleolithic ancestors needed to perform these 7 movement patterns quickly and effectively without thinking about it in order to survive the wild.
Squat
Early man had to squat to build shelter and eat. Today we squat down to go to the toilet or sit in a chair.
Bend
Early man had to bend to lift heavy objects or prepare food. Today we bend to pick up our kids.
Lunge
Lunging was something early man did to traverse rough terrain. Today we lunge to walk up the peak or even to go up and down stairs
Push/Pull/Twist and Gait
The 4 other fundamental movements are push, pull, twisting and gait (walking/running). All essential movements for our survival. If you want functional training it doesn’t get more functional than these 7 patterns.
Part 1 of health is are you performing these movements, the movements we were designed to do for the sake of our survival?
And are you performing them often and are you performing them well?
2 – Nutrition
The closer you are to what you are naturally designed to eat the closer you are to health. So what are you naturally designed to eat?
Simple – The food that mother nature has provided us. Real food.
I am not going to go into too much detail here but in the words of Michael Pollan
- Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognise
- Don’t eat anything with ingredients you cannot pronounce
- Don’t eat anything that won’t eventually rot
- Eat mostly plants especially leaves
- Eat animals that have themselves eaten and lived well
- Eat many colours of vegetables
- The whiter the bread the sooner you’re dead
- Don’t overlook the oily little fish
- Avoid food that has sugar or sweeteners listed on the ingredients
It’s not rocket science. Just eat real food.
3 – Sleep
Of all the pillars of health sleep is possibly the most undervalued. In fact, insufficient sleep detracts from your overall well-being. Lack of sleep can lead to obesity, increased risk of heart disease, and even early death.
Sleep is key, essential, absolutely downright necessary for our basic physiological operations – with special support for neurological performance, endocrine balance, immune system functioning, and musculoskeletal growth and repair.
For more on sleep and how to get the best nights sleep check this out…
http://www.personal-trainers.
4 – The Mind
Getting your mind right is the last but not least pillar of health. I could probably write a whole book on the mind but for today’s piece I will share just a few of my thoughts and insights on it.
- The goal isn’t happiness it’s fulfillment. For many years I chased happiness as what I thought to be was the ultimate goal but now I realise for me it’s not. Don’t get me wrong I love being happy but I don’t want to be happy at my grandparents funeral. I do want to be fulfilled. I do want to know that I was blessed to have them in my life and I gave all I could with them.
- Passion. Do the things you love, the things that make you smile and bring you joy
- Direction and Purpose. Know where you are now and know where you want to be. Having clarity of direction gives you focus and purpose
- Meditate and turn of the damn news. Rest your mind from the constant stream of thoughts. Take time to reflect and be grateful for what you have. Turn off CNN aka Constant Negative News 🙂 The more you bombard yourself with the negative the more negative you will become.
- Keep swinging the bat of life. Swing the bat…it doesn’t matter if you fail – that’s where you learn and grow.
That’s it. Please note, these are just my thoughts on health and I am not trying to impose any beliefs or opinions onto anyone. That said I hope you enjoyed ”what is health” and any insights it may have delivered.
Ask yourself this
Do you value your health?
If so, do you have the 4 pillars in place. Are you moving often and well? Are you nourishing your body with nutrient dense foods? Are you sleeping enough and deeply? Have you got your mind right?
If you feel like you are struggling in any of these areas we can help. This is our passion and our purpose.
As always if you enjoyed this newsletter and think someone may benefit please share it
Paul ”your greatest wealth is your health” and Krystie ”true but just a little cliché” Miller
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