We all live busy lives that require a substantial amount of our time focusing on being the best version of ourselves. This can be an elite performer for our jobs, being a better parent, or excelling as a student. These activities can absorb a lot of energy and allow important components of our life hit the back burner. Self-care for physical, mental and emotional well being is one of the first things to go when life takes over. A key component for establishing healthy balance for our well-being is to ensure that we regularly adhere to physical activity and exercise. If we take an hour or two out of the day 2-3 times per week, we can find that exercise is a catalyst in making us elite performers as a parent, employee or student. If we give ourselves permission to remove ourselves from our normal daily activities to exercise, we can see that exercise is more of a gift to our jobs, families and friends and less of a task. Being a healthier person overall will allow us to present ourselves in a better physical, mental and emotional state to our jobs, family life and other activities that we interact in.
Incorporating exercise throughout the week is a very effective tool to increase mental acuity. When we make a conscious decision to set aside the busyness of life to perform exercise, we temporarily set aside the stresses of completing our daily tasks. By spending time on the details of exercise for an hour narrows our attention to the task at hand of exerting oneself throughout the exercise session. After that hour is of exercise is completed, we re-enter the door to life. Feelings of accomplishment and empowerment are very common following any sort of challenging exercise session. Exercising 1-3 times per week regulates stress hormones caused by the tasks of life. In addition, the effects of regular exercise will improve our posture, which leads to standing a little more upright. Healthy posture can lead to the perception of being a confident person. Not only will taking the time out for an exercise session help with our physical well-being, but also with the way we hold ourselves around others. This can give our family, colleagues and friends the sense that we are a confident and motivating person to be around.
To get into an area to perform exercise, we need to take the time aside and put ourselves in an environment that allows this to happen. In other words, you must literally get up from the computer chair, drop the kids off, and put the phone away to arrive at your destination of exercise. The duties of life are challenging to step away from. An effective tactic that we coach our personal training clients is to give your self permission to exercise. It’s true that there are people in your life that depend on you. But how are we supposed to give them our best if we are stressed out, fatigued and physically weak? An hour or two is not that much time compared to the rest of the day. Allow yourself permission to take this time out of your day to better yourself.
Improvements to our physical well-being and interactions in life occur as we exercise. Another coaching cue that we teach our clients is picture exercise as more of gift and less of grueling, torturous task. Following an exercise session, we achieve feelings of accomplishment, breathe more effectively, and allow new ideas to occur as return to the tasks of our everyday lives with an improved out look on the day. After exercise, your eyes are literally more open to the world. The increases of adrenaline and healthy heart rate responses dilate the blood vessels, causing your eye lids to lift and be more reactive to our environment. Routine exercise will give your family, work life and friends the gift of a better version of you.
If we want to be the best we can for the people around us, we need to keep ourselves intact. The demands of life can lead us to focus on everything else but ourselves. We all have 24 hours in our day, it’s just a matter of how we spend it that allows us to experience the day to the fullest. In that sense, 1 to 2 hours is not that much time to dedicate to your lifetime fitness. Give yourself permission to exercise. Furthermore, give the people you work so hard to make happy the gift of the best version of yourself by setting aside the time to improve your fitness and wellness.
Sean McCawley, the founder and owner of Napa Tenacious Fitness in Napa, CA, welcomes questions and comments. Reach him at 707-287-2727, napatenacious@gmail.com or visit the website napatenaciousfitness.com.
