Health and fitness are an integral part of maintaining a high quality of life throughout the lifespan. The choices we make on a daily basis effect not just the present, but also our future. Whether recreationally active or a competitive athlete, physical activity and diet are at the corner stone of our health and longevity.
Most active individuals know a thing or two about health and fitness. But there is always room to improve and strive to become your best self. Both physical activity and nutrition are important and optimal performance comes from dialing in both aspects. But with so much contradictory information out there, what does optimal training and fueling look like? Here are some tips to help you become your best self.
Training
Each person is unique and so there is not a one-size fits all when it comes to training. The best way to optimize your training is to keep a training journal and really pay attention to how you feel. It doesn’t matter if you are training for your first 5k or for the Olympic Games, the best way to learn more about yourself is to record how you feel regularly. It’s important to recognize that YOU are unique and will respond differently to training. Listen to your body; it sends subtle (or at times not so subtle) cues as to how it’s handling the stress. The more in tune you can be with the cues, the better you can optimize your training, avoid injury, overtraining, and illness, and become the best you can be.
Most active individuals know a thing or two about health and fitness. But there is always room to improve and strive to become your best self. Both physical activity and nutrition are important and optimal performance comes from dialing in both aspects. But with so much contradictory information out there, what does optimal training and fueling look like? Here are some tips to help you become your best self.
Training
Each person is unique and so there is not a one-size fits all when it comes to training. The best way to optimize your training is to keep a training journal and really pay attention to how you feel. It doesn’t matter if you are training for your first 5k or for the Olympic Games, the best way to learn more about yourself is to record how you feel regularly. It’s important to recognize that YOU are unique and will respond differently to training. Listen to your body; it sends subtle (or at times not so subtle) cues as to how it’s handling the stress. The more in tune you can be with the cues, the better you can optimize your training, avoid injury, overtraining, and illness, and become the best you can be.
1. Focus on Quality Over Quantity. Athletes tend to think that if some is good, then more is better. Not the case with training. It’s better to emphasize good quality workouts than squeezing in as much as possible. Greater physiological adaptions occur from training that stimulates your highest workload, mixes up the stimulus, and allows for adaptation. Thus, a typical week should not be the same type of exercise; duration, volume, or intensity, each day. There should be hard days followed by easy, recovery days. During the hard workouts, you should push your body. But the following day, to fully absorb the benefits, you need to take it easy, meaning a nice slow, recovery workout. Many athletes don’t take it easy enough on the recovery day. Not only do you not recover as well when you don’t take it easy, but your next workout is also compromised.
2. Rest Days are Important. Rest days are when the magic happens. Think of training as placing stress on your body to wear it down. Your body responds to this stress by building back up stronger than it was before. This is how fitness gains occur. BUT, if you are constantly stressing your body, it doesn’t get the opportunity to recover and build back up. Thus, rest days are just as important as training days. You cannot become fitter and stronger without a day off. I recommend at least one rest day per week. Sometimes more. And a rest day doesn’t mean cross training or running around all day, it actually means focusing on good recovery and letting your body recoup. This is how you increase fitness and avoid overtraining and injury.
Read Full Article Here: Training & Nutrition Tips to Stay Healthy and Happy in Sports
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