29 May 2014

Henry Roy is one of our instructors at BS7 Gym. He has put together some top tips to help improve your physique. This is part 2

8. Its a lifestyle

Being healthy is ultimately about getting the most out of your life, increasing the years of your life and the life in your years. It’s about eating better, sleeping better, thinking better and moving better. Each of these things helps the others, and a problem with one can affect the others.

9. Commit, and take it seriously

It’s not easy or everyone would have a great physique. But you wouldn’t want it to be easy, the difficulty of the task is what makes the journey so valuable, and leads you to grow as a person, in confidence and competence.

Prioritise your body. Make a commitment to yourself to get it done. Set time aside in the week specifically for your training, food preparation etc.

10. Get expert help

You wouldn’t go to court without a lawyer. If you’re serious about improving your body speak to an expert, that’s what we’re here for. If you get aches, pains and twinges, don’t just put up with it or let it hold you back, see a physio and get it sorted. If you want to change your body, speak to a personal trainer and make sure you’re doing the right things the right way.

There are many factors that can dictate success or failure, experienced trainers understand these problems and solutions, and their expert input is often the key to success.

11. Believe in yourself

You are the result of millions of years’ worth of ancestors fighting off floods, droughts, plagues, famines, wars, sabre tooth tigers, bears, poisonous insects and host of other things to eventually birth you… you are far more badass than you realise. If you’re the kind of person who has a few stone of fat to lose this can be hard to believe sometimes, especially if you’ve never been sporty, gain weight easily etc. in a world that stigmatises being overweight, being out of shape can bring self-esteem down.

Transforming your body is a big process, requiring both the desire to make the change (motivation) but also the confidence that you can. Confidence comes from self-belief, and self-belief comes from self-esteem. Love yourself, that’s why you’re doing the whole physical-improvement thing anyway. Don’t doubt for a second that you’re the kind of awesome mega-badass fully capable of doing this.

12. Enjoy it for its own sake

Some people are under the impression that being healthy is something that only a certain breed of mental people enjoy – the health freaks. Or that being healthy is about slogging away on a treadmill before going home to eat salad and be sad. Surprisingly, this is not what I decided to spend my life promoting.

Living a vital, strong, healthy life is fun, rewarding and will biologically predispose you to happiness. Just because something’s hard doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, ultimately most fun activities are a challenge. In fact, a lot of the factors that make something enjoyable also make for good training – challenges, social elements, novelty, learning, personal growth, connection to your body/the present moment. That’s not to say you’ll enjoy all types of training, but with the millions of types out there you can find a type of exercise you’ll love – so get searching.

13. Value health and fitness

You are the one common factor in all aspects of your life; the most important thing to invest in is yourself. That may mean investing more time, more effort, you may even have to spend a little more money on food or personal training. You will definitely have to push yourself out of your comfort zone a little. Do you think that if next year you’d achieved your ideal body you’d look back at the time, money and concentration you spent achieving that, and think it was a waste? Or that you’d rather have spent that getting a new HD TV to watch? Hell no! Being strong, sexy and athletic is awesome!

14. People are social animals For better or worse, you will be influenced by the people around you, so make sure it’s for better. Tell the people around you how determined you are and ask them to encourage you/not constantly offer you biscuits. Is there anyone in your social circle who achieved similar things to what you’re aiming for, can they help/inspire you? Also, which of the people you spend lot of time with are negative influences? Be prepared to deal with that, and the fact that some people you may expect to be supportive may actually be quite unhelpful.

You may find that the dynamics of your social life change with the rest of your lifestyle. This is a great opportunity too, by doing healthy activities you’ll surround yourself with positive people from all walks of life with a common passion for that activity. Talk to people, make friends, join teams, get training partners to share the journey with.

 

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