Is my health and fitness a priority?

Grab a pen and paper and write down what your top priorities in life are. Number them off in order of what is most important to you. Now write “Health” out to the side, and remember that good health is feeling great, physically and mentally!

Imagine feeling your best, how does that feel? Look at your list of important priorities and imagine that you have completed them all feeling at your personal best. What does feeling at your “best” mean to you? Good energy, sleeping well, positive, brain alert, relaxed? These are all benefits of incorporating exercise into your daily regime.

Now imagine feeling run down, tired, ill, lethargic, and achy. Look at your list again and imagine that you have completed them all whilst feeling this way. Can you see how much easier and enjoyable it would be carrying out all these important areas of your life if your health is at its best? This is why your “Health” should be your top priority!

My knowledge is around exercise which is a vital stepping stone to good health, as exercise has been undoubtedly proven to improve your physical and mental health. Being active helps prevent a long list of illnesses by just carrying out light exercise for 30 minutes a day, and for even further physical and mental health benefits increasing to high intensity exercise for just 20 minutes per day a few times a week.

Looking after yourself and getting out to do some exercise often gets over looked or pushed down the list due to family and work commitments. There is a sense of guilt and being selfish that can be associated with heading out to do exercise, however exercise is necessary just as much as work is inevitable.

Think back to how much better you feel at your best completing the other priorities important to you. Exercise has been proven in every way to enhance your quality of life, so the question is now not “can I find time to do exercise for myself” but “how” and “what” exercise I can incorporate into my life.

There are infinite options of exercise out there, key things I recommend your exercise should contain are:

• Getting outside, breathing in fresh air rejuvenates the body, and the sun is our Vitamin D which will energize you!

• Finding enjoyment in your exercise, whether this is through the type or exercise or training with friends.

• Raising your heart rate - your heart rate can be raised mildly by walking or you can take it to the next level by doing hill sprints. Raising your heart rate makes your body work efficiently, the blood flows, the muscles pump, and the brain is stimulated. This is what the body is designed to do, to feel good!

• Creating muscle stability, muscle balance, injury prevention, exercise creativity, and ensuring adequate rest for each muscle group between workouts.

So do what works for you, exercise to feel good, to relieve stress, to increase energy, to enjoy doing what is important to you!