Introducing the Fitness Soul Fitness Record – Keep It Balanced!
What is fitness?
What makes you come to the Fitness Soul Studio, or wherever you go to train? Maybe you enjoy the company of the others who come to class, maybe you like how exercise makes you feel, or maybe you just love the music! These things are all important, but most people will say they come to Fitness Soul to get fit or stay fit.
What do we mean by getting fit? Is it losing weight, building muscle, toning or something completely different?
At Fitness Soul, we believe that fitness can be all of these things and much more. That is why we have developed the Fitness Soul Fitness Record, to help our clients think more clearly about their fitness goals and to measure their progress.
Getting the balance right
If we are going to be truly fit in a well-rounded, balanced way, we need to work on all the ten factors around the circle. Lifting kettlebells will make us strong and help us to build endurance, but if we want to improve our cardio fitness or develop coordination as well, Zumba could be just the thing we need. By taking part in a range of different classes and activities, we can develop excellent all-round fitness.
If we have always taken part in the one activity, it can be very tempting just to keep doing more of the same. Perhaps we really enjoy whatever we have chosen, or find it easy, or are good at it. It is always worth trying something different, though. Variety is the spice of life! If our coordination or mobility leave a bit to be desired, then these are exactly the areas we should be making an effort to work on and improve.
Foundations
Any building needs solid foundations, or sooner or later cracks are going to appear in the walls and we will find the roof falling in on us. The foundations of our health and fitness: healthy mind, rest, sleep and good nutrition, are just as important. If we are investing in our wellbeing, we want to be sure we are reaping the maximum possible benefits from our efforts.
If has been said that fitness is made 20% in the gym and 80% in the kitchen. Do we really want to waste all the time we are spending training by not making sure we are looking after our nutrition, giving our body what it needs to be healthy and grow stronger?
In addition to a balanced diet, adults generally require a minimum of seven to nine hours sleep per night. As well as boosting our mental wellbeing and allowing our bodies to recover from exercise and training, getting enough sleep offers a host of other benefits: higher levels of immunity, increased sex drive and fertility, lower risk of heart disease and diabetes and even weight loss. Studies have shown that people who sleep less than seven hours a night are 30% more likely to be obese than people who sleep for nine hours or more.
We all know the saying ‘all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. There is a lot of truth in that. Work is important, but so is making time for ourselves. Rest and play – spending time relaxing with family and friends, doing whatever gives us pleasure, should be a regular part of all of our lives – our emotional and physical health rely on it. Some people will even seek to look after their minds through mindfulness practice or other methods, but whatever we choose to do, our mental wellbeing is just as important as our physical health.
Using the Fitness Soul Fitness Record
Each of us is on a journey with our fitness. However far we have gone on that journey, whether we are just setting out, or have been training of years, we can use the Fitness Soul Fitness Record to measure the progress we are making. We have developed a special bank of tests for each of the ten areas. No special skills are required, and they should be accessible to anyone, whatever their current level of fitness. Speak to any of the Fitness Soul instructors if you would like to find out where you are with your fitness and to plan effectively to help you reach all your goals.
Every week at Fitness Soul you can take part in a great range of classes, which will help you develop all aspects of your fitness. Why don’t you try something new, something you haven’t done before? It will be fun, build your fitness and help you to keep it balanced!
Join us! Join Fitness Soul today!
Chris Brandie
