The 4 key Principles to Looking & Feeling your Healthiest

If you agree that health is the key to happiness, then you will also be a big believer that your success in building muscle and maintaining overall fitness is integral to winning at the game of life. Whilst there are many different views on how best to approach fitness, here are the key principles that if followed will guarantee success:

Consistency

Trust us - if you do not get this key principle right forget about the rest. If you do not stay consistent with your nutrition, workout schedules, sleep patterns, motivation and your approach to a healthy lifestyle, nothing else will work. Those individuals that look and feel great all the time identify that adopting and implementing key principles that contribute to a healthy lifestyle is a daily routine - a way of life. It does not have to be onerous, or boring but should be balanced, enjoyable and fulfilling especially once you start to reap the benefits.

Proper Nutrition

A consistent, well-balanced diet is crucial for fueling your body not only to tackle day-to-day life demands, but also for workouts and providing the nutrients your body needs for muscle growth and repair. Focus on adequate protein intake, good carbohydrates, a variety of fruits and vegetables whilst limiting processed foods and sugar.

Workout

Develop a workout programme that suits your goals, lifestyle and works around your other commitments. However, with one caveat - prioritise your workouts so they become one of the most important commitments you have. A great approach is to train between 45mins - 1hr per week, minimum 3 times a week (mix of weights and cardiovascular) with equal rest days between. Use walking as a way to supplement your workouts getting in 5-10 thousand steps per day. A few other key points to ensure your workouts are effective and impactful:

• Proper Form: Using proper technique during exercises is crucial to prevent injuries and target the right muscle groups effectively. Learning from others, hiring a trainer and watching you tube videos are all great ideas.

• Variety: Incorporate a variety of exercises into your routine to prevent plateaus and stimulate different muscle groups. This can include compound movements, isolation exercises, and functional training.

• Progressive Overload: Gradually increase the resistance or intensity of your workouts over time. If the specific exercise you are doing feels too easy, it probably is, so make it harder!

Rest and Recovery

Muscles need time to recover and repair. Ensure you get enough sleep (7-9 hours per night) and allow specific muscle groups at least 48 hours between workouts to recover fully. The saying is - every hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2hrs.

Stretching

Stretching is often an overlooked aspect of fitness, but it plays a crucial role in overall health and well-being. Not only is it great to help muscles both prepare and recover from workouts, but it is a sure fire way to prevent injury. It will help improve posture especially if your are often sitting at your desk for work and can help relieve stress and tension. Start stretching today and thank us later for recommending you to start.

Adopt these key principles and you will be well on your way to looking, feeling and living a life of health and happiness. By no means it is easy but it can be enjoyable and fulfilling. Your health is the number one key life value and should in our opinion, be prioritsed over everything else. You can have all the money, career success, life enjoyment but this can come to a crashing halt if you do not have your health.