Introduction
For starters, what is a lifestyle? One of the answers which we give is the following: Lifestyle is a specific way of living developed through habitual actions over a certain period. Okay, now that we made that clear, what makes a lifestyle? Perhaps more importantly, what makes a fitness lifestyle?
Several segments constitute what we consider a lifestyle. Regardless of the context, origin, or idea of it, what is key to understand when it comes to forming any lifestyle is the following – diversity.
We find it quite important to highlight the general notion of diversity in what we do and developing a lifestyle shouldn’t be any different. My lifestyle does not need to be identical to your lifestyle even though we are both keen on fitness and developing our bodies.
However, it should be said, that does not mean that there are “better” or “worse” lifestyles out there. The ones forming a lifestyle are the ones who give value to the lifestyle. Why? Because every person who ever picked up a weight has a different story. We are all unique in that aspect.
Some crucial points
To make this article a little bit more appealing and easier to follow we’ve made a list of crucial points that constitute almost every lifestyle revolving around physical activity. Keep in mind that the list does not follow a strict order nor is this list in any way exhaustive. Surely, there will be those who will find something missing or some points being redundant.
Without further ado let us see what the points are:
- Training
- Recovery
- Nutrition
- Motivation
- Mindset
Training
The first and the most commonly associated category of a fitness lifestyle is that of training. Integral and unavoidable, training or physical exercise is necessary to attain muscular development.
Why is physical exercise a part of a fitness lifestyle? Because any fit person works on his body regularly! Some of them every day, and those with high ambitions even more than once per day. Without it, there is no sport, no fitness, no change. You can develop your muscles elsewhere, but fitness as a concept is exclusively associated with hitting the gym.
What follows with spending your time in the gym is sticking to a workout regimen. These vary from person to person, but everybody has one even if your idea of a workout is to always improvise. We all know what we want to accomplish when we start a workout. Sometimes it’s a bigger chest and others it’s a flashy six-pack. It all depends on who you ask.
Making training your habit is a must if you want to live a fitness lifestyle.
Recovery
You did your workout and you’re tired. Go to sleep!
The flipside of working out is the feeling of fatigue which comes as a result of exhaustion. Your body made a huge effort to accomplish all of the tasks which you’ve put up for it. Now, it requires rest. Give it what it asks for otherwise, you won’t make much progress.
What people sometimes don’t understand is that our body needs the rest phase to develop. Your muscle tissue repairs itself while you’re on your recovery phase. This is when your body gets ready for the next workout. Once your tissue is repaired it will not be torn so easily again. That means you’ll be stronger the next time you go for a set of pull-ups. However, that also means you’ll need to do more reps if you want to continue to grow.
Skipping recovery or not giving your body enough time to rest is not productive in any way. On the contrary, it can lead to excess muscle fatigue and that will only slow down your muscular development or even decay it [1].
Nutrition
Those with impressive physiques did find success only thanks to the exercises they practice. No sir.
All of them eat… a lot.
They eat food which will help their bodies become stronger and more vital. Every athlete is conscious of his/her diet because a fitness lifestyle implies knowing what will make your muscles develop.
It might not sound like a problem if you eat one meal per day. It doesn’t take much time to prepare one dish. It just doesn’t take much time or you have someone else take care of the food preparation for you. However, in the case of the athletes, things are a little bit different. Usually, they have 5 or more meals per day.
Chicken with rice, potatoes mixed with mushrooms…you name it. All of the food you want takes time to prepare and it’s no easy task. Especially after years and years of eating and preparing the same food.
Also, it is in no way easy to continually avoid eating unhealthy food. We all crave for something sweet from time to time, but an athlete knows better than to cheat on his meals. Why did I put in all of this work and effort if I’m going to eat poorly? That doesn’t make sense.
If you’re a fitness follower then you need to think about what you put into your body, you need time to prepare your meals and you need to avoid certain food. That’s why nutrition deserves its category in the lifestyle list.
Motivation
Keeping the bar high during workouts requires a strong will and motivation. Way too often do we succumb to mediocrity because we struggle to find the reason why. Why get up early, why go and destroy your muscles when you can sleep comfortably in your warm bed?
Working out hurts, it is painful and hard to push through. Certainly, if you work out regularly you got to have a why. In other words, you have to be motivated in one way or another.
Truth be told it’s not easy to always bring your A-game. Downfalls are present in any learning process. What matters most is finding a way to get up after being down or as Rocky Balboa said:” It’s about how much you can get hit and keep moving forward…”.
Being keen on anything is about having something pushing you to your limits. There are numerous reasons for you to hit the gym, you just have to find one. Sometimes it’s about fixing your health and sometimes it’s about feeling good inside of your own body.
What often motivates us is simply beating our selves in the game of bodybuilding, powerlifting, or CrossFit. Setting a new personal record is a prime example of this. Nothing makes us feel like knowing that we accomplished something, that we’re becoming better and better at what we love and enjoy doing.
Mindset
Last, but not least is the mindset.
Having a proper mindset is an integral part of sticking to a lifestyle. It’s about focus, dedication, and persistence. Having a positive mindset and knowing that the present state does not determine your possibilities. Carving the perfect physique is a process, just like most things in life. Your body is not stationary or immutable. You can change it and you will change it if you try hard enough.
If you’re a bodybuilder you need to understand that you won’t become Ronnie Coleman after 2 weeks of lifting weights. You’re gonna need to bust your ass off if you want to be like his shadow, let alone close to his glory.
However, that is not bad news nor a reason for you to be sad. You should always keep that in mind because you’ll understand more about your body the more time you spend doing it. Like any other skill – the more you practice it the better you become at it.
Often people want to quit exercising because they don’t see the results or simply get tired of it. Some of them even stop doing it for a while and then come back to it later. Sometimes, that is necessary. However, getting back on the right track is what ultimately matters the most.
Finding the right blend of knowledge, being patient and dedicated is what makes a healthy mindset and is key for living the fitness lifestyle.
Summary
We tried to give you, fitness lovers, a glimpse of what
constitutes an athlete’s lifestyle. Sticking to these points means living a fitness
lifestyle. Implement the strategies which we gave you and the only thing
separating you from reaching any goal is time. See you at the gym!
References
- Recovery From Training: A Brief Review. (2008. May 22) Retrieved from https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/fulltext/2008/05000/Recovery_From_Training__A_Brief_Review__Brief.49.aspx
