Everyday Ways To Think Yourself Fitter
Or at the very least, don’t think yourself out of it. Your headspace is sometimes a battleground and your body is often its first casualty. Here’s how you can add some armour up top to make sure your fitness is 360, not 50/50.
The most important muscle to exercise for improved fitness over 40 is your mind.
THE BRIEF
Time to read: 2 minutes
Time to action: 10 minutes
Mantra: “We do today what they won’t, so tomorrow we can accomplish what they can’t.” – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
Main message: Ignore those immediate pleasures for bigger rewards to come. It's loving yourself enough to give you what you actually want.
Stat: 70% is often enough to achieve – “all or nothing” is actually nothing more than a saying.
Statistically, self-disciplined people are happier than the less ‘directional’ amongst us. It’s true: plug it into Google and you’ll see those super smart brains at The Shrive have created an excellent infographic that couldn’t have made it simpler to understand.
Self-discipline = better input = better thoughts = positive action = improved results = increased happiness.
These 12 words explain why thinking right will have you feeling right. Simple as. Now, we’d like to offer you some straightforward, everyday tips for actioning those 12 simple words. Each action is time-coded, so pick the ones you want and see if you can beat your timings next week. You’ll feel better for caring about yourself today, if only for 30 seconds.
30 seconds to ring the alarm
Start strong by setting your alarm to ensure you wake up at the same time every single day. Your body not only appreciates the routine, but also understands it and will prepare accordingly.
180 seconds to live better through chemistry
Start the day with some form of exercise to deliver an endorphin rush. Your muscles act like your endocrine system, flooding you with feel-good hormones.
360 seconds to run hot and cold
Mix up your shower temperatures to benefit from hot and cold water therapy. Alternate between spending one minute under cold water, then one minute under hot water, for 6 minutes.
300 seconds to witness the fitness
Identify your weekly training days and pencil in the specific times you will go to the gym ahead of schedule. Don't let your workouts "fit in", because that will inevitably mean you miss them.
600 seconds to add Houdini to your diary
You must set boundaries to protect your energy. So manage your schedule to ensure you don't fall behind. When at work, schedule 10 minutes to disappear – there must be times when you are out of reach to clear your head and your diary simultaneously.
900 seconds before saying, “See ya!”
When you have meetings, don't be afraid to cancel if people are late. A 15-minute grace period is polite, but if people are still running late, you should nicely pull the plug on the meeting.
By being strong enough to cancel, your time remains your own – which ultimately is all you want and need to feel in control of yourself.
300 seconds to assess the expected
Learning to manage deadline expectations enhances discipline as it reduces the chances of being reactive. A quick tip: give yourself enough time to complete tasks. Do not underestimate them and find yourself chasing time – this helps you feel in control, which is the key to longer-term discipline.
Take 5 minutes to look at the list of to-dos and ask yourself, “Is this volume of work and time achievable?” Then, give yourself no less than an extra 15 minutes per task. If it pushes one or two tasks out of your day, that’s actually a good thing.
600 seconds to celebrate 70%ers
We all need accountability to remain disciplined. Joyfully, one of the best ways to stay accountable is to reward yourself for hitting any (or most) of the above.
Take 10 minutes, say, just to count up what you’ve done – not what you’ve missed – and give yourself a ‘hit’ ratio (70% of the above, or a specific target) for the week. Hitting it helps discipline stay higher for longer. Stay accountable, but just make it to yourself – after all, you’ve earned it.
PT WOLF
A personal trainer who tries and tests every programme we put together. A celebrity trainer, Wolf has been a fitness journalist, practising what he preaches for over 20 years. Now into his 40s, Wolf has added muscle to his frame in every decade of his life and has an annoyingly healthy body fat percentage. He tries it before he says it, but even more importantly, he lives it every day.
