From all my client interactions (over too many years to mention) there’s a heap of takeaways. And I’m constantly reviewing them and using them all in a bid to further develop and refine my messaging to new clients. It’s bigger than that though, in a way I’m not only improving my communication but also redefining the entire framework of the product I offer.
We know that there’s a hierarchy to the different components of a healthy lifestyle and that doing more of one thing has a greater benefit to more of another. As an example it’s now very clear from research that building muscle is way more important than your level of aerobic fitness. It is worth noting that to build muscle there’s a requirement for aerobic work so you’re getting your cardio in anyway.
Another hierarchical fact is you can’t out-train a bad diet which is something I’ve referred to previously because training is the least important part of weight-loss. A tennis buddy of mine today told me that training was the most important part of maintaining weight and general fitness which is not correct.
What I have done to summarise and best illustrate how I look at human performance and the hierarchy of importance is create the Performance Pyramid –
In this illustration I am clearly defining what I believe to be the order of importance as to how each of the components relate to one another. There is not unsubstantial research underpinning the hierarchy of the pyramid but it’s not easy to find and I have accumulated it over many years reading books, research papers and speaking with peers in the industry.
Fitness
- Promoting healthy hormone release
- Aiding muscle generation
- Creating robust joints and bones
- Sense of general wellbeing
Nutrition
- Creating a state of autophagy (healthy tissue regeneration)
- Building healthy, replicable cells
- Helping your body function optimally
Body Maintenance
- Sleep, the Circadian rhythm and rejuvenation
- Massage, joint mobility and muscular elasticity
- Breathwork and performance
The Mind Game
- Internal language
- Adopting a positive mindset
- Reacting versus responding
Some would think that certain parts of the Performance Pyramid fall outside the realm of fitness but I beg to differ. Fitness is as much about the mind as it is about the body. Without mental clarity and purpose much can go wrong. Without feeding your body properly nutrients that supply your brain and maintain tissue, hormones, blood and the multitude of other bodily fluids we create will be lacking. Not enough sleep and rest will rob the body of calm. So everything is related and dependent on each other for optimal function.
I can hear many of stating emphatically that you don’t have enough time to tick all these boxes.
There are 2 responses to this. One is with a bit of commitment all can be incorporated it’s simply a case of identifying what works individually in a best way forward scenario. And two and most importantly no one can afford to not address the Performance Pyramid because not doing so will result in illness and/or injury that will put you into a downward spiral of ill-health. This I know to be guaranteed.
It is a fact that most humans raise their risk to illnesses and death with weight gain. In researching this post I found THIS article which I am using as evidence for the previous statement.
I was not surprised to see that stable obesity across adulthood and weight gain from young adulthood to middle adulthood increased risk of death but was surprised to see that from middle adulthood to older adulthood a LOSS in weight was also related to increased mortality. How could this be? Perhaps more people die because they lose weight due to illness than get better by losing weight for health reasons? Kind of scary if that’s the case.
You cannot out-train a bad diet and keeping fit means not injured so maintain your body. Think healthy thoughts and be “on the up” mentally and reap many rewards!
darren blakeley 