There is currently so much information available on how to get healthy or in better shape. You can spend literally weeks reading studies, blogs, articles, etc on numerous topics, tactics and fitness/health hacks. To save you some time and to get the most "bang" for of you health "buck", maybe the question we should try to answer is:
"What should I prioritise when it comes to maximising my health and fitness?"
Here is my short answer... 2 things. Your Sleep and your Exercise/Activity time. Once these 2 powerful habits are set, most of the other areas of general health factors (energy, motivation, nutrition, etc) should automatically follow.
Prioritising sleep
"Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise"
Benjamin Franklin
This seems like it would be an easy thing to do but it can be quite difficult for a number of reasons:
- Different family/Spouse habits around bedtime
- Later work commitments
- Not feeling tired at the right time
- Reading your phone in bed
Do you struggle with any of these? How do you personally combat them?
What can we do about it?
While all of the above are significant barriers to getting regular (earlier) sleep time daily, they are not impossible to overcome. Before giving up on the dream of regular early nights, explore all the options for making positive changes:
- Include family/spouses into these new habits.
- Say no to late work projects when you can
- Getting up early to exercise (a.m) and switching off screens earlier (p.m) will make you tired at the right time and not 'wired' at bed-time.
- Ensure you have good sleep hygiene habits (environment, noise, calm state).
- Create a 1-hour sleep Ritual/set-up to gently to unwind from your day and fall asleep.
More about reading you phone in bed...
Saving your internet surfing until the end of the day is a terrible habit for your sleeping efforts. Here's just a short list of what is happening to you:
- Blue light is bad for your vision = X
- Keeps your brain psychologically engaged and awake = X
- Suppresses Melatonin (the hormone that makes you sleepy) = X
- Increases release of cortisol making you more alert = X
Reading your phone in bed will destroy your sleep quality
2. Prioritising daily exercise/activity
"Work out in the morning, before your brain figures out what you're doing!"
Like every habit, this is one that needs to be practised before it feels good. From personal experience I would say that it takes around 1-2 weeks of regular early morning alarms and training sessions to really get into it.
Here are some tips for better success when trying to master early morning exercise:
Be prepared to get up early and GO!
- Start easy. Get up 30mins earlier and stretch/walk for the first week.
- Prepare the night before. Don't wait until the morning to decide, get your workout clothes ready and get going.
- Get a friend involved. Make yourself accountable, ask a friend to join you on your new habit
- Use this time as quality "ME time". Its quiet in the mornings, get your head together and mentally plan your day.
Early morning (first) Light helps build natural serotonin levels
After 15 years as a personal trainer I can tell you that many of the reasons given for cancelling training sessions are work-related. The longer you delay your own exercise/activity throughout the day, the higher chance you will be pulled away to a meeting or asked to produce something for a deadline at work.
"Get it done early, prioritise yourself before others!"
I hope you found this post helpful and you can take something from it to use today. If you have any questions or examples of anything above that have helped you get better sleep and exercise habits, share in comments or a message.
Have a great week ahead,
Nate
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