A Holistic Approach To Fitness
When thinking about constructing a fitness plan, it can be tempting to structure it around the single goal of improving your physical health, or even worse, how physically healthy you look (not the same).
This was my mistake for many years. My only exercise was going to the gym and weightlifting, and while this routine did give me other benefits besides an improvement in my physical health, these benefits were by-products rather than desired goals of my programme.
Over the last few months, I’ve adopted an exercise programme that focuses on a more holistic view of the benefits exercise can bring.
In this article, I share the goals I set in constructing a holistic fitness programme, and what my weekly schedule looks like.
The aim isn’t to give you a prescriptive exercise regime, but more open your eyes to the potential benefits of exercise you might be missing, if you are only focusing on improving your physical health .
Yoga
I do hot yoga (yes so boojie) ¾ times a week. Usually, I am for mornings, it’s a great way to start the day. I’ve dabbled with yoga for the last few years, but have made a real commitment to it in recent months.
Improved physical health (8/10)
I’ve only started seeing the real benefits of yoga after committing to practice it every other day, and man the health benefits are huge. I feel lithe, flexible and just all-around so much healthier. I can bend over to pick things up without my back straining, I can sit for hours without any pain, I can move my body in ways that would have before been impossible.
Improved mental health (6/10)
Immediately after a yoga session, you feel a real sense of calmness and clarity, incomparable to weightlifting in my experience. You also get the chance to meditate for 10 minutes at the end, and if combined with a cold shower you leave the session feeling a hundred bucks.
This state can carry through a lot of the day, if you are mindful to conduce it.