Every Thursday I will be sending out a post containing 3 things to check out, 2 personal thoughts, and 1 challenge, all on the topics of health, wellness, and fitness.
This is the first 3-2-1 of 2021. I know a lot of people are looking at the year ahead and making āresolutions.ā
3 Things to Check Out
Walking can extend your life. So walk more. Get out and move. Pandemic related lockdowns, working from home, and all that has kept us stuck in one place. Get out and go for a walk. Spice it up sometimes by walking at a faster pace, or by wearing a backpack. Set a goal of walking for 15-30 minutes per day. You can always add more once you reach it.
Spending time seated on the floor is something Iāve spoken about twice recently. But one thing I didnāt mention is that the ability to sit and rise from the floor is correlated with longevity. This may or may not be related to the fact that falls are second leading cause of accidental death world-wise. The more you spend time on the floor, the more you have to get up and down from the floor. Set a goal of spending 15-30 minutes per day on the floor. You can always add more time later.
And rounding us all off, the strength of your grip is correlated with longevity as well. Two of my Foundation Skills, hauling and crawling directly apply here. If you pick things up in your hands and carry them for distance, you grip improves. If you climb (vertical ācrawlingā) a rope or use a pullup bar, the same happens. Set a goal of taxing your grip 1-3 times a week. Carry heavy things, climb a rope, deadlift, do chinups, or even just hang from a bar.
2 Personal Thoughts
I think New Years resolutions are usually junk - why wait until January 1st when you can just start today. But it just so happens that it is today! The fact that Iām talking about goal setting right now is simply because others are doing it. This advice applies any day of the week, any week of the year.
Make changes when you want to. Donāt wait for tomorrow or next week or next month. Do it now. Make a plan, and give it an honest 6, 9, or 12 weeks before you decide if the plan and goal are even worth it.
With that in mind, I find people tend to overextend themselves in goal setting. They want to start walking more and say āIām gonna walk for an hour a day!ā.
Thatās a great goal, but if youāre just starting out it can be overly ambitious. Once you miss one day, itās easy to miss more and more. Goals should start out small and achievable. You should look at the thing and think āthatās barely a goal at all, thatās too easy.ā
So instead of an hour of walking each day, start with 10 minutes. Do that for two full weeks, and bump it to 15. Thatās easy, right? If youāre already walking 10 minutes a day, whatās 5 more? And 5 more? And 5 more after that? Itās compound interest.
1 Challenge
Look at your current goals (if you donāt have any, maybe consider Foundation Building) and reduce them. Yeah, I said it. You want to run a 5k this year? Nah, make it a 3k. You want to deadlift 500lbs? Make it 400. Just take your goals, and chop it down to something that makes you think āthatās barely even a goal!ā
Then go out and achieve it. Itās barely a goal, right? Go do it then. And when you run that 3k? Now go run a 4k. Now go deadlift 425. Do a little more. And a little moreā¦