PHUKET: This week we are diving straight into what most people often need to hear when they come and ask how to improve their lives – health and fitness.
Your body is constantly in flux (just like life) and your health will always be subject to your lifestyle choices. Healthy, happy people do not necessarily have to be fit people who run marathons or compete in triathlons. They do, however, choose to make healthy choices as a part of their life.
Being fit is not the same as being strong. In fact, they are at two ends of the spectrum when it comes to physiology and performance. It is a wise choice to build and maintain fitness levels, but over doing it can lead to a cascade of hormonal imbalances, over-use injuries, fatigue and general weakness.
Being healthy is not a quick fix. It involves becoming clear on personal values, attitude checks, hormonal balancing and being happy. Getting fit quickly is easy. Give me six weeks and I can get you fit, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be healthy or happy though.
Just because someone is ‘fit’ doesn’t mean they will lose body fat. Fit people have improved their ability to maximize oxygen consumption and that is why it is called cardiovascular exercise, not fat vascular exercise. In fact, there are millions of people all around the world right now that are very fit and can’t shed an ounce of body fat.
Healthy ‘training’ may include slower movement patterns to enhance blood flow, fat loss, balance, healing, joint stability, integrated flexibility and functional strength. Most of this is performed while keeping your heart rate very low and can be very enjoyable; the exact opposite of what most people believe.
Fitness for the most part is about performance: doing more, lifting more, exercising more and is often based on outside appearances.
Many ‘experts’ think the more a person can do, the healthier they are. Nothing could be further from the truth. Following a training mentality and methodology to beat up their bodies until they drop, is neither scientific nor intelligent. Anyone can train like a boot camp drill sergeant.
Health begins on the inside. Increasing energy levels and losing body fat begins on the inside. Balancing hormones and biochemistry is the basis of all health and can only be done from the inside. There are thousands upon thousands of fit and strong trainers around the world with ‘great bodies’ that beat themselves and their clients up every week.
Many of them suffer from aches, pains, mood swings and poor health. How do I know? I used to be one; indoctrinated with university qualifications and by the health and fitness industry.
Being healthy is very different to being fit. While fitness is very important and plays an important part in overall health, it is only a small part of a much bigger and complex equation.
Hayden Rhodes is the Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist at Royal Phuket Marina's Health Club (click here for map). Follow Hayden on Facebook/RhodesToHealth.
