The one aspect of fitness no one talks about (It is equally important as exercise and diet)

SUSTAINABLE FITNESS

It is a great time to be fit, forty has become the new twenty and sixty has become the new forty. The age of social media along with it has ushered a plethora of influencers, who have successfully altered our thinking, redefining in our minds the concept of fitness. Is it just having a good body, washboard abs, bulging biceps, good looks that defy your biological age, or running a gruelling long-distance marathon? For some fitness is an end in itself, for some, it is a means to an end, that being better athletes, better performing professionals. It can also be a means to feed your own narcissism. I am no one to judge, to each his own I would say. The definition for each individual is subjective and it cannot be answered objectively.

 

So how are you going to go about achieving your own defined and desired level of fitness? I am sure that this is a no brainer. Regular exercise and nutrition. This along with healthy lifestyle choices like adequate sleep, rest and recovery along with staying away from stress will be your tools in your fitness journey. At the same time, I am sure that you would strive to improve your performance in your chosen discipline.

 

Improvement in fitness or any field for that matter comes from exposing yourself to incremental stress sustained over time. In gym parlance, it is called progressive overload. This is an important aspect that requires a balancing act. Too little and you will not see any improvement, too much and you will have wear and tear or worse injury. Putting ourselves through this continued level of stress we also need something that works wonders in the long run. This quality that you will need to inculcate is called consistency. This quality will, more than anything will decide whether you reach your fitness goals or not. There is a reason that consistency is called the mother of greatness. Daniel Coyle in his book "The Talent Code" has coined a term called deliberate practice, which is a special type of practice which is purposeful and systematic. It needs attention and is conducted with a specific goal of improving performance.

 

Great, now you have what it takes to reach your fitness goals, so it's easy, right? Seriously unless you are a professional athlete or a bodybuilder, you still need to find the time. You probably have a day job, with all the office politics that come with it. Your family and kids too will demand your attention in terms of time and effort. So apart from having a consistent approach you need to factor a very underrated aspect of fitness. The aspect called sustainability. You need to ask yourself as you pound the pavement, or hit the gym, whether you will be able to devote the same effort daily, and consistently, meeting all your professional and social obligations?

 

 

Using willpower is not enough; this is a finite resource (though some may disagree) and will get depleted with sustained use. In fact, this has to your final trump card when everything fails. Instead, you need to create rituals, systems that are repetitive, sustainable and gradually push your envelope ever so slightly. One key to getting sustainability is doing less. It might sound paradoxical that one hand we need to push our boundaries and also make our efforts sustainable by doing less.

 

“I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.” - Ernest Hemingway 

The above quote by the acclaimed author regarding writing is applicable in other human endeavours, in this case, fitness. We can carry out deliberate practice and at the same time strive for sustainability. Let us see on a numeric scale. On a scale of 1 to 10,1 being least and 10 being the highest effort that you will need to put. You can comfortably do a 5 without much thought or effort. For a 9 or 10, you will need more time and loads of effort. So do not go for a 9 or 10 try to do a 6 instead. Here you are pushing yourself slightly ensuring your recovery, making it easier for you to devote the same effort on a daily, consistent basis. So do your thing whatever it may be. If marathons are your thing then going easy on mileage might actually be good for you, in the long run, same is the case when lifting weights or for that matter any activity you choose to undertake.

The same applies if you are planning to make changes to your diet, or go for reduced calorie intake. Too drastic changes will inevitably be followed by a relapse into binge eating. Setting a lower target and reaching it consistently is better than having a wild target along with an unrealistic and ambitious goal. It is by reaching this lower threshold on a daily level, that will get you actual results.

 

It is where sustainability and consistency meet magic happens. This is where we see progress and positive changes as time goes by. You will also realise that the concept of sustainability and consistency can be applied to all facets of our lives. Why only fitness it can be a new skill you want to learn or improve an existing one. As a student, if you want to improve your academic performance, anything that you can think of.

 

Let us enjoy our progress. As clichéd as it may sound this is a  journey, not a destination. If you want to pursue this journey for long then sustainability has to be your friend. You do not have to push yourself beyond a certain point, enjoy your ride and have fun. Allow yourself to be human by falling off the wagon at times only to get back up, but be consistent with your efforts no matter how incremental they are.