Improve Fitness Faster: The Whole Day Approach

So you’ve gotten your one hour workout in for the day.  That should be good enough to get the results you’re looking for, right?  WRONG!  A common problem with a lot of people’s fitness programs, is they think that getting a workout in should be good enough to get the results they are looking for.  What they forget about is the other 23 hours in the day.

Just think about it.  If we’re focused and disciplined for one hour, but then do whatever we want for the other 23 hours, why should we expect to see any results at all?  What we need to wake up to, is the fact that getting in shape requires us to revamp the decisions we make every day.  The more time and effort we put into making healthy decisions, the better results we will see and in a shorter amount of time.

The whole point of working out is to kick start our cardiovascular system and metabolism.  By doing so, we obtain benefits such as losing weight, decreasing cholesterol, gaining muscle, improving mobility, etc.   What we do for the 23 hours AFTER our workout however, determines to what extent our body reaps the benefits of exercise.  By making healthy decisions, our body responds by keeping our metabolism higher longer, increasing lean muscle mass, and decreasing body fat.

Making good decisions is like throwing dry wood on a fire.  The benefits of exercise last longer and are stronger.  Making poor decisions however, is like throwing water on a fire.  It decreases our metabolism, tears down lean muscle mass, and increases body fat.  Poor decisions with our activity level and diet ruin the time and effort we put into our workout.

The goal of this article is to make sure that you are doing everything you possibly can to get the results that you want and help you improve fitness faster.  We do that by being active, focused, and by making good decisions throughout the ENTIRE day.  Not just for the one to two hours.  So, I created a short list of questions for you to read and ponder.  Do you want to get in shape and be healthy badly enough to take the whole day approach instead of the one hour approach?

Are you taking in the right amount of calories in order to either lose weight or build muscle?

Are those calories good calories? (are they coming from lean protein, fruits, vegetables, etc..)

Are you drinking enough water throughout the day?

Are you taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking on the opposite side of the parking lot, using a push mower instead of a riding mower, taking the dog for a walk, etc.?

Are you going for a walk on your breaks at work?

Are you bringing a piece of fruit, healthy granola bar, or vegetable to work to snack on throughout the day so that you don’t splurge on unhealthy food when you get home?

Are you taking quiet time out of the day and making sure to get 8 hrs of sleep every night so that your stress hormones are under control?

When you do workout, are you making sure to push yourself and get the most out of your workout as humanly possible?

Those are just a few questions/suggestions to get you thinking about fitness in a whole new light.

My final and most important question to you is this:  How SERIOUS are you about being fit and healthy?  Are you willing to apply the whole day approach and take your fitness program to a whole new level?  It’s the little things that can make the biggest difference in your program!