Since I’ve been traveling for business, and am now slipping into vacation mode, I thought it would be prudent to write about one of the important factors in health and well-being…I’m referring to your MINDSET about fitness.
This topic actually crosses over into all 4 Pillars of Performance (Mindset, Habits, Movement, Fuel).
As I mention in my book and in all client coaching sessions, your Mindset is the filter through which you see the world. It determines virtually everything else in your life and influences whether you are in a Circle of Success or Distress.
Today we will look at how this mindset plays out when people travel for both work and pleasure
Virtually all of our clients at FRESH! are corporate professionals, and travel is a fairly regular occurrence for them. One of the first questions I ask to gauge their mindset is “Do you exercise when you travel?”
Far too often the answer is “NO! Vacation is a time to relax. Why would I workout?”
Other people say, “Sure, if the hotel has a nice gym”, or “I would love to, but the schedule is often too busy to get to the gym”. All of these answers point to an unproductive mindset around fitness and health.
The first answer demonstrates that the person thinks of exercise and fitness as a “Chore” to be done grudgingly and that you would need a “break” from this chore during your vacation.
When a client answers in this way, I know that we need to work on changing that mindset before long-term health and fitness success is possible.
The other answers show that people have the desire and motivation to workout, but would benefit from a change in perspective around fitness.
We won’t go into the details of the coaching process for these situations, but it all comes down to identifying and replacing key beliefs around fitness, and health, while providing some perspective on the “Movement Spectrum”.
The Movement Spectrum
This is a key part of the talks and presentations I do for Corporations and working professionals as it has a direct impact on:
- Energy
- Motivation
- Productivity
- Fitness
- Injury
- Overall Health
The movement spectrum is a progressive phase of physical development that EVERY person should be aware of.
Using it properly is at the heart of increased performance in life. Failure to understand and use it is at the root of most injury, frustration, and failure to achieve your physical goals.
It all starts with MOVEMENT
I define movement as simply taking each joint in your body through a full range of motion on a regular basis (multiple times per day is ideal).
The next step is ACTIVITY
This encompasses our activities of daily living (ADL)…Everything we do each day at work, home, and play (Grocery shopping, getting dressed, working, locomotion, etc.).
The more active we are each day, the healthier we will be.. 60 or 70 years ago, people were much more active because there weren’t as many modern conveniences.
After the activity, comes EXERCISE
Exercise is merely an activity that is done above a baseline of intensity. You do something that gets your heart rate and effort level above normal. This can include work, hobbies, games, leisure pursuits, and much more. The recommendation is to exercise at least 3 times per week, but 4 or 5 would be better. These “sessions” can be as little as 10-15 minutes each.
Remember that there isn’t a specific goal to these exercise sessions. Just get your heart rate and effort level above your usual baseline. For example, if you’ve become more active by walking more each day, simply take this walking and do it at a faster pace. Perhaps you choose to take the stairs more often but walk up them two at a time.
These little choices each day begin to add up, while also slowly shifting your mindset and focus to the small daily choices you have to improve your health.
FITNESS comes in when we take exercise and focus on a specific physical aspect such as
- Cardiovascular capacity
- Strength
- Endurance
- Flexibility/Range of motion
- Power
- Etc.
PERFORMANCE
This is when we take Fitness activities and add competition (whether with yourself or others). Typically some scoring or specific competitive parameters are introduced.
The interesting thing is that FITNESS and PERFORMANCE are completely optional.
To be healthy, happy, and achieve your ideal body composition, you don’t need to do them.
More importantly, if you try to do them without doing the previous 3 steps (in order), you actually decrease your chances of success and increase the risk of failure, frustration, and injury.
80% or more of the overall health benefits come from the first three phases (MOVEMENT, ACTIVITY, EXERCISE).
Even more relevant to people is that none of these phases have anything to do with “going to the gym”.
Sure, you can do them in the gym, but a fitness center is not necessary, and often counterproductive because it leads people to focus on the wrong things for their needs. People often skip the first three steps and try to jump straight to fitness or performance (do New Year’s Resolutions, or joining a “Bootcamp” come to mind?).
This typically leads to injury, frustration, and burnout.
The great news is that Movement, Activity, and Exercise can be done ANYWHERE, don’t require any fancy EQUIPMENT, and you don’t need any special SKILLS.
The solution is to simply, move your body more. Doing so provides an amazing list of benefits to you, including
- More energy
- Better sleep
- Improved moods
- Increased productivity
- Decreased stress levels
- Greater confidence, and self-esteem
- And much more
If we think about our travel situation through the lens of the Movement Spectrum, we see that it opens up a completely new perspective.
Thinking (and acting) from this perspective will help you realize that the movement spectrum isn’t something you “take a break from” while on vacation. It’s part of who you are, and what you choose to do daily.
You will also realize that you can harness this phenomenon to improve your energy, health, and happiness, while decreasing the impact of jet lag, to help you sleep better, reduce stress, and be more productive.
Now that sounds like a great vacation to me!
From this day forward, I challenge you to be conscious of the daily opportunities you have to harness the power of the movement spectrum. The “small stuff” (like movement, activity, and exercise) matter the most.
Do these properly, and you will be amazed at how much your health and fitness level also improve!
Next time you are on vacation, make time for movement, activity, and exercise to help you explore your vacation destination. You might just find yourself motivated to take it to the next level and do a “workout”!
Comments
Great post and I loved the fact that you divided the movement spectrum into 3 different steps.
“It all starts with MOVEMENT”: I couldn’t have said it better. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the feedback!
I agree with move your body more and the benefits of it. This was very informative and motivated me to understand the different phases of it and how to get started. Thank you so much for sharing.
Thank you for the feedback!
Anyone who travels should read this. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve totally given up on working out while on a trip because I couldn’t find a gym. BUT I never needed one!
Exactly Beth. Fitness is free! Thanks for the feedback!
Thank you for the reminder to be conscious of the daily opportunities for movement. I love that you said even the small stuff matters when it comes to moving our bodies.
We are glad you liked the post. Thanks for commenting!
I appreciate the focus on mindset and fitness in this discussion. It highlights a common challenge many face when integrating exercise into a travel schedule, whether for work or pleasure. Good post!
I am glad you find our post helpfull. Thanks for engaging!
Mindset is very important if we want to succeed. Informative and good post for a fitness mindset. It is not easy to stay consistent when want to achieve fitness goals. Great post.
Thank you, we are glad you liked it. Thanks for the feedback!
Great post. Our vacations often involve more walking, so we usually are more active than in our home situation.
Glad to hear that Renata! Thanks for sharing!
I’m struggling to keep going on my exercise program, Definitely not fun. Thanks for the tips.
Good luck with it. Thanks for reading and commenting!
I am trying to bring an element of fitness back into my life. I will have to think about your points as I am working on reaching my fitness goals.
Use our post as a reminder and if you need some help feel free to send us an email.
Fitness is very important in our life. That is why this is a great post because people can get knowledge and motivation to do this because you have discussed the benefits of it and how to set a goal.
Exactly Nikki! Thanks for commenting!
I really connect with this blog post. It speaks to the mindset many of us have about exercise during travel. It’s eye-opening to realize how our beliefs about fitness can affect our long-term health. Changing our perspective on exercise is key to reaching our goals.
Exactly Ann! Its all about mindset. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Excellent and informative guide to mindset for fitness. This is great for those needing a boost for their workouts.
Thanks for engaging Kristine!
I really like the idea of changing your mindset about fitness: movement, activity, and exercise. I can see how this benefits your motivation, especially if you’re on vacation. I can tell you from experience that exercise helps with my anxiety and also stress reduction.
Thanks for the feedback Dana. We are glad you find it helpful.
Great article, and shared at a time when I really needed to see it. ♥ Thank you!
Thank you for reading and commenting!
I just realized I had the wrong notion about fitness and exercise. Will definitely work on the first three phases. I definitely need to move my body more given that I really have a sedentary lifestyle since I work from home. 🙂
We are glad to help. Thanks for reading and commenting!