What You Need to Know About Reaching Your Fitness Goals – Part 2
Nova Health Club • June 7, 2018
Under Recovery (To Train Like an Athlete You Must Rest Like an Athlete).
In part 1 we learned that starting an exercise program is an excellent and sometimes best first step for anyone wanting to reach their health and fitness goals to take. But almost always we see that the high performing, lean and athletic bodies we strive for are not achieved through an exercise program alone. We are alive for 168 hours a week. If we exercise 3 hours a week then it is the other 165 hours outside of exercise that we must address. It is in these hours that the consistent behaviours we live by, thereby reflecting our lifestyle that determine whether or not we get the results expected from our exercise program.
Recovery - Sleep and Rest
We know that athletes follow the best training programs and work hard during their workouts. When an athlete does not get results it may not be due to the athlete not working hard enough or missing the right exercises, but rather from under recovery and failing to address those ‘lifestyle’ hours spent outside of the workouts. Therefore athletes must be very disciplined when it comes to recovery if they are to maintain their competitive edge and get the results they want...
And the same goes for the average person who is also wanting results from their workout routine. It does not matter that you are not a professional athlete. What matters is recognizing that you are the same biological being requiring the same training stimulus AND recovery in order for you to get results from your workouts. The unfortunate reality we see however is that the average person wants to train like an athlete without recovering like an athlete. We see people working out hard, but putting little effort to digest, recover and rest. Again, exercise is a great first step but if you have poor recovery habits, working out beyond your limits may contribute to the very problem you are trying to fix. This happens when we increase stress hormones, deplete essential energy reserves beyond the bodies ability to replenish them thereby resulting in fatigue, weight gain, injury or disease - we will talk about this more later.
It is important to realize that our society does not promote recovery and rest even though it is just as important as work. In the media you will rarely see recovery information, rather we glamorize new training programs, new fancy exercises and hard work as being the root of all success. We have ingrained in ourselves, our children and our students that to be successful in life we have to work hard, play hard and study hard. Going ‘hard’ and living by expressions like ‘I’ll sleep when I die’, ‘work hard get rewarded’ and ‘suck it up’ are glorified where ever we go. We begin to believe this as the truth and then compensate for our lack of rest with quick fix solutions and vices all the while praising each other that busier (less rest) is better.
For the average person working out and trying to get results through just exercise a typical day goes much like this: Starts with an alarm clock, working all day without a break, eating on the fly (or skipping a meal), getting home late, too tired to make a healthy dinner and ends with choosing to stay up later than we should surfing social media, watching TV or doing more computer work. Some will do their best to throw an intense workout into that mix as well. Summing up the day we see skipped recovery and digestion time, mental and/or physical fatigue, missed 7 to 8 hours of sleep; which perpetuates our under-recovered state. Whether we feel it or not, our bodies and minds are exhausted and continuing this type of lifestyle without respecting rest and recovery can pull us further from our goals and halt progress we trying to make with our new exercise training program.
If your mind and body is fatigued and under stress, a physically demanding training regimen can detract any benefits to be gained from such program. That is why it is so important to have the right program for you as an individual designed by a knowledgeable lifestyle training coach. The right program will consider your average day as seen above and act in a way to address your lack of recovery versus contribute to the existing fatigue and stress. It is unlikely to find this customized program on the internet amidst a sea of ‘high intensity fat burning’ programs marketed to look new but all containing the same thing - ‘work hard, burn calories = lose fat & feel great’ etc. A stress busting workout program that makes your feel great first and gets you healthier considering lack of recovery precedes a ‘work hard high caloric burn’ type workout.
Exercise is a stressor. With the proper rest and recovery, exercise and working out will be a positive stressor that adapts your body to become stronger and perform better. However, working out beyond our abilities without enough recovery, exercise will become a negative stressor on the body that leads to weight gain, injury, fatigue and/or contribute to impending morbidity.
Reaching your goals should be a lifelong journey and by taking consistent small steps to improve your rest and recovery you will get the most out of your training program and investment. Try to implement just one of the below action items to improve your rest and recovery:
-Spend time on joint mobility if your muscles are tight and or sore.
-Always finish your workout with a nutritious meal or smoothie.
-Listen to your body. Don’t skip workouts rather decrease intensity if tired or sore.
-Establish a circadian rhythm that provides 7-8hrs of sleep/night.
-Do not skip meals because you are too busy.
-Make sure your meals have the right amount of calories and macronutrients.
-Take a break from work/routine in nature practicing breathing and or meditation.
-Take a nap in the middle of the day.
-If on the screen a lot, every 20 min look away from the screen 20 feet for 20 seconds.
-Go for regular massage therapy.
In Part 3 of this series we will discuss stressors – those that make us stronger and healthier and those that lead to injury, illness and disease.
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Do Hard Things Now, So Life Becomes Easier Later Modern humans default to the easy way but it's not our fault... Throughout human history, we were wired to survive constant hardship - scarcity of food, threats from predators, harsh environments and manual labor for everything. Our DNA evolved for survival in these conditions, not for modern living. Imagine an early human stumbling across a fruit tree. It made sense to gorge - there was no telling when the next meal would come. The human who gorged had a higher chance of survival than the human who only ate a few pieces of fruit. Practicing self-control in an environment of scarcity would have been a death sentence. Likewise, if given a chance to rest instead of walking miles or hunting, rest was the obvious choice. The problem? Our genes haven’t caught up with modern life. Today, food is everywhere. We don’t have to fight to meet our basic needs. Technology does the heavy lifting, cars replace walking, entertainment is on-demand and calorie-dense foods are always within reach. Left unchecked, our instincts will always lean toward easy options like overeating unhealthy foods (that are so easily accessible) or driving to the store instead of walking. In other words, we’re still hardwired to take the path of least resistance. But here’s the catch: Choosing easy now often means a harder life later and choosing hard now often means an easier life later. Most modern humans are overweight, stressed, tired and dealing with chronic health problems because we’re following outdated survival programming that no longer serves us. It’s time to become aware of these defaults. To override them. To consciously choose the hard thing - because doing hard things is what actually makes life easier in the long run. Hard things like: Going to bed on time instead of watching another episode Preparing a healthy meal instead of grabbing fast food Moving your body instead of sitting all day Walking or biking to the store instead of driving Managing stress with deep breaths and fresh air instead of pouring a drink Looking at your habits instead of masking symptoms with medication It might feel uncomfortable because it goes against everything your biological programming is urging you to do. But that’s exactly why it matters. Don’t think of it as punishment or sacrifice. Think of it as an investment. Every time you take the stairs instead of the elevator, cook instead of order out, or put your phone down to truly rest, you’re building a life that’s easier, richer, and more fulfilling down the road. And remember: Do easy things, and you’ll have a hard life. Do hard things, and you’ll have an easy life. Most of the above information is probably not new to you. That’s because we live in the information age with the internet and now AI - we already know what it is we need to do. The problem however is implementation. This is where having a customized plan and accountability comes in. If you know the hard things you need to do more of but struggle with breaking past your ‘default mode’ then contact us for a complimentary consultation HERE .
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We are back with our second series of 'Pod Calls' available exclusively to our Nova Health Club members. Don't miss these unique sessions to help you level up your health and wellness game! What is a Pod Call? A Pod Call is a live online (webinar like)_ session with a Nova coach, offering support and insights on key health topics like fitness, nutrition, recovery and overall wellness. Why did we create Pod Calls? Our goal is your success and your health goals can not be built on fitness alone. After delivering thousands of personal training sessions, we noticed a disconnect between fitness sessions we were delivering and the other pillars of health (and lifestyle habits that happen outside of the gym). To get the most out of your health and your fitness sessions at Nova we need to link other pillars such as mindset, nutrition, stress and recovery. Training coaches who care about your results will agree that a couple hours of personal training each week is not enough time to workout AND learn everything you need to know about maximizing those workouts... Things like how to eat before or after workouts, what recovery habits should be practiced or the link between stress and working out are all subjects that you need to know on your health and fitness journey. Pod Calls are dedicated sessions where we teach you essential health and fitness insights that we can't often cover during your gym workouts. We hope you take advantage of these expert-led sessions that will enhance your workouts, teach you new concepts about health and bridge the gap between fitness and overall wellness. Upcoming Pod Calls (all times in EST) Mon Jun 2, 2025 (6:00pm) Topic: How To Eat Carbs For Better Energy, Muscle & Fat Loss Coach: Josh Allen Wed Jun 4, 2025 (2:00pm) Topic: Hip Mobility Using the 'CARS' (active session) Coach: Kim Vo Sat Jun 7, 2025 (12:00pm) Topic: Benefits of Single Leg & Arm Training for Overall Strength Coach: Matthew Nadler Tues Jun 10, 2025 (6pm) Topic: Releasing Neck Tension Coach: Zack Fernandez Wed Jun 18, 2025 (1:00pm) Topic: Training The Backside of The Core Coach: Colin Soltesz Thu June 19, 2025 (7:00pm): Topic: Ayurveda for Healthy Ageing Coach: Kayla Hutchinson These calls are free for Nova members and Zoom links for each call can be found in the Nova Mighty Networks platform. If you are not a Nova member and would like to attend any of these please email Info@NovaHealthClub.com for a seat. We look forward to seeing you then!
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