What is your Fitness Age?
Written By Lisa Pearson
Hi Guys and Gals, I had a bit of fun this week and used an online calculator to work out my supposed ‘fitness age’. Disappointingly I came out as 32 which, as a 47 year old, would seem OK but I still think I’m 18 so work to be done by the looks of things! Now, as I said, it was just a bit of fun and I do not put a huge amount of credence into the calculator as far as accuracy goes but it did get me thinking... What if I were 18 years old again? If my goal was to stay as fit as an 18 year old, what advice would I give myself? And, indeed, why would it be important? Sometimes when I have thoughts like this and go deep into my own mind I really should take an adult with me because it brings up some very frank conversations with myself! Anyway, that aside, the constructive elements that came out of it were intriguing indeed. Firstly, as an 18 year old I would not have taken on any advice as clearly I knew it all and no one knew better (sound familiar?). However, let’s just pretend that I did have an open mind and that I was passionately interested in keeping myself as fit and healthy as possible, what would have been the first useful piece of advice I would tell myself? Time goes quicker than you can ever imagine. Use everyday to its fullest advantage because all too soon you will be 30 years down the road and still thinking ‘I really must get around to doing (fill in the blank) soon’. It is true, 30 years can go by in the blink of an eye (although 60 seconds at full sprint on a spin bike can seem like an eternity, but I digress) and if you don’t have a plan for each day of your life then life will have a plan for you, be in no doubt that in 30 years you will surely arrive, the question is where? How productive could you be today if you really wanted too? What have you been putting off for ever that you always wished you’d do? Goals are very personal and everyone has a different set of motivations in life but how many of you really follow your dreams? Are you in a job that you are not totally passionate about? Do you ever spend a day working and thinking that the time goes so slowly as you watch the clock go tick tock, tick tock? If you do then I plead with you right now put a plan in place to change it! What are you waiting for, the perfect time? Oh wait, I hear you, ‘the times just not right at the moment, I’ve got bills to pay, a mortgage, family’ blah blah blah. Guess what, the time will never be perfect and there is no better time than now! Do not waste another minute doing something you are not passionate about, do something that gets you up early and keeps you up late. Do something you love so much that the hours in the day just fly by and you lose track of time. Do this now and in 30 years you will be in a place you could have only dreamed of. Do not stress so much about what other people think of you. In fact just do not stress so much full stop! Instead get excited about creating an amazing life each day. Think more about who you can help and how you can help them rather than what they think of you. Do this everyday and soon you won’t need to worry about what people think of you because they will tell you to your face and it will be all about what a wonderful person you have become. Do not ask anything of anyone before adding value to their life first. (Go back and read point 2 again). As youngsters we all want to get ahead, heck many of us think it’s a right we have to expect others to help us and even get annoyed when we find out life just isn’t like that. It takes many people many years of life experience to realise that the saying, ‘as ye sow, so as ye reap’ is actually pretty much the way life pans out. If you remember each day to give as much as you can to helping others then you will find out very quickly that the world is actually on your side and not against you! BEWARE, if you approach this from an attitude of manipulation people will see right through you and nothing will change. In other words, do not go out with the thought of, ‘right I am giving of myself so you lot better pay me back and quick!’ People can sense someone who is not being genuine very quickly, don’t be that person. Look after your gut and everything else will fall into place. This is probably the most powerful key to youth and longevity there is. Keeping your gut healthy will ensure that all the food you eat is absorbed but more importantly it will stop you getting most of the signs of ageing. It will also mean that your energy levels will be through the roof all day and that you will get deep rejuvenating sleep every night. Sleep more! The phrase ‘I’ll sleep when I’m dead.’ Will just bring the ‘dead’ part into being a lot quicker than you had planned! Sleep deprivation will make you hungrier for the wrong foods, more likely to have an accident, not look your best, or most approachable, more likely to catch a cold, lose brain tissue, more emotional in a non constructive way, less focussed, poor memory, higher chance of stroke, obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Oh and if you’re male, lack of sleep lowers your sperm count! Still think sleep is for whimps? Exercise everyday! Do something you really enjoy everyday, weather it is traditional workouts in the gym or just walking the dog, do something active everyday, our bodies are designed for it and thrive on it. A word of caution, long, endurance type training (long runs over 45 minutes or any activity that is at a constant raised heart rate for a long period of time) will have the same effect on your body as ageing. This type of activity promotes oxidative stress to the cells and muscle wastage which are not helpful in keeping your fitness age down. Swap your long distance runs for some hill sprints for 20 minutes, you’ll get a much better effect! Also remember any activity is great for your body, think outside the box a bit and mix it up, when did you last go horse riding or carry the shopping home on foot instead of using the car? Meditate. Yes I know this all sounds a bit woo woo but meditation is one of the best ways to stay young and stay focussed. It will help you make the most of everyday (going back to point 1) and allow you to deal with any stress you may find in your life a lot more efficiently. Nowadays its so easy to just download a guided meditation track, pop your headphones on and bliss out for 20 minutes. Try it for a week and I guarantee your life will change. Make your nutrition the very best it can be. Use only the highest quality ingredients and do not complain about the cost. The benefits it gives you far outweigh the price and when you see yourself fit, well and full of vibrant energy it will be well worth it. Eat more lean protein, good fats and vegetables do not get caught up in the sugar frenzy of the 21st century. Remember, if a food (or so called food) needs to be advertised to sell it then do not eat it! Believe me, those models you see on the ads are not eating those burgers or pizzas and if they are, they have no energy and feel like crap every day of their lives! Have more fun and SMILE! Make sure that you find some way to ‘play’ each day. Don’t be one of the people you see on the train every day who just look exhausted and tired of life, be someone who can’t wait for tomorrow to come! Educate yourself. We are in an age where information is available at the touch of a button, websites, blogs, podcasts, dare I say it books (books were still available in shops and online at the time of writing this article), video programmes, distance learning courses the list goes on and on. Always better yourself by learning new skills and knowledge. Do not wait until a certain time to be happy. All too often I hear people say, ‘when I get that job, then I’ll be happy’ what’s wrong with being happy now? Think about this chain of events and you decide when you should be happy; ‘I’ll be happy when I leave school!’ actually, ‘I’ll be happy when I get a job’, no no, ‘I’ll be happy when I meet someone special’ ‘I’ll be happy when we get married’, ….. ‘when we get a house’……..’when I have children’ …….’When the kids have grown up and left home’………’when I stop working and retire’……how about not waiting to be happy someday and just be happy today! Have a daily routine that is fun and exciting that allows you to encompass all of the above. For example make sure that each day you exercise, eat amazing meals, meditate and have exciting goals to aim for before sleeping soundly. If each day was like that, what could you achieve in 30 years time? The most important one in my mind, spend more time with your family. They are the most important part of your growth and development. Spend time with them now, not when it’s too late. Nothing is more important as this will affect how they live their life after your life is over. Don’t spend all your life living in the same place. Statistics show that 90% of people are born, live and die within a 12 mile radius! There is a big old world out there waiting to be explored so go out and see as much of it as possible. Learn for other cultures, see amazing sights and make a point of enjoying everyday! By the way, we started this blog by talking about an online test for my fitness age that was a bit of fun, try it for yourself and see what your results are! https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/ Paul Burgess SAC dip. (cn) SAC Dip. (pt) SAC Dip. (AnAg) Have you ever felt as though your health is just not where it should be? Feel tired all the time? Had health issues that just do not go away? Suffer from IBS or any kind of digestive complaint? Need to lose some weight? Whatever your needs why not speak to Paul Burgess. He is the Clinical Nutritionist who writes all our Blogs. Not only is he a highly respected nutritionist in his field but also an ambassador for nutritional supplement companies and was awarded ‘Over 40’s Bodybuilder’ by the prestigious Bodybuilding.com website so he really knows his stuff! His mission in the industry is, ‘to help as many people as possible realise the full potential of a healthy body using real food and applying the latest knowledge available’ If you are looking for the best advice in the industry, contact Paul at athletic.fitness@icloud.com or check out his website www.athletic-fitness.co.uk 
