Strength Isn't a Luxury. It's a Necessity!

The 2 most common things I hear from clients after a few weeks of starting with me.

1: “I feel so much better on this diet. I have more energy. I’m never hungry. I’m sleeping better and I just feel better. My mood is better.”

2: “I feel strong. My body feels tighter, in a good way and I just feel stronger.”

The effects of good nutrition and training can be felt almost instantly and cover every physical and mental aspect of a persons life. Feeling good is addictive. It can be like a drug which is why so many people get hooked so quickly. Its also so simple that people often overlook how simply changing their food intake and activity can have such a profound effect on their lives. They assume such changes can only come from taking far more dramatic steps.

At the other end of the spectrum, the 2 most common things I hear from clients who return after several months having stopped the training and diet.

1: “I feel tired and sluggish. Im always craving sugar. My sleep has turned to shit and my mood is awful.”

2: “Everything hurts. My back is constantly sore. My knees hurt. I feel weak.”

When life gets busy or times get tough the first thing that people ditch is their training and diet.

Suddenly eating right and going to the gym isn’t a priority. It seems too hard and almost like a chore. So it’s the first thing to go.

This is one of the worst things you could possibly do.

Replacing good, clean, nutritious, natural food with quick, packaged, processed, random alternatives isn’t going to help your body or mind through tough or stressful times. It might seem like an easy and convenient solution, but It will probably make things worse.

Our brains run on messages received from the gut. Those messages are in large part influenced by the food we eat. If there is a lot of good food going in, the gut tells the brain all systems are go! The body has everything it needs to carry out all the tasks of the day. The energy systems are primed and standing by. Energy is high. Mood is elevated. You can go about your day with a clear head and positive mind set.

If there is not enough food or the food is void of any useable nutrition the messages are different and the body responds accordingly. Lack of energy. Crazy ups and downs. Unable to think straight. Irritable moods.

It only makes sense if the fuel you put in your body is low quality then your body isn’t going to work right. Try putting the wrong fuel in your car and see how well that goes.

When you start training and lifting weights you wake your body up. Your muscles fill up with glycogen and nutrients. They go from being depleted from lack of use to being full and tight from the storage of food and fluid. As the muscles tighten and fill up they become more supportive to surrounding joints and bones. As a result a person feels stronger. They feel more supported and secure. They haven’t built any new muscle in a short period but their muscles are now properly activated and are keeping their skeleton tightly aligned.

It doesn’t take long though for the muscles to deplete when the training is stopped. If there is no reason for the body to store the food it wont. As a result the muscle drains and goes back to feeling soft and loose. When this happens the support being offered to the joints and bones is gone and suddenly things don’t feel so tight and strong any more. Muscle and joint pain quickly kick in and a person feels like they’ve aged 20 years in 2 weeks.

Proper nutrition and strength training aren’t something you do for a few months just to get a decent body for summer. It’s a necessary part of life. Like brushing your teeth or putting clothes on each day.

Look at what happens to people as they get older and stop being as active. They move around less. Because they aren’t doing as much their appetite declines. As they eat less they aren’t providing the body enough fuel to run the muscle they have. That together with lack of activity results in the body losing muscle. As they lose muscle their metabolism slows down. Their energy drops. With less muscle and less energy simple tasks become harder and harder so they end up moving even less. Less activity means they eat less. Less food means they lose more muscle. It’s a cycle that continues and you can watch a person become very old and very frail in a very short time. To make matters worse, the quality of food also drops. People want to enjoy themselves a bit more they get older so having sweets and cakes is of no concern. The problem is, less activity, less muscle, slower metabolism and comfort food is never a recipe for good health.

The need for good fuel never stops. The need for strong muscles never stops. As we age and our bodies naturally break down the importance of good food and keeping our muscles strong and active increases.

It’s all too easy to say there are more important things to worry about in these current times. But really that couldn’t be further from the truth. While the world crumbles around us, the one thing we all have the power to look after is our own body. With the myriad of health issues and stresses circling the planet, keeping your body as strong and healthy as possible isn’t a luxury. It's a necessity.