When it comes to Hot bodies, it’s easy like ABC, the secret is: Eat, Lift, Sleep, Repeat. That’s it!
No need to complicate it. These four steps not only will lead to your dream physique but it will also make you more disciplined, more motivated and more productive in all areas of your life. And although it is a pretty basic concept and a big part of our regular routine, we end up taking it for granted and letting it run on autopilot, until we lose our way… but we can always take direction by following these simple steps. Once you understand the basics you learn how to keep them in balance, and that is what makes the difference that you can feel within yourself, and see it in the mirror.
Fitness is not just about spending time at the gym, it starts the moment you wake up in the morning until you go back to sleep at night. It is the commitment it takes to live well, to be yourself in the best way that you can possibly be, as you find harmony with your life. It puts you back in charge of your choices by making you health conscious, and more aware of your well being.
Most of our poor choices come from what we eat, some of us will also eat too much, or not at all, and that is why EAT is the first step on our Fitness ABC. Without bricks you can’t build a house, and food is our building blocks for muscle growth; it provides the nutrients and energy we need to stay healthy and function, as well as develop muscle mass. So, no food, no muscles… You can go to the gym all you want, but fitness does start in the kitchen. Although if you are spending too much time in the kitchen, you gotta make some extra time for the gym and LIFT.
Your body is energy, energy needs to move, the more it moves, the higher it vibrates, if it doesn’t it lowers the vibration. Lift your vibration, by lifting weights, exercising or practicing sports, or anything that raises your heart rate. It will put you in a better mood, make you stronger, healthier and happier. You will know as it shows every time you look in the mirror and see those muscles looking back at you.
Staying fit might be likened to a go go go journey, with all the cardio, the weights and the eating, we often seem to skip the most important of all – RECOVERY.
Gotta know when to slow down and allow your body to breathe, and repair itself before you put it through another workout. While working out is meant to stress the muscles, SLEEP is the process that will repair the damage by making it better, bigger and healthier. So it is essential that you allow yourself more than enough time to recharge, because when your batteries are running low, you can’t give 100% to your training.
Although taking a day off can be an inconvenience to some, others will take one too many days off until the point of no return and fail to REPEAT.
Consistency is the key to succeed, not only in your fitness but in any skill you possess in your life. Our ability to learn is based on repetition, from our basic skills of walking and talking, to driving a car or flying airplanes, we must practice it repeatedly to reach our full potential until it becomes second nature. Teaching our neurons to form new structures inside our brains increases the potential in our abilities, and the same goes for muscle cells, they get broken down and replaced by stronger new cells, leading to muscle mass growth. As we know everything is connected, the same way there’s no seasons without Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall, no elements without water, fire, air and earth, there’s no gains without EATING, LIFTING, SLEEPING and REPEATING. So have you got what it takes to follow the four elements of fitness?
Let me know about your fitness journey, send me questions or topic suggestions that you would like to see in this column. I would love to help you on your path to becoming a better version of your amazing self.
For the last few issues I have talked about the basics of fitness (Self-Care, Mindset, Warm up, Stretching) and I will be breaking down EAT, LIFT, SLEEP, REPEAT individually in the following issues, so don’t miss our next article where we will go into more details about the 4 elements of fitness.
