Balance – the key

Written By Harry James Pointon on .

Balance is the Key to health says Manchester City Personal Trainer

“Everything needs to happen now” This is something that I see as a personal trainer.

We want things done quickly and Quite often as a result we attack what we want in an aggressive manner, but what happens to the fighter who runs out mad, swinging punches all over the place, normally he will get Knocked Out by the calmer man.

You see balance is the key, being calm enough to spot what needs to be done and taking action at the right time, BEING SMART.

Being calm the majority of the time while being able to explode with action at the times needed.

So let’s look at where you’re maybe not using a balanced approach when working towards your health goals.

Are you Go, Go, Go?
So Here I am mainly referring to activity levels and what I mean by this is, are you always putting the pedal to the metal, have you got your foot right down on your accelerator giving it absolutely everything you’ve got left all the time. Are you training intensely nearly every day, getting up early, working hard at the office for long hours, bickering with your partner over pointless stuff and just doing time wasting activities, while not getting enough relaxation time, rest and just general you time?

Whatever we are doing in life, for it to work optimally we need balance, this means for every action that takes energy away from us we need another equal action that gives us energy. So if you’re working 40 hours a week, realistically you need 40 hours of not working at all, if your exercising 5 hours a week, you need 5 hours of relaxing, getting massage or stretching a week, if you’re not getting enough sleep Monday to Friday you need extra sleep at the weekend, if you’re not having fun during the week, you need fun at the weekend, GET THE IDEA?

In terms of Health a very important aspect is good nutrition. Nutrition needs balance for us to perform optimally. So what is a balanced nutritional approach, well we need to get a balanced amount of,
1. Protein
2. Carbohydrates
3. Fat
We also need a balanced amount of,
1. All essential vitamins and minerals
2. Enough water
You see without balance our bodies will not work optimally which effects energy production for both physical exertion and mental ability, digestion, fat loss, General body recovery and hormone production to name a few.

So how can you ensure you have a balanced diet?
Simple, at every meal get a protein source, some low starch carbohydrates (high starch every other day, ideally training days), some good fat and ensure you constantly vary the foods you eat to ensure you are getting a good balance of all vitamins and minerals and drink one pint of water before all meals.

So there are two examples that will majorly benefit your health, what exercise you do and what you eat. It doesn’t matter what area of your life you’re looking at, ensure it’s balanced and you will be happier, healthier and avoid hitting times of fatigue, depression and illness.