Nutrition, Recovery and Mindset

To me, the main fitness fundamentals are Nutrition, Recovery and Mindset. Within that I would also say it’s important to look at Strength, Body Composition and Movement. At BeDo7 we use this framework to assess people’s strength in each element and tailor their training programmes accordingly.

Going into each one in a bit more detail on why I think they are important:

Mindset

The cornerstone of everything. If your mindset isn’t right, nothing else can be. The foundation of getting healthy either physically or nutritionally is based around your mindset. That’s why for me, The Power of Choice is so important. 

You are the author to your own story, every time you have something negative, like a negative thought when you are self-assessing yourself, The Power of Choice teaches you that you have the option to shift that negative outlook to a positive one.

Nutrition

You can’t overestimate the benefits of a healthy diet. It’s so important to fuel our bodies – as the saying goes “you can’t out train a bad diet”.

Step 1 – stop eating bad food, you have only two other options if you do this: starve or eat healthy. If you feel guilt at any stage before eating something don’t eat it.

Step 2 – the consequences are always negative from a quick fix, find out what works for you and your lifestyle.

Step 3 – have balance, a cheat meal is a great way to stop the fat and skinny personality (voice in your head) fighting each other.

Recovery

To me, recovery is one of the most underrated aspects of fitness. Our bodies undergo stress when we work out so to achieve your best, you need to make time for your recovery. Whether that’s sleeping 7-8 hours per night, taking complete rest days, foam rolling after every session and of course paying attention during the warm up and cool down stretching.

Strength

Strength to stabilise the joints and bullet proof your body. As we get older we lose muscle tissue and the less active we are the higher amount of muscle mass we lose. Focus on resistance functional training, the body is a kinetic chain make so sure to train it as one. Functional is best.

Movement

Mobility is also another underrated aspect of fitness but if you get this right, you’ll save yourself injuries and medical bills down the line. After all, who wants to be in pain. Be proactive, don’t want until you’ve developed dysfunctions. Move like you did when you were a kid, crawl, jump, squat, tumble. If a movement challenges you, work on it until it doesn’t.

Body composition

The vanity factor. It shouldn’t be the focus but it is a motivating factor for many. Don’t be blinded by fat loss only, stay lean by keeping or increasing muscle mass. After all, times have changed and nobody wants to be skinny anymore. This can be achieved from all the others above.