When Were you at Your Fittest?

 

 

One of my favourite things about training people is when they tell me that they are the fittest they’ve been and felt for years.

 

The thing that interests me about this is that they now enjoy it and find it almost effortless to feel this way.

 

I say ‘almost’ effortless because they still put the hard work in during training, but they don’t feel like they’re doing anything out of the ordinary any more. The training has become part of their Lifestyle.

 

It’s this lifestyle that makes it so interesting, and so IMPORTANT!

 

If YOU think about when you felt at your fittest – what made you feel so good?

 

Your Training?

Your Lifestyle?

 

A combination of both?

 

For most people, it’s the combination of these two things that made you that fit and healthy.

 

Everybody knows the benefits of training and that you need to train to get fitter.

 

However, if you count the hours of training you do and compare it with the hours that you AREN’T training…. Do you think that these hours spent not training are important?

 

OF COURSE THEY ARE!

 

Think about your lifestyle like when you were at your fittest?

 

Who did you spend time with and what did you do together?

What time did you exercise?

Where did you work?

How did you travel to get to places?

What did you do in your spare time?

What did you spend your money on?

How did you feel?

What did you look like?

What did you eat?

 

When you were at your fittest, the majority of the questions above would have answers that were beneficial to your fitness.

 

Think about it….

 

Most people tend to say they were fittest when they were at school. Let’s look at why we might have been the fittest we’ve been when we were at school.

 

I thought I’d answer the questions myself about when I was 14 and just started out with running.

Here’s me, aged 14. In my Great North Run jacket. Still got the same messy haircut haha!

 

Who did you spend time with and what did you do together?

I’d spend time at my local athletics club with other kids and play football on a weekends.

 

What time did you exercise?

I exercised in the morning, during the day in P.E, and train or play out in the evening. My favourite game was blocker or tal-ee-oh(spelling). Both of these games were played in Holder House by around another 10 kids in the area. Basically these games were running and chasing after your friends (usually ending up in an argument because someone would go in the house and hide… the little cheats!)

 

Where did you work?

I did a paper round getting up at 6.30am every morning and riding my bike for 3 miles. I made around 14 quid a week for this and spent it on Metallica cd’s every weekend.

 

How did you travel to get to places?

I either got a lift off my dad, the bus, or I’d just ride my bike or walk everywhere!

 

What did you do in your spare time?

I’d play football, go on bike rides or climb trees. Sometimes we’d play knocky door neighbour!

 

What did you spend your money on?

Cd’s or DVD’s. There’s not a lot you can get with 14 quid a week. My mam and dad used to buy all my stuff!

 

How did you feel?

I felt great. I never felt tired, it was just normal life. It was my lifestyle. I could ride my bike and play football all day because that’s just what I did!

 

What did you eat?

Although I’m pretty sure I had my fair share of Turkey Dinosaurs, potato smiley faces and Turkey Twizzlers…. I know I also had lots of homemade food and ate lots of meat, fruit and vegetables.

 

MMMMMM – PROCESSED CRAP!

 

As you can see, it’s not that surpising that I was a pretty fit kid, and I’m pretty sure 90% of you had a similar childhood to me. Lots of exercise, fresh air, having fun and not even thinking about how much exercise you were doing.

 

Now I’m not saying that you should live like a spotty teenage kid that doesn’t get out of bed until 11am on a weekend and then plays out all day.

 

But think about the lifestyle you have right now. Is it helping you to become fitter?

 

To get to your fittest level again…..

 

Who do you need to spend time with and what will you do together?

What time will you exercise?

Where will you work?

How will you travel to get to places?

What will you do in your spare time?

What will you spend your money on?

How will you feel?

What will you look like?

What will you eat?

 

Thanks for reading,

Luke Adams