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Ep 11: Are You Using Your Workout Time Wisely?
28 Plays5 months ago
Feeling overwhelmed by the vast amount of health and fitness information available at your fingertips and struggling to know exactly what steps to take? Coach Autumn gets it! That's why in this episode of the Aligned Living podcast, she shares how you can take a holistic (less stressful!) approach to working out. You'll learn how to break down the essentials into three main "buckets" of fitness: cardiovascular health, muscular strength and endurance, and agility and mobility. Plus, Coach Autumn highlights the significance of variety and consistency in fitness routines to promote overall well-being, rather than just focusing on weight loss or muscle gain.
Intro and Outro Music Credit: Savage by Beat Mekanik, Free Music Archive, License type: CC BY
Please visit: www.autumnswain.com
Contact: autumn@thealignedleader.org
IG: @drautumnswain
FB: Autumn Alena Swain
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Transcript
Introduction to Dr. Autumn and the Align Living Podcast
00:00:05
Speaker
Hello there. I'm Dr. Autumn, leadership consultant, wellness coach, author, and I'm incredibly grateful to be your host of the Align Living podcast.
00:00:19
Speaker
I'm here to equip you with the tools, inspiration, and practical tips necessary to lead a life of wholeness and pursue greater Shalom in your life and that of your families, teams, and communities. My mission is to empower you to lead from a place of holistic wellbeing. It's time to say peace out to the fatigue, fog, and frustration of living in a place that lacks abundant wellbeing. Join me as we embark on a comprehensive exploration of spiritual, physical,
00:00:56
Speaker
mental, emotional, social, and economic well-being all within the comforting embrace of one podcast.
Understanding the Key Fitness Buckets for Wellness
00:01:11
Speaker
Hey good people, Dr. Autumn here, and welcome back to the Aligned Living Podcast. So today I'm just really excited to have the opportunity to chat with you about all things fitness. um This isn't necessarily one of my favorite subjects, but it's really important because I get so many questions about what to do, when to do it, how to do it. And so what I want to do today is whether you are seasoned in this space or have no clue what you're doing or um maybe you do a lot or a little or nothing at all, what I want to do is give you a foundation of understanding of three buckets that you need to be pulling from. This gives you a lot of ah flexibility based on your um abilities, based on your schedule,
00:02:00
Speaker
but what it'll do is give you a solid understanding of where to start and in any fitness plan knowing that you need to tap into all three of these buckets for optimal wellness. Now keep in mind the reason I wanted to do an episode on fitness is because Aligned Living taps into all six primary areas of holistic health.
The Holistic Approach to Aligned Living
00:02:22
Speaker
Remember our spiritual formation, our physical health, mental, emotional, social, and economic rights. So when it comes to our physical health, um that includes nutrition and stress management and proper rest, um and also exercise, of course. And so I will touch on just the the role um that fitness plays in our overall pursuit of physical wellness because I know
00:02:45
Speaker
There is so much messaging out there. It could be a little confusing about um what to do, how much to do, how important is it really. And so the reason I wanted to take an episode to touch on this is because in Aligned Living, right, if we're too focused on one area, um in our pursuit of Shalom and not focused enough in another area will just be imbalanced. Like you'll be limited in the pursuit of the thing that you really want to grow in because you're not considering all aspects of your well-being. And that's like the whole idea behind this. I wish I could paint a picture for you all to kind of, you know, portray the visual in my head, but I kind of see it as like, you know, if we have all six of our areas of wellness lined up and they're, you know, aligned where we're balanced, right? but
00:03:34
Speaker
If you have one area that's way out of whack, just kind of think of like stretching out a rubber band and then pulling it in one direction is just kind of like pulling you off balance. You're not going to be aligned. Okay. So I just want to encourage you though, because fitness does not need to be overly complicated.
Fitness as a Spiritual Discipline
00:03:50
Speaker
um Nutrition, as you know, is a great passion of mine and there is a lot more pieces to nutrition, but For fitness today, you're just gonna see how simple it is. There's really three buckets that you need to pull from, and when you do that, um you will be good. ah So be encouraged in that. Starting off though, I really just want to remind us that you know we honor God by stewarding well all that He has given us, right? So you know this is our community that we've been placed within, the relationships we have, our resources, our time, our emotions,
00:04:25
Speaker
our minds and also our bodies, of course. So that is why it is important in your, you know, a spiritual journey to consider the role nutrition and rest and stress management and fitness all play because they are, in my opinion, spiritual disciplines, right? Because um we are called to um steward and care for all things in and around us so that includes our bodies and so let me jump right into ah this um conversation on fitness so ah hopefully you will find some of it um refreshing and encouraging maybe some things that you already know but also some unexpected things that maybe you haven't considered that just play a big role in our overall health and longevity so
00:05:11
Speaker
You know, I ah personally find that most people are stuck somewhere in between like, I know I need to do something and knowing what exactly they should want or
Simplifying Fitness with Intention and Balance
00:05:26
Speaker
can do. OK, you see what I'm saying? So there's this gap. I'm always talking about gaps because that's the whole goal of a line living. We're going to bridge these gaps so you could, you know, take what you are intentional intending to do and then be intentional about it and actually implementing what you want so
00:05:45
Speaker
I know what I need to do and I know I need to do something, but what exactly does it look like? What's the how and the what and the when, all right? So if you decide to Google your options, it will be a little bit like drinking water from a fire hose. Like we are bombarded by options when it comes to physical fitness. So I want to give you peace today by like, simplifying this for you a bit and itll but almost like taking you know the the the incredible sensation of taking a really, really deep breath and then holding it and releasing it slowly. like That feels really good and that's kind of the feeling I want you to get after I talk a bit about um really where you should focus in the fitness lane today. so
00:06:33
Speaker
you're going to get an overview of generally what you should do and then you can take that and then just say add it to your personal equation of what you actually can do in your day to day life because you know none of us are living the same life but um and then that will equal what you will actually do right like what you actually implement so these three buckets I keep talking about. The can-do will be the details of what you can pull from the should-do buckets consistently. So I'm gonna talk about these three buckets of what you should do consistently and then what you can do. You'll have lots of options within each of those buckets to make it work for you. um Really, the ancestral factor, and you'll hear me talk about this in everything. Like even last episode when I talked about overcoming spiritual complacency and living out of
00:07:19
Speaker
spiritual overflow. I talked about variety and consistency, right? And so it's the same thing here with fitness. Variety and consistency are key. Now. Experts define physical fitness actually as one's ability to execute daily activities with optimal performance, endurance, and strength, with the management of disease, fatigue, and stress, and reduced sedentary behavior, okay? That's a mouthful, but like nowhere in there does it talk about like physical fitness is getting super
00:07:56
Speaker
you know, buff or being able to run a six minute mile or, um you know, these things that getting incredibly toned. Like physical fitness is defined as a way to improve health. Like that's what your focus should be is how can I use fitness to improve my health? And when you do that, you will feel great. um you won't be like overdoing things or overworking your body you'll feel great and you'll be supporting longevity and you'll be supporting again your body's ability to do all the daily activities you want to do but do them incredibly well right like not having limitations and then of course you know if if fitness is health it plays a role in increasing our energy levels and managing stress and um you know uh disease management all of those things as well so
00:08:48
Speaker
With that being said, um you know fitness does play a role in increasing your energy and preventing disease and heart health and healthy weight, even mental wellness, right? um So in a big part of fitness, meaning health, means that we just can move our bodies well on a day-to-day basis. We often don't think about that, but if you think about where you want to be when you start to like, you know, age, your 70s, 80s, 90s, like considering what you want to still be able to do, like the idea of moving your body well is pretty significant because you need to start doing the things now that um you want to continue to be able to do
00:09:25
Speaker
uh throughout life so that's health right okay so that foundation wasn't like super interesting but it's really really important right now i'm going to jump into what these buckets are okay now fitness is our pursuit of health right it's a component of it what fitness is not it's it's not just exercising to lose weight okay or just to get strong or to get toned now those things can happen But you want to focus on the right areas of fitness to promote optimal health, all right?
Integrating Nutrition with Fitness for Health
00:09:57
Speaker
So fitness does not replace other important healthy habits because it doesn't do what they can do. So, for example, our bodies need sleep and they need nutrition. They need all the things that come from eating right, right? Our bodies need breath and all the benefits that come from that.
00:10:15
Speaker
All things that fitness alone cannot do and the reason I'm emphasizing this um So much is because I cannot tell you how many conversations I've gotten into people in with people that feel like okay I have these significant health goals and they and they feel like fitness is like 90% of the solution whereas actually it's the reverse like fitness is only like 20% of the solution nutrition is like 80% of, ah you know, what we need to do for optimal health. And then of course, like stress management, rest, those things are super important part of the equation as well. And so, you know, if you're sitting there listening and and that's been you where you're like, you know, I have these goals, I'm just going to exercise more exercises, this magic solution to all things, it's not okay.
00:10:59
Speaker
um But it is really important. So we will make sure that you ah really have a solid understanding of what you should do when you do take the time to exercise, right? So whether you're chiseled or you could stand to lose a few pounds, like, again, what we eat is primary. How we fuel our bodies is what impacts our energy levels in our sleep and our inflammation, our weight management the most. But fitness is an important part of life. Like being sedentary is really, really damaging to our health, so you do want to have a plan. um I just wanted to emphasize that you can't just exercise without looking at the other pieces of the puzzle, right? So with that being said, moving your body is super essential, so I want to talk about these three main buckets of fitness that you need to pull from in creating your fitness plan, okay?
Designing Effective and Varied Fitness Routines
00:11:48
Speaker
There's a lot of flexibility here to consider, um you know, based on what you have access to, what you enjoy the most. You know, all the years I was a personal trainer, I always told people, like, i' you shouldn't attempt to do something you just hate. There's too many options. And so you could find something that, like, you're okay with. Maybe you don't love it, but that you're okay with, right? so Um, so an important place to start when considering fitness, like one of your number one focuses should be moving with intention. And this is just an important part of the whole aligned living concept in general, because how many times do we do things just to check a box or we do things just because, you know, it's part of our routine and we haven't stopped to consider.
00:12:29
Speaker
Is this the best use of my time right now? So this this number one focus here that I'm starting with is choosing well. Like choose well what you're going to do, the what, the when and the how. So you want variety and you want to enjoy somewhat what you're doing. um Timing and intensity also matter and I'll talk about that in a second. But that are those are components to choosing well. So you want to move with intention. be super honest. Like, why am I doing this? Is this most effective use of my time? Like, am I making progress towards where I want to go? Like, or am I being a little too comfortable doing it? I need to challenge myself a little bit more. You see what I'm saying? So, we'll touch on all of those things in a minute. I'm like, how to choose well in this episode. But again, foundations, you know, they're not always the sexiest, most, you know, fun,
00:13:18
Speaker
Inspiring things in the world, but they're the foundation right like they're not supposed to be they're just supposed to be uber important things that you just need to do um that help with your success, so remember what we talked about above that what you should do plus what you can do equals what will get done. So that's the intentionality behind this. So, um ah of course, there's other pieces of this equation that um we're not going to dive into here, but are also really important, like mindset, right? Like so much of what we do, the routines we're building, those are based on habit-forming thought patterns. And I'm going to continue to talk about thought patterns. um If you've been following this podcast, you know I am a huge fan of Dr. Caroline Leaf, the way that she talks about, and I talked about this in a previous episode you could find, but
00:14:04
Speaker
the way that thought patterns are a neurological physical presence in our body and there's negative and positive ones and how important those are in our body's ability to bridge that gap from like where we are to where we want to be so that is something that cannot be ignored but i'm devoting whole other episodes to that because today is the nuts and bolts on what you should be doing with fitness so What you can do has a lot to do with your time, right? Like time, time, time, I don't have time or time. So when you do take your time to exercise, you wanna make the most of it. Cause you know, we all have the same 24 hours in a day. um It's just what you do with it that matters. So I wanna give you some focus here. Like I think that's why sometimes we get into inactivity cause we're just so overwhelmed with what to do and don't know where to start. um Again, weight management should primarily be through nutrition and that will like give you some
00:14:57
Speaker
you know, maybe ah ah help this process be a little less stressful because if you are trying to lose weight, for example, um you won't feel like you have all the pressure on exercise to do that so that you can have more variety. um Then you could focus on like what your body really, really needs from fitness and your fitness rhythms really need to have variety. So Let me tell you what that is then. um There's three buckets. You've been waiting so patiently. Here they are. And it's nothing super eye-opening and like, oh my goodness. It's just that, you know, from my experience, people don't pull from all three of these buckets. Like, I promise you, like,
00:15:36
Speaker
We know them and then we don't take the time to do them. So bucket number one, our cardiovascular health. This is our aerobic exercise. This is all the things that, you know, basically our cardio um workouts. And then bucket number two is our muscular strength and muscular endurance. And I'll um define for you what the difference is in a second, but that's, you know, essentially the strength training that we do, which there's tons of variety. So like, if you're like, Oh my gosh, I'm not a gym person. Like, don't worry about it. There's so many ways to build. muscular strength and endurance um in a space that's comfortable for you. Third buckets, agility and mobility. This is the one that gets ignored the most by far. And if you were to ask, I would bet money, if you were to ask your older generation what they wish the younger generation, ah like just a piece of advice, it would be to focus more on like stretching and mobility because this has such a big role in our long-term longevity. So, okay, let me jump into these three buckets here.
Importance of Agility and Mobility
00:16:33
Speaker
All right, so I'm going to start with agility and mobility because to be honest, again, this is the one I think is most often ignored. But when you talk to people about like aches and pains and headaches and all of these things, a lot of it has to do with this bucket just being totally ignored. So. What's the difference? Now mobility is your range of motion, right? um So you consider a muscle group on your body that's tight and how you feel like you're limited and where it could go be it your shoulders, your hips, your, you know, whatever it might be. um Your mobility is that range of motion. Your agility is the ability to move well through that range of motion. All right?
00:17:13
Speaker
So that's the difference. Agility is a lot of the functional training. I love functional training because to me it just is all about health. Because you're doing things, you're you're experiencing exercises that are movements that you would do in your day-to-day life. And so it's really supportive of your overall quality of living. um it's Again, it's one of my favorite things to do because of that. and um There are lots of different resources out there to help you understand or access like what dysfunctional training looks like. but um Anyways, I want to talk about mobility benefits. okay so um I'm not going to talk as much about aud agility. I want to really highlight the mobility aspect of this.
00:17:56
Speaker
so Mobility serves as the basis for everything we do. It's our foundation, right? um Because you're your body's ability to do cardiovascular exercise or strength training, you know, mobility could be a limiting factor. And a lot of, you know, chronic and acute pain happens because of a lack of mobility. So here we go. um You can stretch, you can twist, you can bend without any pain or stiffness. Like, that's mobility. You can take long walks or stand for long periods of time or generally just go about your day-to-day life without feeling the need to sit down or rest. ah Good mobility involves many components including muscle strength, flexibility, joint health, motor control, body awareness, agility, and more, okay? So it's a big deal.
00:18:43
Speaker
um Mobility can include um a lot of different things. Doing dynamic stretches, which I love. It's like static stretches are the stretch and holes. Dynamic stretches are like stretching through movement. um Foam rolling is really amazing for helping with this body weight exercises, um yoga, Pilates. These mobility exercises are going to not only increase your flexibility, like that's the first thing you probably think of, but improving your posture, which is super important for overall wellness and balance, um better results from strength training because your range of motion is bigger. Like ah posture, what's the right word? um Your form, your form and your strength training will be better. um More balance, better quality of life. And then of course, probably all of us would be happy if we had reduced muscle tension ah in our lives.
00:19:33
Speaker
So, um and then just an important note, you know, it's so interesting because I always tell people like, you know, staying hydrated. It's better to drink water throughout the day than to not drink water at all throughout the day and then just chug a bunch at the end of the day. It's the same thing with mobility. It's more beneficial to practice mobility, let's say five times a week for like five, 10, 15 minutes each time than it is to do just one really like an hour, hour and a half session once a week. So, again, that's part of the consistency piece we always talk about. I feel like I should probably mention a couple resources here. I personally really like the Peloton app because it's cheap and easily accessible like from your phone or anything and you can get access to mobility exercises, um stretching, yoga, all things that help with that.
00:20:22
Speaker
uh youtube of course you know you could look up some muscle mobility exercises um you could you know consider a muscle group that you know is really tight let's say shoulder mobility exercises and just google it and see what you find um you can also access yoga classes and i would say really really paying attention to proper strength training techniques is really important because um any strength training movement like the book ends are your range of motions right so that's really important um I will say taking the time to stretch sounds obvious but I can't tell you how many classes fitness classes I participated in and I'm like the last one out of the door because people fly out without stretching and not realizing like the negative effects that that could have on your body.
00:21:06
Speaker
um Getting a foam roller, I mentioned that above, but what's so cool about foam rolling is you know in addition to like stretching out our muscles, we have this myofascial system in our body. right It's this soft tissue that's throughout our body where our muscles are. and What I love about myofascial release techniques, which is what like a foam roller would do, is um it it it significantly helps with your mobility because that could also be a limited factor. so
00:21:37
Speaker
So myofascial soft tissue work involves applying a sustained pressure on targeted areas of the body where the fascia may be restricted. All right. So if you're rolling on a foam roller and you feel apart, it just like hurts a little bit, feels a little bit stuck, you know, stay there. It could be that you're like actively releasing the ah the fascia right there. um And then that pressure is just helping release this restriction in the tissue and that will result again in not only improved range of motion but less pain and improved function okay so i feel like hearing this might like emphasize the importance of taking the time to do it because the reality is you know sometimes we know these things like you know for example i let my foam roller sit in the corner and i just like stared at it for months until i started feeling some aches and pains
00:22:26
Speaker
And then I'm like, Oh my gosh, like these certain muscle groups are just too tight. And if I want to keep working out at the level that I'm working out at, I know that I need to take care of this. It can't just be um a, I know I should do this, but actually like I need to make the time to do this. So. That's where routines come in and you need to work that thing into your routine or it's just not going to happen, right? All right.
Building Strength and Endurance for Long-term Health
00:22:54
Speaker
Bucket number two, muscular strength and endurance. All right. So what's the difference?
00:22:59
Speaker
Muscular strength is like, sounds obvious, but it's the amount of weight you can lift, right? And then muscular endurance is how many times you can move that weight until muscle your muscle gets fatigued. So strength and endurance sounds pretty straightforward there. and They both have huge benefits to your health, so it's good to consider both of them when you're considering um what exercises to do. And, um you know, in general, strength training is not just about, you know, strength and muscle tone and whatnot. It can reduce signs and symptoms in many chronic conditions. You know, arthritis, back pain, heart disease, um mental wellness, ah diabetes, all of these things. Like, you know, strength training is an important part of this. So if you're like a cardio junkie and you just love to ride your bike and run and all that stuff all the time and you know that you're not,
00:23:49
Speaker
um doing strength training you really need to work it in and it doesn't have to be intense you know it it literally just you need to challenge your body even just a few days a week healthier and stronger muscles and bones like That's really important, right? Because as you age, you're, you know, you're going to face real issues when it comes to like your bone density and your muscles, you know, decreasing. um And so the more you could focus on this now, the better. um Not just to perform your daily activities as well, but you just want optimal functioning
00:24:28
Speaker
long-term right throughout with the rest of your life and um yeah beyond those essential things like it's really up to you like if you have additional goals that you want to work on that's fine but that's really the foundation of why we want to ah you know strength train of course there's other benefits your metabolism benefits from it right like you have your resting metabolic rate like how many calories you're burning at rest like the more muscle mass you have your Resting metabolic rate is just going to be higher. So your muscle burns more calories at rest. It's just a very, you know, it's just a fact. And then stabilizing joints and increasing quality of life, of course, that's a really important aspect of why we want to strength train as well.
00:25:08
Speaker
um I will tell you like when it comes to resources, like you know it's pretty overwhelming. There's so many things out there. um It's really easy to make excuses when it comes to this. I will tell you that um depending on my season of life, I've really done it all. I've had gym memberships um where I've done my work my own workouts, I've done group fitness, I've gone to boutique gyms and done their group workouts, and I've worked out at home with my own equipment. like whatever season of life I was in, I just knew I'm not going to make excuses. I'm going to get it done. Some of those things I prefer over others, but you just need to make sure to do something even if you don't feel like it. All right. The big thing with strength training too is to make sure that you're finding balance because unfortunately, if you are um only focused on certain muscle groups, it's going to cause imbalance. So with that being said, um that's just a ah few notes around there. ah When it comes to cardiovascular health,
00:26:05
Speaker
um This is the third bucket, and this is your cardiovascular exercise, right?
Cardiovascular Health and Its Benefits
00:26:11
Speaker
Now, for the third bucket, and you probably guessed it, cardiovascular health. This is your aerobic exercise, all those exercises that are so good for your heart and your lungs. And so, um you know of course, cardiovascular health, like I'm not going to go into it here because like we all know it. We all know the health benefits of you know, you know, cardiovascular health and what it can do for you um from increasing your stamina, um you know, weight management and all of those things. um But there are a couple actually that you might not realize ah card cardiovascular exercises do for you. It actually um can ward off viral illnesses, you know, not to the extent of taking care of your gut will, but it's very interesting because um when you participate in physical exercise, it acts as this modulator of the immune system. So during and after exercise, you have these pro and
00:27:02
Speaker
anti-inflammatory cytokines that are released, right? And then lymphocyte circulation increases, right? A lymphatic system is intimately, it's it's our immune system, right? And then as well as cell recruitment, like all of these things are happening during exercise. Like, isn't it amazing how God created our bodies? Like when we do the things that we're supposed to do, when we eat the right things, when we're in community, when we manage our stress well, when we get enough sleep, when we exercise, like our body should be in optimal health, right? So, um but cardiovascular exercise has so many different um benefits, strengthening your heart, of course. It actually also boosts your moot mood, which is pretty awesome. Like we have these like chemicals in our bodies and we do the right things. We have these amazing positive chemicals that are released. Like I love it. So from exercise to being a nature to, um you know, music to positive community to, um you know, intimacy, like all of these things, like what a hug can do is pretty amazing. You know, we have all these endorphins and feel good chemicals that are released, so exercise is a really, really good thing. Now what? ah So any aerobic exercise that elevates your heart rate is just fine. So speed walking, HIIT, like high intensity interval training stuff, cycling, running, rowing, sports. I love sports. um Ellipticals, like anything that, you know,
00:28:17
Speaker
and gets your heart rate up but just be mindful that if you do the exact same thing at the exact same time at the exact same level every day you're going to hit a plateau it's not going to have the same effect so you've got to be challenging yourself you don't want to stay comfortable with fitness okay so here you have these three buckets your mobility cardiovascular exercise, strength training. When you are doing the things, you don't want to stay comfortable. This is the intention behind it. like Be pushing yourself. um The talk test is a super simple way to measure the intensity. right like Are you talking super easily or you know do you are you breathing heavily while you're talking or is talking really difficult? It just kind of gives you a ah focus to know that you're pushing yourself hard enough. right
00:29:04
Speaker
um Another common question is when? All right, so this is super simple as I'm wrapping up here. Like if you're aiming to boost your metabolism and energy levels, like morning exercise may be really beneficial. um Alternatively though, if you're focused on strength gains or performance improvements, anything like that, evening workouts actually might be more suitable for you because your body's had a chance to really warm up and, you know, move throughout the day. um You really just want to pay attention to your body's cues and energy levels throughout the day. Like my biggest piece of advice is just work out when you'll actually do it. Like I know I'm more likely to work out in the morning. If I wait till the end of the day and say, oh, I'm going to do it, I probably won't. So, you know, the other factors aside, like I choose a time that I know ah will actually work in my schedule and I'll actually do it. So that's probably the biggest thing. But if you wanted just some advice and like when, um, based on recommendations, you know, that's it. But, um, so it's really up to you. I want to remind you that there is,
00:30:02
Speaker
severe like just negative consequences to being super sedentary. So in addition to whatever your exercise routine is, I just say like keep your body moving throughout the day. Like that's why I set a 10,000 step goal because I know that I'm not going to do that all at once. Like I might have to go for a walk after lunch or park a little bit farther away so I can get some extra steps in or you know walk while I talk or you know, if I have a phone call or if I have a meeting with somebody, like just find ways to move your body, even if it's getting up from work and doing some pushups or doing some yoga, some sun salutations, whatever it might be, just, you know, move your body throughout the day. um The other recommendation I want to give that's like super, super important is sometimes you're just going to have to do it tired. Like there's no way around it. Like you can't wait to do things when you feel like it.
00:30:51
Speaker
like I'm going to do an entire episode on this. like How do you navigate the discipline necessary to just do the things that you know you should do when you don't feel like feel like it? Because most of the time you won't, especially when you're tired. Nobody feels like doing things when they're tired, right? But sometimes you're just going to have to do it tired. Now, but as you pursue a line living, your energy levels are going to significantly increase, right? But exercise itself does send oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. It just helps your cardiovascular system work more efficiently. you know So in the end of the day, it's going to give you more energy. um So it's just one of those things, just do it even if mentally you don't feel like doing it. And so again, um I'm going to touch on this in a future podcast episode. I've been thinking a lot about how to thrive when you're stuck in the suck.
00:31:37
Speaker
Okay um like how do you maintain these rhythms when you're like fighting all these emotions in this mindset of but just not wanting to do anything at all like. It is so important that's what these rhythms are all about like doing it. Like I like that like how do you thrive in the suck. So there's going to be more to come on that. But like just for a starting point with exercise, like do it when you don't feel like it, all right? So um I'm not going to cover it here in this episode, but in my Aligned Living course in the membership platform, we we have access you have access to just a whole host of things. But I will talk about like more in depth on, um if you're interested in how to fuel your body for maximum results, like how should you eat?
00:32:20
Speaker
around your exercise, your fitness plan to get you know the most results out of it. I'll go through some of my favorite mobility exercises and just additional insights into physical health and so on and so forth. But um just for now, like I just wanted to do this quick overview of these three buckets because again, It's like drinking water from a fire hose. It's the best analogy I could think of if you're just like, OK, I need to do something. And then you start researching what you should do. There's like millions of resources out there. And so I just want to give you a peace of mind saying, like, as long as you're doing something from each of these three buckets, you're doing all right. All right. So now for Coach Autumn's practice of the day, because practice does not make perfect, but practice does make permanent. So this is my tip for you.
00:33:05
Speaker
you were or This is my practice that you should engage in. um You will want to write out your workout routine, okay? Now if you don't have one at all, start with a blank sheet. But you are going to write out whatever your workout routine is, like whatever activity you have, and then you're going to check for these three things. One, you're going to make sure you're integrating practices from all three of these fitness buckets. okay Strength, cardio, mobility. You need variety. If you find yourself doing a ton of one thing, you might just have to sacrifice part of that routine. Remember what I've said before, if the routine becomes too routine, you need to change the routine.
Pushing Fitness Boundaries and Daily Movement
00:33:41
Speaker
okay You might need to cut back in one area and not be able to do that one thing every day just so you can create space for one of the other buckets. It's super important.
00:33:50
Speaker
And then the second part of this practice is asking yourself, are you too comfortable, right? Make sure that you're challenging yourself. It's like I talked about in that spirit, avoiding spiritual complacency episode, like you don't want to hit a plateau. Hitting a plateau like sucks quite frankly. So get ahead of it, be proactive, think about the purpose behind what you're doing so that you push yourself. And then there's the third part of this is you're writing it out. um Are you moving throughout the day? Okay, so 30 minutes of like intense activity followed by 23 and a half hours of sedentary practices is dangerous. Like sure you got your exercise in, but like 23 and a half hours of being sedentary is just way too much. So just get up and move. Keep your body active throughout the day. And remember fitness is not the largest part of the equation for physical health, but it is important. So have a plan and work the plan. You've got this.
00:34:47
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to the Aligned Living Podcast. I'm Dr. Autumn, your guide on this journey to Shalom or wholeness. Ready to embark on this journey of self-discovery and transformation? Head over to autumnswain.com to learn more and to dive deeper into the world of Aligned Living. Until next time, stay aligned.