Browsed by
Category: Fitness & Nutrition

Improving My Posture

Improving My Posture

Introduction Common behaviour towards posture isn’t too dissimilar to common behaviour towards pensions. Towards both, individuals often fail to invest suitably in them while they are young, they fail to compound the benefits and don’t take corrective action early or invest sufficiently, and they suffer later in life as a result. Under-investing in a pension when young can lead to you having to work until past statutory retirement age and/ or having insufficient funds to live the life you’d like…

Read More Read More

Favourite Quotes Part 3 – Health & Nutrition

Favourite Quotes Part 3 – Health & Nutrition

Introduction I’ve loved quotes for a long time and have been collecting quotes that have made an impression on me for at least the last 5 years. I agree with Adam Grant when he said of quotes and aphorisms, “they’re memorable and They give meaning and direction. They spur new thoughts or new actions—or remind us to revisit old ones.” The quotes we love and remember are those that we feel speak directly to us, they transcend the individual context in…

Read More Read More

Finding a Daily Breathing Exercise

Finding a Daily Breathing Exercise

  Introduction I have been thinking consciously about my breathing, and how controlling / monitoring my breathing can improve my performance, on and off since my middle teen years. In my early to mid-teens I was a semi-competent cross-country runner and I knew how important getting – and staying – in a steady breathing routine was to keep a steady pace in races. In recent years, consciousness of my breath has primarily come from my daily meditation, as well as…

Read More Read More

Stay In, Work Out – Social Distancing Workout Routine

Stay In, Work Out – Social Distancing Workout Routine

Introduction The change in my workout regime and the catalyst of this post was the COVID-19 In March 2020 gyms across the UK closed, as well as restaurants, schools and basically all other ‘non-critical’ establishments apart from hospitals, supermarkets etc. The current social distancing measures in place inspired me to create a non-gym workout routine, which I honestly don’t think I would have done, or would be religiously following, had there not been a lockdown. The two key ingredients are:…

Read More Read More

Cultivating a Mindfulness and Meditation Routine

Cultivating a Mindfulness and Meditation Routine

Introduction The terms mindfulness and meditation are very popular at the moment, and this can clearly be seen in the rise of mobile apps such as Headspace, Calm, Buddhify and The Mindfulness App. However, there are many things which hit the mass conscious and are quickly forgotten or proven to be fakes, so for a long time I was sceptical. Two things quickly showed me that my scepticism was perhaps unfounded: The concept of meditation and mindfulness has been around…

Read More Read More

Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

Reviewing 2017 & Planning 2018

  Introduction  This won’t be yet another New Year’s Resolution blog post, I’m sure your sick of reading or hearing about them by now.   I don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions, primarily because it often feels like people make them purely to break them! Often people know they need to make a change but don’t really want to, therefore proclaim to everyone that it will be their New Year’s Resolution, so that no-one is surprised – and the individual isn’t disappointed – when they give…

Read More Read More

Benefits of Giving Blood

Benefits of Giving Blood

Introduction: Giving blood is something I have thought about doing a number of times over the years but never seemed to find time to actually do it. I finally managed to break a habit of a lifetime when I booked an appointment in December 2016, and had my first experience giving blood a couple of months ago. It wasn’t until the time approached that I started to look into the benefits of doing so, obviously there were the altruistic reasons,…

Read More Read More

10 stretches you should be doing 

10 stretches you should be doing 

Introduction Stretching is often seen as the unnecessary thing we should be doing before the gym or exercise, but never seem to have the time to do. This is the wrong automatic or starting position, I want to highlight the significant benefits that stretching regularly can have and share the 10 best stretches you should be doing 3 times a week to realise these benefits. I really got into the science and benefits of stretching after a lower back injury,…

Read More Read More

New Habit: Morning Gym Workout

New Habit: Morning Gym Workout

Introduction:  I’m always looking at ways to enhance my routine, improve my good habits and eliminate the bad. One I’d been struggling to keep over the last year or so was going to the gym 3 times a week, I was very good at going at the weekend but with a busy job and wanting to see friends I struggled to go during the week. In this piece I want to explain how I managed to hack my morning routine and…

Read More Read More

Pre-Skiing Workout

Pre-Skiing Workout

  Introduction Skiing is not only incredibly fun, it’s also very physically demanding and can help you (even force you!) to focus on muscles and exercises you often neglect when engaged in other sports, for example flexibility and joint support. When you hit the slopes in Europe the chances are you have spent the Christmas period over-indulging and you’re not in your usual physically optimum condition. This is a position I’ve found myself in more than a few times, so I decided…

Read More Read More