STRESS. Is it really a bad thing?

If you take any notice of people at all in society, you will notice a lot of people will say, more so complain, that they are STRESSED OUT. So the question is, is stress really that bad for you?

The answer may confuse some a little, but hear me out and read on and hopefully it will become clearer. The answer to is stress bad is both YES and NO.

The explanations I use will mostly come from a sporting/ training perspective, but studies repeatedly show a direct correlation with physical, mental and emotional stress, and that these principles can go from the sporting world into the business world.

When you start training you have a baseline level of strength, endurance, mobility and technique (mostly these start off quite low). With weight training you will stress the muscles, connective tissues, joints and bones through manipulating the weights, reps, tempo etc. If you don't stress it enough there will be nil to minimal results, yet if you over stress (by using too much weight) the muscles you are using can risk injury, and at the very least you will be very, very sore for quite a few days.

By using the right weight and rep range for your current level and the goals you want to reach, you will stress your body and you may be a little sore the next day or two, but you will create adaptions in your body becoming stronger, being able to lift heavier weights for more reps down the track. This is called progressive overload.

By putting your body, emotions and your mind under the right amount of stress you will create an adaptive response. This in itself isn't enough though. If it were people would be going "Balls to the wall" so to speak, all the time and be getting bigger and better. When you see people taking this approach, be it athletes or your employees, they will eventually hit the wall and burn out. What is needed here is recovery/rest. If you don't get enough recovery your results will eventually start to drop. This tends to create an even bigger issue in itself. When peoples results start sliding they feel they have to train harder, work longer, to get the same results, but the results keep dropping. They are trying harder and longer but their results keep dropping, leading to more, and harder work, eventually leading to burnout.

On the other hand you can be put in a no stress/ low stress environment and end up with no growth at all. Or you can be put in a stressful environment, lets use the weights analogy again, hit the "Sweet spot" of stress, by using the correct weight and reps, have the body adapt, rest too long, then lose any possible gains, only to end up at the same place you started.

The ideal way is to be put under some stress, then enable your body and mind some time to rest and recover, then stress it out again. This can be something as simple as leaving the office and going for a walk in the fresh air, or meet up with some friends to completely escape and disconnect with work and its possible issues.

The main part here is to leave work at work. I know with technology these days it is becoming harder to be done, but it is possible, and I will be discussing this in the next BLOG.

David Lindsay

Integrated Health and Vitality

Why Fitness and Vitality, and what is Vitality?

I get asked all the time "David, why did you go with Health and Vitality, and not Health and Fitness?"

There are a few reasons for this and let me explain. Health and Fitness is a very common phrase, so I would be battling with many, many other people using these names in their business, but that is a very superficial reason, so let me dig a little deeper and explain the true reason for me being THE "Health and Vitality" expert out there.

Firstly we have to get a better understanding of these words, Health, Fitness and Vitality, both individually and grouped together. Lets start with the obvious one HEALTH

Health, when checked out in a dictionary simply states "the state of being free from illness or injury". When we talk about health in the general population we are talking about a persons organs working in harmony, in a state where there is no inflammation or sickness as a result of the organs, and that their joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles work freely and smoothly in the way they were meant to operate. Someone can be completely healthy, but be far from fit (I will explain in more detail later)

Fitness by definition is "the condition of being physically fit". In my world as a coach of athletes we describe fitness as "Being able to execute particular movements that enable you to run, jump, throw, lift, in a safe and functional manner. So in this case, someone may be able to run fast, jump high, lift heavy weights, therefore by the meaning of Fitness they are extremely fit, and yet at the same time be unhealthy. There are many, many athletes that would be considered amongst the fittest on earth and yet, due to "health" issues either have to retire from their sport prematurely, or even end up dead in their prime.  

Vitality is "The state of being strong and active". We talk a lot about Vitality being that X factor, where people are not just full of Vim and Vigour, or have that spring in their step, but how it is also contagious. If you are in the same room as a person  that has high Vitality, then it is almost inevitable that at least some of it will rub off on you. Vitality therefore is more of an attitude that can be learnt by anyone that is willing to go that little bit extra to reach out and get it. I am super passionate about helping teams, workplaces, schools, families and individuals raise their levels or standards of Vitality in order to have a much more rewarding, fun and productive life.

As explained above you can be perfectly Healthy and yet not be able to run out of sight in a week, or you may be super fit and yet die due to being unhealthy. You can even have a combination of being both Fit and Healthy, and yet feel sluggish and not be a productive member of work or society. I have seen my fair share of "Fit and Healthy" people that need to have some electricity run through their system to get things done, and this "electric" shock is some Vitality. You see it when there are the "gym buffs" that can throw weights around like they were feathers and yet ask them to get things completed at work and they don't have the drive or energy to get things done at work.

With the system that I have put together, anybody can raise their Vitality with a few little tweaks of their lifestyle and habits. These have been taken from my career as a coach, trainer and athlete, as well as being able to study top high performance coaches and see what they do, and why they do it. As we progress along the concepts will start to roll together and you will see how with a few little changes here and there you will noticeably see and feel your Vitality and general Zest for life returning in all areas of life. This doesn't mean there won't be any more issues, because problems are inevitable in a full life, and it is through these problems things get done and where we find out more about ourselves, and the people around us. But you will cope better with adversity and be able to better adapt with the bumps in life that are thrown at you and therefore enjoy life so much more.

David Lindsay

Intergrated Health and Vitality