Is the pendulum effect holding you back?

Published: Tue, 03/28/17

Hi

How you frame your health journey can really affect your results.

Are you someone who:
  1. prioritises fitness over everything else?
  2. knows they should do something, however just can't get started?
  3. has periods of full on all out effort followed by periods of low motivation?
  4. is held back by health issues and injuries?
  5. is overwhelmed by the conflicting advice, theories and quick fixes?
  6. is fed up seeing how well everyone is doing?
I'm pretty sure you have been all these at one point...I know I have!

The pendulum effect is a common occurrence in health and fitness.

Just like a swing goes one way and another we can move rapidly from one end of the scale of motivation, nutritional plans, effort and beliefs throughout our health journey to the other.

If we stop pushing a swing it always returns to centre, just like a pendulum would eventually.

Sometimes we need a really strong push to get us lined up for a wedding, reunion, weight lifting meet or holiday.

However, this is not always easily maintained and often comes with a rebound 'price'.

For long term success, often it is the middle ground where the results are found, not the following extremes:
  • work out too hard too often and risk burn out and injury
  • work out too little and the results do not accumulate
  • eat too little, or exclude important food groups, and our bodies rebel
  • eat too much...well, we all knows what happens here
  • apply too much pressure or complexity and we implode and stop everything
Having a balanced, sensible approach to your health and fitness is the best way to create good health that is a product of your lifestyle....

...NOT your good health held back by your lifestyle!

We see it all the time, for some strange reason we humans always seem to need that fringe, out there, fix for our problems.

It is probably a good way to be wired in some respects, as it causes us to think outside the 'normal' and challenge convention.

However, YOUR best intentions are often taken for a ride by unscrupulous promises of quick results, unusual fixes and the next best diet or pill that you can take that will fix you.

It drives authentic health professionals insane, I know really good PT's that have left the industry because of this.

(I won't, it makes me fight harder)

There is no secret pill, diet or weird practice that will make you healthier...if too good to be true and all that!

Consistency and effort that we can sustain, based somewhere in the centre of it all, is where we all find success.

or, put another way:

A kick ass half is better than a half assed whole

Find what you can do in the time you have and the energy you can spare. Make sure it feels slightly more than enough for your current levels and you really can't go wrong.

Sometimes all it needs is a bit of imagination, and finding a 'mentor' who has trodden the path ahead of you to give you little nudges of inspiration!

Be OK with simply just showing up regularly and doing a bit when you can.

You have many years to get to grips with it, so work as hard as you can but remember that if you push to far you will rebound...

Stay in the middle!

J

P.S. If any of our emails could help anyone you know please pay it forward and share.

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James Chandler
Personal Trainer
07870 262741
www.eatwellandworkout.com


'To inspire, educate and support our clients on their journey to better health'