Physical stress can impact your health in a variety of ways. Today we will be looking at two main areas of physical stress which are exercise and recovery and how they are integral to health and fitness as a whole. Finding a balance In life we are trying to strive for a balance or harmony between thinking, moving and eating surrounding our overall health. Once one of these aspects falls out of balance we can consequently fall into “ill” health,…
Stress is a big problem in the UK at the moment – 45% of all sick days in the 2015/16 financial year were stress-related. In general terms, you can think of stress as ‘pressure or tension exerted on a material object’. But what does this mean for you, in your day-to-day life? Types of stress There are three main types of stress – physical stress, mental stress, and dietary stress. There are other types of stress, but you have the…
If you want to change your habits and improve your health and fitness, you need to create a purpose. But it may not be quite as straightforward as you imagine. Purposes can vanish just as quickly as they appear unless they are carefully constructed. If this happens, you will have no incentive and, as a result, you will fail to attain reach your target. Layering your purpose To arrive at a purpose for doing something, you must begin by asking…
Obesity and diabetes are closely related and often go hand in hand. In fact, one of the key risk factors for diabetes is being overweight. Unfortunately, we can’t control some risk factors for these diseases, such as having a family history. But there’s a lot we can control. Here’s what you can do to minimise your risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Know your numbers Regular monitoring of your BMI, body fat percentage, and blood glucose level is important…
You may have heard a theory that it takes 90 days, or 10,000 hours to change a habit. While there is some truth in that, there is another level to changing habits, and that is ‘deep practice’. In a health and fitness context, deep practice can be applied to various objectives; from losing body fat, to improving fitness or refining sports skills. The repetition involved in deep practice begins a process known as ‘myelination’, which can be seen as the…
There are plenty of ways in which we are able to build and change habits, and this certainly applies in a health and fitness context. But before looking at exactly which methods lend themselves to positively altering our behaviour, it is fruitful to examine the science which goes on behind it. What exactly is happening in our body when we change a habit? First, let’s run through three definitions: Central nervous system The central nervous system comprises of the brain…
Having your goals in mind are great, whether that’s knowing that you want to get fitter or healthier, drop a dress size or go down a notch or two on your belt, or even getting a handle on an existing health condition or injury. However, building and changing your habits in a sustainable manner is a little more complicated than just throwing yourself in at the deep end and hoping for the best. Why? The reason to make small changes…
Cardiovascular disease is one of the most common causes of death in the UK, with coronary heart disease (CHD) in particular responsible for 16% of all male deaths and 10% of all female deaths in the country in 2012, according to the British Medical Journal. As lifestyle can play a significant part in the development and progression of the disease, many of these deaths could have been prevented, and there are a number of steps you can take to ensure…
Welcome to Christopher Hole Training’s podcast, every Monday we release a new episode on anything health and fitness, exercise, nutrition or behaviour.
A healthy lifestyle and diet can provide us with so much – vitamins, energy, detoxification, and more. But make the wrong lifestyle and diet choices consistently and we could have some worries on our plate, including high blood pressure and cholesterol. Thankfully, there are a few accepted ways of minimising risk of these health issues, and in this blog we take a look at them. Before we examine some great ways of keeping high blood pressure and cholesterol in check,…