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Seven habits of highly fit people
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Highly Fit people know that intense workouts don't
happen on the elliptical machine.
Every magazine on the rack about fitness, women’s issues, men’s issues, fashion, celebrities, and gossip will tell you what famous people have done – and what you should do – to get “fit”. Some may be accurate, although many of them leave out crucial details like drugs, surgery, or personal chefs.
But what do real Highly Fit people – athletes, fitness trainers, the people you actually see on the street who aren’t airbrushed or surgically altered yet still manage to have the appearance and energy we’d all like – do in their lives?
Highly Fit people eat for the right reasons
The top “right” reason to eat is to fuel your body, and if all anyone ever ate was plenty of proteins and healthy oils, lots of veggies and the precise amount of whole grains needed to fuel their activities, there would be no need for a “fitness industry”.
Hunger is another good reason to eat, and Highly Fit people have learned to listen to their body – and to stop when they’re sated rather than “stuffed-to-the-gills”. The reason “appetite suppressant” pills don’t work well for many is that most people eat when they’re not hungry anyway.
And, yes, taste is a perfectly fine reason to eat. But the taste is the same for a spoonful of Ben & Jerry’s as it is for a pint of it.
Unfit people eat for reasons that have nothing to do with their body’s needs: stress, depression, boredom, “comfort”, or just habit, the first thing we tend to do is grab food that feels like it will soothe our ills, but usually just intensifies a feedback loop of bad body chemistry.
And don’t forget that Highly Fit people eat frequent, small meals, including breakfast!
Highly Fit people maximize their NEPA
Every fitness concept needs a fancy acronym, and the act of taking the stairs instead of the elevator is called NEPA, or “Non-exercise Physical Activity”.
Most of us know that just walking up a flight of stairs once a day or parking further away from the supermarket, won’t turn us into fitness models. Highly Fit people, however, have developed the habit of using the physically active option as a default, and making the decision to take the elevator will usually have a bit of thought involved (and probably either something heavy to transport, or more than five floors).
Start looking for opportunities to make this decision. Highly fit people don’t drive around the parking lot looking for a closer spot, or wait for someone who is about to pull out – they park in the first convenient space they come to. If they’re going to two stores in the same strip mall, they’ll usually park in a spot that works for both, and walk between them. And while they may take the escalator or the moving walkway, they don’t stand there passively – they use it as a means to go faster!
Highly Fit people workout intensely
While NEPA is a great way to burn a few extra calories, Highly Fit people know that intense training sessions at least three times a week are the key to having the bodies they want...and that it’s impossible to train intensely on an elliptical machine.
Whether your goals involve running long distances, lifting heavy weights, or just improving your physique; whether you’re training for recreational activities or you’re a firefighter, police officer, or soldier whose fitness level can mean the difference between life and death – when you’re training, train! The gym is not the place to catch up on what you’ve been missing on Oprah, or to text to your friends about happy hour. It’s the place to work to develop the body and mind of one of the Highly Fit!
Highly Fit people quench their thirst with water
What do you reach for when you’re thirsty? The commercials tell you to “Obey Your Thirst” by drinking artificial lemon-lime flavored carbonated sweetened beverages instead of artificial cola-flavored carbonated sweetened beverages. Or to reach for a light beer instead of a full-calorie one. And of course to drink their brand of “sports beverage” to get the electrolytes you need to perform better.
Highly fit people know that water quenches thirst better than anything, and that everything else should be considered a treat. Even sports beverages are only useful in the middle of sustained (longer than 90 minutes) intense activity.
Highly Fit people eat their veggies
Simply stated, vegetables have lots of nutrients, lots of fiber, and they help sate hunger with a much lower caloric intake than anything else you’ll find. Highly Fit people use them as snacks, as the majority of their carbohydrate intake, and as the “filler” in their protein-based meals.
Fruits are also great options, and although they tend to be higher in sugar than most veggies, are still very healthy. Just remember that juice is not fruit – it’s sugar-water with all the good stuff taken out!
Highly Fit people train with purpose and passion
If you’ve been going to the gym for years with the idea of “getting in shape”, or losing ten pounds, or even to get your cholesterol numbers lower, you very likely look and perform exactly the way you looked and performed four months after you started.
Highly fit people train to accomplish something – and they train enthusiastically! They may have a contest they’re training for, or an activity they want to excel in. They may treat their training as a competition unto itself (common in CrossFitters) or have skills and strengths they want to improve even if they never plan to compete (gymnasts, weightlifters, and martial artists often display this trait). They may just love their sport, and play pickup basketball games or Ultimate at full-speed whenever they have the opportunity.
If “going to the gym” is the fitness equivalent of getting up in the morning to go to work, then training something you love is the analogy of waking up to go to Disneyland. Find something – anything – you can get enthusiastic about!
Highly Fit people help their bodies recover
The final piece of the puzzle many people miss is recovery. While this is a topic that deserves its own article, there are a few simple things that can improve your recovery from training immensely.
One of the biggest problems people have today is not getting enough sleep, and although many will have some level of sleep deprivation at various points in their lives, it can be alleviated to some extent with the following steps.
- Turn off the TV. If you’re already not getting enough sleep, staying up to watch the late-night movie won’t help. Even worse is faling asleep with the television on, since the light and sound prevents you from sleeping deeply.
- Turn off the lights...all of them. Charles Poliquin, in his training with Olympic athletes, found that the simple act of covering lighted displays on alarm clocks to completely darken the room helped his athletes sleep more soundly, awake more refreshed, and perform better in their competitions. Do everything you can to minimize lights and sounds that will prevent deep sleep.
- Take naps. If you can’t sleep enough all in one shot, try to find a couple of opportunities during the day to catch a ten- or fifteen-minute power nap. Just don’t do it so late that it interferes with your ability to sleep at night.
Besides sleep, other recovery modalities that make a tremendous difference are:
- Stretching and joint mobility. By helping circulation through the muscles after a workout and throughout the day, the body can recover more fully before the next workout.
- Massage and related activities. Getting a massage from a skilled therapist as often as possible (whether that’s weekly, monthly, or twice a year) can make a tremendous difference in your body’s ability to recover. In between professional massages, using self-massage techniques with a foam roller or tennis ball, and kneading your own sore muscles (or having a loved one do it) can extend the benefits.
- Cryotherapy. While “cold therapy” has wide reaching, and often highly technical, applications, the simple act of icing sore muscles immediately after a workout can do wonders to reduce inflammation and help muscles recover. Although professional sports teams have ice tubs, a simple massage using ice cubes or a cryocup will have major impact.
Aristotle said “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” The only difference between Highly Fit people and average folks is the habits they develop over time. By consistently making decisions that move you toward your goals, you make those actions into habits, and can become one of the Highly Fit.
 | Developing a productive fitness mindset To succeed in your fitness goals, get rid of the judgment and see yourself for what you truly are. See also: Pain vs. progress |
 | Improve your workouts: using competitions to provide focus See also:
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 | Cheap corn syrup equals bigger waistlines See also: Simplify your diet strategy |
For more info: Visit Jonathan on his site at www.defylimitations.com!
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