The Fitness Pyramid

How to Prioritise and Focus

Does everyone feel they are on a roller coaster or is it just me ? I could definitely do with a couple of more hours in the day to get everything done.

Between client sessions, my training, managing my kids, cooking my meals, cleaning the house, getting my steps in, getting enough sleep, etc etc… the list is endless - its tough to pause and think even for a moment.

Everything has an opportunity cost! Something has to be foregone to get something else done.

Just the other day I set aside time to clean my face - you know - scrub, clean, massage - the works and do you know what my primary feeling was? GUILT . For an instance I felt that work was waiting, and here I was - indulging myself.

The Eisenhower Matrix is a simple tool for considering the long-term outcomes of your daily tasks and focusing on what will make you most effective, not just most productive.

I mean even the mad part of me knew that feeling guilty for 20 minutes self-care is not ok. Still the guilt hit.

The point being, in this hectic roller-coaster of a life, where does health fit in?

In my super busy day, lets talk about only one aspect - MY TRAINING. I ensure I set aside time for my training everyday. It’s not easy. There are days I really struggle to get it done and I mean I AM IN THE FITNESS BUSINESS. It is my bread and butter. And its still super hard.

Taking a stance to execute the deadlift at home during the lockdown in June 2020

Another fact is that humans Beings are bad - BAD multitaskers. Every research ever conducted has more or less come to the same finding. We work better and more efficiently when we focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking reduces our focus and gives sub-optimal results at the end of the task.

So what do we do if we care about our well-being and find no time for it? Hopefully your journey will be simplified with the information in this article.

Starting now, if you want to prioritise your health or have been doing things haphazardly. If you have been missing out on something extremely essential or if like me you need to pick and choose what to use to key 10 minutes for - I have modeled this FITNESS PYRAMID to put forward an easy to solution on how to prioritise. One step at a time.

Where do we start then ? What is the most important aspect of fitness?

Lets talk about cardinal rule first - CONSISTENCY - whatever you do - you have to do regularly - over a long period of time. All things being equal, consistency will beat every other parameter to get you to your goal. Have a look at this chart below :

Data of one million data points from 1000 clients by precision nutrition. Results based on how consistent they were.

The NEIKI Fitness Pyramid. Artwork by my husband - Anoop Manohar

In order of priority, here goes. Get. Set. Go

NUMBER ONE - NUTRITION

At the top of the food chain is, well, Food 😊

If you have only 10 minutes to devote to your health, spend it planning your meals.

This is where most of us get stuck.

One of my yummy and nutritious breakfast meal options. Porridge topped with rose and cranberry granola from Klaudia’s Kitchen

There are so many ways to eat well and eating well is different for every individual based on where they live and what kind of food they are used to, how much energy they expend, how different kinds of food make them feel and what their goals are.

Everyone of us has a different battle to fight. For instance, I have no issues whatever avoiding desserts at the end of a meal but put a bread basket in front of me and my will power will be really tested. I also think it is better to give in to your cravings in a planned manner.

There are no good or bad foods and I personally adhere to eating local food produced close to source. Less processed and packaged food and loads of whole foods, grains, fruits and vegetables.Good nutrition aligned to your goals is the foundation and needs to be keyed down first and foremost. It will make you feel energised through the day and ensure your mood stays uplifted.

One of my yummy and nutritious breakfast meal options. 3 egg whites plus one full egg omelette, toast and leftover salad from last night with a side of my daily morning overnight soaked nuts

What is also of great importance is your relationship with food. What you eat, how you eat it, where you eat and with whom you eat - IT ALL COUNTS! It is important to address how you feel after consuming a particular meal.

One of my yummy and nutritious breakfast meal options. Kerala stew with appam, 3 egg whites plus one full egg omelette, with a side of my daily morning overnight soaked nuts

The precision nutrition approach to good nutrition says that it is a science not a belief system.

Good nutrition controls energy balance, gives us nutrients, helps us look, feel and perform better, is sustainable, promotes awareness of your food and eating habits and also aids regular movement and is outcome based.I hence, created NEIKI with the aim of creating this balance for myself and everyone I work with.

NUMBER TWO - SLEEP

How much sleep do we as human beings actually need ? Well, the right amount of sleep largely depends on your age. The National Sleep Foundation recommends the following daily sleep allotment for different age groups

(Source: www.sleepfoundation.org)

Once we get our nutrition under control, the next thing to focus on is hitting the bed on time and ensuring we get the shut eye we all deserve. Unwinding right before bed without screen is essential. Maybe a cup of tea or a book will help you relax. Find out what you need and ensure you get in the shut-eye hours. It will help you focus better, achieve a lot more in the time you are up and increase overall efficiency.

I recently hung out with a friend who struggled to fall asleep way past midnight even though her whole family was asleep post 9pm. We conversed about it and deduced that her biggest meal was - lunch followed by a mid-day nap. In addition she skipped dinner on most days leading to high intensity cleaning ritual before bedtime. In her case, restricting the time of the day nap to 20/30 minutes and having a balanced meal for dinner should help get the routine right over a few weeks.

I cannot stress enough on the importance of getting enough sleep. It makes a world of a difference. I had a coach once who would often cancel my training if I was working on less than 7 hours of sleep.

Our energy, how focused we are plus all those unexplained weight gains are due to the lost sleep. Sleep is essential for exercise performance, brain function and apt regulation of hormones. My advice always is to make it a priority and be in bed an hour before sleep time unwinding without screen.

NUMBER THREE - MOVEMENT / EXERCISE

Movement in any form is beneficial. Different kinds of workout practices have different effects. For instance, yoga is great for flexibility and cardio-respiratory health, running is great for cardio vascular health while weight training enhances bone density.

So then what to pick up ?

A smart program will include a combination of all of these or most of these workout practices. You can pick from the ones you know. I truly believe NEIKI is one of them. Or you can pick the form you enjoy the most. That will be the most sustainable option. Remember, it has to be the right choice for you.

Strength & conditioning is my core area of work. When I work with a client, my endeavour is to ensure maximum output or performance during floor time or the time one spends working out.

When a client comes to me well nourished and rested, I can push them. If they turn up on less sleep or low calorie consumption, they tend to burn out mid session or not recovered from the last session and then I have to take it easy.

Scheduling your workout within one to two hours of your pre-workout meal of carbs, proteins and fats and on at least 7 to 8 hours of sleep. This should give maximum output. We are eating, sleeping, hydrating and keeping calm to fuel our movement and exercise performance.

The more I extract in session from my clients, the more progress they see in short periods of time. It is give more, get more after all. The objective is to set SMART goals and timelines are a part of it.

NUMBER FOUR - HYDRATION

Drinking water is not the only way to hydrate. Human beings can completely rehydrate through a meal. In addition, all drinks - milk, tea, coffee and all others add to hydration quota.

Adequate hydration is essential for optimum performance while exercising.

Also in regular day to day life, proper hydration is essential as it regulates your body temperature, lubricates joints, helps in digestion and keeps your energies up. It does wonders for your skin too !

2.5 to 3 litres of water is essential to replenish what we lose through daily activities. This requirement can change based on the weather we endure, our exercise routines, our medications or if a women is breast feeding among many other factors.

Here’s a fact I got to know while reading up some literature on hydration. Dehydration does not impact muscular power and strength so we should be able to weight train with the same intensity even if we are not adequately hydrated.

However, it does impair muscular endurance, motor skills, coordination and timing and cognitive performance. It can also adversely affect aerobic performance in warm weather.

Point is - keep hydrated. It helps you feel good!

NUMBER FIVE - MINDFULNESS/ STRESS MANAGEMENT

I was not sure whether these two should be two parameters or one. I finally decided that one cannot work without the other.

Mindfulness is about awareness and paying attention to what you do. It is about the muscle mind connection when you lift a weight and about relishing the taste of your food you eat.

Eating slowly is easier said than done and it is something I still struggle with at times. I try to put my utensils down between bites to slow down and think about what I am eating and how it is making me feel. This small action tends to help me better at this aspect.

Chakra (cakra in Sanskrit) means “wheel” and refers to energy points in your body. They are thought to be spinning disks of energy that should stay “open” and aligned, as they correspond to bundles of nerves, major organs, and areas of our energetic body that affect our emotional and physical well-being.

Stress management is about peace of mind. What is clear to me is that the things that usually stress us out are not in our control , so then logically, why think about them ? But the mind is an animal with a will of its own. The only way we can tame it is to pay attention to what we do and slowly and steadily build that skill, one day at a time, one minute or even one second at time. And this is where one cannot exist without the other. What we need to be is mindful. Focus on the right here and now and what we are doing at the moment instead of in that deep dark corner which leads to zero output.

These are the five key pillars of my Fitness Pyramid. They lay down the groundwork for all successful future plans. These parameters should be put in place - ONE AT A TIME.

So get your food right and start sleeping well to start with. This should make you feel like wanting to move an exercise as you will have adequate energy through the day. For optimal performance hydrate and be mindful. Take small steps. Get one meal right. Drink a glass of water when you wake up. Go for a 10 minute walk. All this will add up.

All together, the changes maybe a bit overwhelming and time-consuming. But slowly and steadily - one change at a time - one day at a time - you will see and feel the difference.

Consistency, like I said before, is the key element. Whatever you change - you have to learn to live with it - hopefully forever!

Albert Einstein said “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” There’s something to think about there.

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