Why you DO need to 'sweat the small stuff'


Following a recent, and very painful trip to the sports masseur, it made me reflect on my overall health.  You think you're doing the right things:

Exercising on a regular basis - check ✅

Eating healthily 80% of the time - check ✅

Looking after your mental health - check ✅

But, that's just it - are you really and truly fully committing or is it a tick box exercise?  Are you doing things with purpose and intent or simply going through the motions?

I've been exercising for longer than I care to remember, I love it so I throw myself into it completely.  It's my escapism, time for me so I'm always 100% committed ... or so I thought.  The lady I see for my sports massage informed me that I have the tightest hamstrings she's ever seen!  This is someone who works with professional athletes so she knows her stuff.  On the one hand I was thinking 'yay, kudos to me, worst hamstrings ever', then it stopped me in my tracks and made me think 'so where am I going wrong, I'm just a recreational runner'.

The fact is that quite often it's not the actual thing you're doing where you're going wrong, it's all the little add-ons - the 'small stuff'.  In my case, being fully committed to stretching.  I've become slightly more disciplined as I've got older but I'm the first to admit that I wasn't committed to stretching in the early days.  I found it boring so I'd do the absolute minimum, the usual bog-standard stretches and sometimes skip them altogether.  

The first time I went to the sports masseur she said 'right, I'm putting you on a stretching programme'!  I've learnt to love them, I use the time as my downtime, I'll make sure I'm warm and cosy, put on some relaxing music and spend a good 20-30 mins stretching instead of the usual 5 minutes whilst thinking of a million other things I could be doing.  In the space of about 6 weeks I've already noticed a huge difference.  It's going to take more commitment on my part going forwards and a few more painful trips to the sports masseur but I'm determined not to make my stretching routine simply a tick box exercise.  

It's not only the stretching where I've made improvements too, I'm trying to be more aware of my body and posture every time I run or do any other form of exercise.  I often talk about being in the present moment and, as nice as it is to let your mind wander from time to time when exercising, it's also very beneficial to focus on which muscles you are using, your breath and your posture, ie, being in the present moment.

It's these little add-ons - the small stuff - that can make or break your healthy lifestyle.  For example,

  • Exercising - commit to warming-up fully before your exercise, be aware of your posture and breathing during exercise and don't neglect to stretch afterwards (unless you're doing yoga!).  Don't be too concerned if you're short for time, do the minimum stretching immediately afterwards and then commit to a longer stretching session later in the day.  Evening is perfect as it's a good way to wind down and switch off from the day.
  • Eating - are you tailoring your eating to your lifestyle?  Tiny tweaks to your diet may include eating less carbs and less overall on the days where you are more sedentary and eating slightly more protein and carbs on the days where you are very active.  Watch your portion size!  This is always an area where people trip up, for example, did you know that one portion of cheese equates to around matchbox size?!  I know!!  Have you got the balance right?  Don't fall into the trap of following the latest food craze and please don't cut out any food groups unless you have sought medical/nutritional advice (and I don't mean from Facebook or YouTube!).  It's important to eat a balanced diet otherwise you may be missing out on vital nutrients.
  • Mental health - are you really taking enough time out?  I'll be honest, there's times when I set up a meditation session on my Fitbit and then think 'great, that's that done, tick'.  These sessions are far less satisfying than the ones where I fully immerse myself.  Even if you only have 5 minutes, you still need to fully commit to feel the benefits of meditation.  It's not much to ask is it, the world can do without you for 5 minutes, so find a place where you won't be disturbed and get the most out of your session.
There's a famous quote "Don't sweat the small stuff" but there's times when you absolutely DO need to sweat the small stuff to complete the bigger picture.  

On that note, here's a quote that you'll hopefully find useful whilst sweating the small stuff:


#2021


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