6 Lifestyle Changes for a Higher Quality of Life

April 1, 2022:

Our friends at PEX Health and Fitness and trainer Rafi Rivera share six easy practices to improve your quality of life this spring as we shake off the doldrums of winter: 

1) Practice Gratitude

Often, our brains look for the bad. These ways date back thousands of years from the early days of humanity surviving in the wild. Now, living a much more privileged life, our daily tasks, and hurdles can get in the way of seeing that. Simply completing a task such as journaling or saying five things that we are truly grateful for at the beginning of the end of the day can shift our mindset into feeling more at peace or fulfilled.

 

2)Take Stretch & Mobility Breaks

Being healthy does not necessarily require jogging, lifting heavy, or performing high-intensity exercise (although it may help significantly). The ability to complete movements like twisting your torso, touching your toes, or looking left and right without pulling something matters, too. Between your meetings, try to take five minutes to bend and twist. This will alleviate stiffness coming from sitting down and hunching over computers or devices.

 

3) Check-in Daily/Weekly/Monthly

 Many of us are parents, entrepreneurs, employees trying to make it through each week to the weekend.  Put a reminder on your phone to make sure you are okay physically, emotionally, and mentally.   If you have a busy lifestyle, the time goes by fast. Checking in with yourself can allow you to take a step back and adapt so that you don’t burn out.

 

4) Find Someone or Something to Hold You Accountable

We, humans, are funny creatures. We hate to disappoint others and lose out on money or opportunities. Your safest bet so that you engage in physical activity is to hire a personal trainer/health coach. Hiring a Personal Trainer/Health Coach is the ultimate form of accountability. You don’t want to disappoint yourself by not showing up, and you also don’t want to throw away your hard-earned money.

 

5) Join a Program With Other Friends

Working out with friends holds you accountable for coming in, and it also maximizes your time to connect with others. Community is necessary for our overall emotional health and wellbeing. Take advantage where you can.

 

6) Attempt to Improve Your Sleep and Sleep Time

This improvement alone can ultimately benefit all factors of your health. Quality sleep will aid in:

  • Speeding up your metabolism  
  • Decreasing irritability
  • Memory improvement
  • Hormonal balance

The goal is to begin a pre-bed routine. Here are a couple of changes you can try:

  • Dimming the lights
  • Minimize screen time, ideally 30 to 60 minutes before bed
  • Stop alcohol consumption at least 1 hour before bed
  • Stop fluid consumption 30 to 45 minutes before bed so that you minimize the potential to get up in the middle of the night and hopefully reach the third and 4th levels of sleep (REM & deep sleep)
  • Take a hot shower before bed to relax the body  

 

We hope you find these tips helpful during this season of renewal. If you are in search of a new trainer, Coach Rafael “Rafi” Rivera is taking on new clients at the PEX Needham location.