WHEN IS THE BODY HAPPY? ABOUT THE CONCEPT OF NEAT AND THE POWER OF REGENERATION
Bill Bowermann, co-founder of Nike used to say, “If you have a body, you are an athlete.” Our bodies are made to move. Happiness is therefore provided by the right dose of activity. Of course, regeneration and proper nutrition are of course equally important. These can be considered to be the three pillars of bodily well-being.
NEAT CONCEPT – ACTIVITY DOSE
At the beginning of the 19th century, the French biologist de Lamarck argued that unused organs regress and disappear. Although his theory was unsupported, it is hard for me to disagree with his way of thinking at all. 🙂 One can draw the far-reaching conclusion from Lamarckism that any movement is better than none. The modern concept of NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis) refers to a similar idea, which emphasizes energy expenditure during daily spontaneous physical activity that is not structured training. So let’s use our legs and go as much as possible… for walks, to the store, up the stairs. Changes in posture, fidgeting, lively gestures, intense speech, leg swing, and finally performing household duties such as cleaning, ironing, washing windows, throwing out garbage have a significant impact on our metabolism, and thus body weight. With all my daily mobility, I do not encourage you to give up professional training. It should be remembered that good movement is one that is not only aimed at achieving a specific figure goal, but also provides us with adequate mobility and stability. Therefore, instead of thinking only about losing excess kilograms, modeling the buttocks or enlarging the chest, let’s consider whether we have the correct ranges of motion in the shoulder girdle and a sufficiently strong muscular corset. Let’s choose activities that not only make us slimmer, but also improve!
DO NOT FORGET ABOUT REGENERATION
An extremely important and often overlooked element of a healthy lifestyle and a manifestation of caring for the body is regeneration, which consists of rest and sleep. It is worth taking a day break between training sessions, as well as taking care of sleep hygiene. It turns out that the quality of sleep is often even more important than the amount of it. So what to do to “sleep well”?
go to bed before 23:00,
if you don’t fall asleep within 20 minutes, get up and do something else, e.g. reading,
give up exposure to blue light just before going to sleep – put the computer away, put down the phone, turn off the TV,
do not eat a heavy dinner shortly before bedtime,
prepare the bedroom: ventilate the room and make sure that it is sufficiently darkened.
Adequate sleep is also important in the context of caring for your body shape. Its deficiency or poor quality makes it difficult to burn fat and build muscle.
WHAT ABOUT NUTRITION?
Last, but not least, is rational nutrition. This is a topic for an entire long article. Here, I will summarize only the most important guidelines:
take care of the presence of all nutrients in your diet – the body needs protein, carbohydrates and fats – eat good quality meat and fish, free-range eggs, groats, seasonal fruits and vegetables, olive oil, linseed oil,
make sure that your menu includes fresh vegetables and fruits every day,
drink water,
choose unprocessed products.
The joke is that since you are what you eat, you should eat a lean, fit person. Maybe it is worth paying more attention to what is on the plate and becoming so. Take care of yourself!
