The Ladder of Health - Part 2
What is the Ladder of Health?
The Ladder of Health is a metaphor that represents my approach to building a healthy, sustainable life in a way that is personalized around the individual. Movement, Nutrition, and Recovery are the rungs on a ladder that takes you to new heights and in this case produce physiological change. However, your Environment and Mindset are like the girders on each side of the ladder that the rungs rely on for support. Without a strong system of support from these girders, the whole thing risks falling apart. I have found that to help people successfully and sustainably progress towards their goals, we have to take into account both physiology and psychology. Every person has a unique body and a unique personality. Being able to personalize someone’s program around both aspects is essential and will become more clear when breaking down the Ladder of Health.
The Physiology
Movement, Nutrition, and Recovery are the rungs that drive physiological changes to help people reach their health and fitness goals. Most of us know and accept that generally speaking, 30+ minutes of activity per day, 6+ servings of vegetables, and 7-9 hours of sleep will help improve your health and fitness. However only a very, very small portion of the population actually does these three things on a regular basis. So the question is: Why do so many people struggle with their health and why do so few people actually doing these things that we know will help? See my blog post, The Ladder of Health - Part 1 about the psychology side of this issue.
Movement
Daily activity
Posture
Exercise
Cardio
Strength Training
Yoga/Mobility
Biomechanics
Movement plays a big role in your metabolism, how your joints feel, chronic aches/pain, your physical performance, your body composition, and health markers. When looking at an individual’s unique goals we want to look at where you are right now and what aspects of movement are going to help produce the physiological changes needed to help you attain your desired outcome. Usually, a combination of all of these will help no matter what your goal is however, your goal and current baseline help us determine the correct dosage of each and how to tailor them specifically to you.
Nutrition
Food you eat
Liquids you drink
Caloric intake (Total quantity of food)
Macronutrients (Protein, Carbs, Fats)
Micronutrient (Vitamins, Minerals)
Quality of food
Nutrition also has cross-over into almost every aspect of health, not just body composition. For those looking to improve their health through weight loss or bulking up, your caloric intake will be the most critical followed by what macronutrients you are fueling your body with. These may be the drivers we are looking to change however, the quality of food choices, how quickly do you eat, etc plays a big role in your ability to hit your calorie or macro targets. This doesn’t discount the importance of calories/macros, but for many people focusing on building the skills and habits needed to eat healthier can set you up for success in hitting the targets you need to see the change. Nutrition also has a big impact on your recovery from exercise and injuries which I will dive into with future posts.
Recovery
Stress
Sleep
Recovery between workouts
Meditation
Breathwork
Cold therapy
Massage
Recovery is just as important and in many people’s opinion, more important than Movement and Nutrition. Recovery can set you up for success or failure in your ability to achieve the other two. If you are working out hard every day you may never recover enough to push yourself at the intensity required for optimal results. Lack of recovery can lead to overtraining or an increased risk of injury. Stress gets demonized, but it is actually a good thing that is responsible for us growing and progressing. Not having the skills to recover from stress is where the problem lies. Sleep is your chance to recharge, reenergize, and cleanse toxins that accumulate in your brain. Under sleeping can reduce your metabolism as well cause you to crave energy from other sources like caffeine, sugars, and calories. Look out for future posts that will go into more details on stress, sleep, and more.