In short, holistic fitness is the strategic improvement of total body health. Consider for a moment the many factors that contribute positively or negatively to your state of health and wellbeing. There may be many health related practices that come to mind so allow me to name a few, (water consumption, quality of diet, physical activity, quality of sleep, and stress management). Giving focused attention to any one of the aforementioned health practices will likely result in an improved state of health yet it does not necessarily mean that you are “healthy”. To be healthy is more myth than it is reality. Everyday we are either improving the health status of our body or allowing it to regress. To be holistic in your fitness approach means that you account for as many health impacting factors as possible while strategically working to improve them collectively. Sounds like a headache to try to keep up with all of these possible growth opportunities right?
Well, what makes holistic fitness special is the sense of self empowerment that goes hand in hand with a holistic fitness routine. The more opportunities you have to positively affect your health status, the more confident you become in making healthy changes to the more challenging parts of your lifestyle as it relates to your total body wellbeing (everything affects your wellbeing). In my 15 years in various sectors of the fitness industry, I have found that true and lasting results are manifested in large part through the lifestyle habits that many overlook like daily walking, meditation, breathing practice, stretching, foam rolling, and drinking 90+ ounces of water daily – to name a few. Why, you ask?
How many times can you workout in a week? …7-14 intensive workouts per week at most for the performing athlete. Collectively daily stretching and foam rolling total 14 distinct workouts not to be undervalued as recovery is the body’s key to progress. This is not considering your breathing practice, meditation, water consumption, or nutritional habits, all of which have just as much of an influence on your total body well-being. My point here is that you can only “workout” so many times in a week, yet there is an endless amount of lifestyle habits that you can employ and/or improve upon to enhance your health status. Working out is just one of many opportunities for you to lose weight, build strength, decrease chronic pain, decrease chronic inflammation, and so much more!
Excess weight, chronic pain, and illness are symptoms of a lifestyle lacking in holistic fitness. Regardless of where you are in your physical fitness journey, you can always improve your holistic fitness practices and habits with the comfort in knowing that every “little” factor you improve positively impacts how your body will respond to daily stressors. With a little consistency, you too can experience the best version of YOU. Give holistic fitness a try and start living life the way you were meant to, pain free and joy filled!
~ Coach Tae
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