Health and fitness goals are a frequent topic of discussion in life coaching. This generally falls into categories of exercise, diet, and motivation to reach a health or fitness goal. Those three factors all interact to achieve the best outcome, but I will take the approach here of blogging about each separately.

My own journey with exercise started in my teenage years as I tried to get fitter for football (soccer) and also to try and add muscle. I relied on the advice of my father, peers, and Men’s Health magazine. Today, there is YouTube and various apps supplying so much information on topics from targeting specific muscle groups, to providing exercise plans for specific sports or body shape goals.

The turning point in my own exercise journey was completing the ‘Certificate of Proficiency in Fitness Foundations’ at AUT (Auckland University of Technology). I had intended to study on to become a Personal Trainer but Covid 19 and lockdown restrictions meant I could sometimes not enter Auckland City – it moved to a goal on pause. The course introduced me to the first principle that should apply when you want to start exercising or fitness training of any kind – check with your Doctor first. If you remember anything from this post, remember that. Learning the muscles, how they work, and what exercises target which muscle groups, gave me a greater appreciation of how to construct an exercise routine to achieve what I wanted. I feel understanding muscles and how your body works provides a good platform for constructing your own exercise routine, or engaging with a personal trainer (or the apps/YouTube videos if that is the route you want to take). Finally, the nutritional guidance was also valuable and introduced looking critically at what the research says on vitamin and other supplements – as discussed though this topic deserves its own blog post.

Setting goals and discipline has never been a problem for me (and I will explore this more when I blog on motivation), but perhaps a trickier thing to face was ‘body image’. Self-esteem is often tied to body image for everybody, but it can be a topic that men have traditionally been reluctant to approach. I found a video by SoulPancake a great discussion between men about their thoughts on body image and the pressures they have faced and how they have dealt with them. At a more extreme end of the spectrum, focusing on body and exercise have led some people (perhaps mostly men) to Muscle Dysmorphia which was addressed thoroughly (and non sensationally) in a TEDx talk from several years ago. So before beginning exercising/fitness training I feel it is a good idea to think about your body image, and if there are any pressures driving your decision – there is no shame in approaching a mental health professional (or again, your Doctor) if you feel there may be body image pressures driving you that you need to talk about.

For me, I realized over time that instead of targeting large weights to build muscle mass and look bigger, my body responded better to lighter weights and flexibility training – also, as I’ve aged I have looked towards exercises that promote longevity and have less chance of injury. Remember, exercising can be as simple as regular walking which may reduce blood pressure, and may lower the risk of dementia. When you discuss exercising with a coach you will be given the space to come up with your own ideas of what will work for you, what you really want from exercising, how you will achieve your goals, and how you will hold yourself accountable.

In summary: