Hallelujah - 00.30am and I am just coming home from the gym. 2nd time within 1.5 weeks.
Yesterday, I finished my 3rd run in the last 1.5 weeks.
Additionally, I had a yoga session last week and am sure planning on another one this week; plus, take the bike everyday which leads to approx. 45 minutes per day.
This might all sound like I am living a sporty life to you. And yes, this might be the case. Still, before that I wasn't running for 3 weeks and only had a fitness workout 2x/week.
What's wrong with this guy, the sounds still totally ok and as a reasonable amount of sports. Potentially, I would agree. Where I am coming from is that I played soccer all my life. Meaning, since the age of seven, three weekly soccer sessions were standard. Since then I also did take the bike to school and every spare time activity. By the age of 17 I also started to go to the gym 2-3x/week and sometimes an additional run.
After 24, this changed a bit, but I managed to keep a steady workout schedule with running, gym and soccer. Other sports like ice hockey in winter, beach volleyball or swimming in summer were way too irregular, as that I could take them into account and that's fine. Since autumn last year I focus more on nutrition, sports and adjust other areas of my life to not contradict my focus - for example not going out that much anymore to make sure I can do sports the next day.
An interesting additional information would be that I ran a 25km race on May 10. Went to a wedding on May 16 with my new tailored suit. Everything fine. Two days ago, as I did put on the suit again, things got tight. (I was sick and couldn't really do sports for 2-3 weeks.) So, I also gain weight that f* easily, as soon as I stop doing sports.
But I lost track. Main part of this blog post is that sports is indeed my dope. Not only for my body, even more important is the effect on my mind. Granted, the fitter the body, the fitter the mind. Seems like my mind needs quite a fit body to actual perform, as I feel super sensitive about it and realized now again that when I am back on doing sports daily, everything is so much more in my control and I see things clearer, can prioritize better.
Doing sports is also the tipping point for my nutrition, not the other way around. Meaning, when I do more sports, I feel motivated to actually eat healthier, as I feel fit. When I eat healthier though that triggers no upside in terms of my sport behavior.
By different experiences (aging, life experiences, yoga, meditation, writing, ...) you get to know yourself better and know what you need/what works for you/what you should focus on and include in your life. Sports is for me a driving force I can't function without. That's why I make this a daily priority (6x, 1 day of the week is rest) For ex: every Wednesday lunch is blocked for yoga. If you ask me for lunch that day, not going to happen. 2x per week is gym. Which doesn't happen on following days, but is followed by one of my two runs, ideally not yoga. On the weekend there is one rest day and on the other day whatever I feel like. During the week it can also happen that I replace gym by bouldering or swimming, but I know that I need a balance for endurance, power and flexibility/mind.
Ah, and now I am getting tired. Perfect timing. Btw. when you start to do more sports and think you need less sleep because of sports. Think again. At least I need more sports when working out, as the body needs to rest to fill the tank of energy again.
Which is a good thing anyway from my perspective. So, put on your shoes and go outside!