Achieving Healthy Activity Balance
Written by: Ed Sherako, CFW Health Fitness Specialist
You have probably been told or overheard someone explain how important it is to have balance in life. Imagine a fulcrum scale with a brick on one side and a feather on the other. Totally out of balance but life is more complex. A better analogy is to think of a wagon wheel missing one spoke. It will work for a while, then wobble and sooner or later the wagon is broken down on the side of the road.
If you ever feel as though you may be a “wobbly wheel” here is an exercise to try. Make a list of all the most important aspects in your life and contemplate whether or not each one is receiving the amount of time and attention necessary to shore it up as a contribution to the stability of your life. Is every spoke contributing to the integrity of the wheel?
Components of the Wellness Wheel:
- Physical- fitness, nutrition, recovery and sleep
- Finance/occupation- living within means, saving and planning, fulfilling work
- Intellectual- learning, stay curious (reading, audit a college course)
- Emotional- manage stress and sleep (again), stay ahead of deadlines
- Social- family, maintain a social network of friends and some besties
- Spiritual- adhere to the guidelines of your values
This is one example. Items on the list above will be common among individuals though defined differently due to, for example, the definition of the spiritual spoke. While doing this exercise one quickly finds out the ways in which the spokes impact one another. Some lists will contain additional spokes, but if your list gets long there is a good chance some items can be combined.
The task works on different levels, not just life in its entirety. Did you notice the four pieces associated with “physical” in the example above? A wheel can be designed to analyze your balance in fitness.
We already established that not only does a weak spoke affect the integrity of the wheel but whatever strategy is employed to work on a component will be impactful on another. Fitness enthusiasts who are adept at weight training know, the heavier the load, the lower the repetitions.
Imagine the wheel represents the fitness goals. Important spokes include, exercise prescription, exercise frequency, hydration and nutrition. However, if the exercise recovery spoke is below par or essentially absent, your fitness wagon will get stuck on the side of the road one day.