Who doesn’t want to be their best 100% of the time?! Here are 6 life hacks to get you to reach your peak fitness!

Peak fitness is about so much more than just working out. Lets talk about what peak fitness is first.

All aspects of our health and fitness are interconnected. This is why it is important to look at the big picture in order to maximize your fitness.

How To Reach Your Peak Fitness

Reaching peak fitness is a lot harder than many think and that is why so few actually reach it. Reaching peak fitness is a challenging process, but with dedication and determination, it is definitely achievable.

How you eat, train, sleep, socialize, and play must all be arranged around this goal; peak fitness. 

To perform your best, you need to consider all of the positive and negative factors in your life which may be impacting your fitness routine. Then, you need to address theses issues to make sure they’re supporting your goals. 

These 6 tips will help you reach your peak fitness as well as benefit your general health and wellbeing.

#1 Drink Enough Water

We’re constantly being told to drink more water. Sometimes it feels like drinking more water is the standard go-to solution for every issue or problem.

There’s a reason experts put so much emphasis on drinking water. If you want to reach peak fitness, you’re going to need to start drinking enough water.

Drinking adequate amounts of water has a range of health benefits. It can boost your immune system, flush out any toxins you have, increase your energy levels, and aid in your body’s weight loss. 

Not drinking enough water can lead to fatigue, headaches, poor sleep and lack of concentration.

Under-supplying your body with water can limit your physical performance, lower coordination, and increase muscle fatigue.

All of which limits your physical performance and your ability to do your best.

Experts recommend that we drink a minimum of 6-8 glasses of water a day (Mayo Clinic, 2017).

You should drink extra water before, during, and after a workout. At least one glass of water before your workout and one glass every 15 minutes during the workout.

#2 Get Quality Sleep 

Getting enough sleep, and more importantly, getting good quality sleep, is essential for maintaining your body’s fitness levels. 

Good quality sleep is needed to repair and recuperate your body.

Sleep is a critical part of the body’s recuperation process and is critical when reaching peak fitness. The recuperation process allows your body to recover, conserve energy, repair, and build up the muscles that have been worked out during the day.

Not getting enough sleep, or having interrupted sleep, will leave you with low energy and possibly muscle fatigue. Both of which will make you less motivated to stick to your training routine.

It is important to make sure you get a minimum of 7 or 8 hours sleep every night.

Furthermore, this sleep needs to be high quality in order to provide the full benefits to your body.

If you are not sure whether you are getting enough efficient, restful sleep, it is a good idea to check this with a sleep monitor.

See this list of the best sleep monitors to help you monitor your sleep quality here.

#3 Watch Your Diet

Healthy eating isn’t just about weight loss.

What you eat is one of the biggest factors which contributes to your level of physical fitness. This means that it is a HUGE factor in achieving peak fitness!

In fact, some argue that it the most important factor when it comes to fitness, even more so than physical activity (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2017).

Diet and nutrition is a hotly contest subject. New fads and diets emerging every week can make it hard to figure out which one is right for you.

The general consensus among nutritionists is that a healthy diet should consist of lean protein, vegetables, fruits, complex carbohydrates and essential nutrients and vitamins.

The UK’s National Health Service recommends a daily diet which incorporates a variety of foods from all of the five main food groups.

These groups are: fruit and vegetables (they recommend a minimum of five serves per day), carbohydrates, dairy or dairy alternatives, proteins such as pulses, beans, fish, eggs and meat, and unsaturated oils.

#4 Stock Up On Amino Acids

Amino acids are essentially the smaller components found in protein, and a key part of almost all your body’s metabolic processes.

They are also an important building block in the human body. Amino acids help form your bones, muscles, organs, hair and nails. They also play a vital role in the processes which affect cognition, mood and energy.

Given how important amino acids are for our bodies, our body can only product 11 out of the 20 we need.

The remaining nine amino acids are sometimes called the “essential amino acids”.

There are also certain amino acids classified as Branched-Chain Amino Acids (due to their branched molecular structure, which account for three of the nine essential amino acids.

Branched-chain amino acids are particularly important to protect our muscles from damage, and to repair any muscle damage when it occurs. This is why you need to be sipping on amino acids during your fitness training.

It is critical to ensure that your body gets enough amino acids, and especially enough branched-chain amino acids in order to support muscle repair and growth for your fitness routine.

You can source these through high-protein foods such as red meat. You can also get them from dairy or through supplements.

#5 Be As Active As Possible 

Being physically fit doesn’t mean spending an hour (or even two) a day working out and then the rest sitting at a desk or in front of the TV.

How active your lifestyle is and how much time you spend moving, compared to sedentary activities, affects your physical fitness levels.

Incorporating as much daily activity as possible will boost your overall fitness levels and help you perform better at your structured work out sessions.

Some sneaky ways to incorporate more activity into your normal life include:

• Walking or cycling to work
• Getting off public transport a stop or two earlier and walking the rest of the way
• Talking the stairs rather than the elevator 
• Getting up from your desk a minimum of 5 minutes every hour and walking around the office or stretching
• Do something physical during your lunch break. Such as a yoga class or walking in the park
• Parking your car further away and walk the extra distance

#6 Improve Your Emotional Wellbeing

Your emotional wellbeing can affect your physical health, and the other way around.

Staying positive, motivated, and maintaining self discipline are all important for sticking to your fitness routine and maintaining physical health.

Mindfulness can greatly help with staying positive in many different situations. 

Have you ever tried Mindfulness exercises? These exercises in the workplace can help with personal development, address anxiety, and much more.

In a nutshell, mindfulness is about being centered and focused on the present moment. It means acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and external environment.

In general, applying these techniques can greatly improve your emotional wellbeing.

Mindfulness can also be applied to your workout by focusing on your breathing and paying attention to your posture. You should also set an intention for the workout and remain focussed on this intention throughout the entire workout.

Conclusion

This article gives you 6 tips which will help you reach your peak fitness as well as benefit your general health and wellbeing.

Drinking adequate amounts of water has a range of health benefits. These benefits include; boosting the immune system, flushing out toxins from the body, increased energy levels and aiding with weight loss, to name but a few.

Getting enough sleep, and more importantly, getting good quality sleep, is essential for maintaining your body’s fitness levels. Sleep is crucial to the repair and recuperation your body.

What you eat is one of the biggest factors which contributes to your level of physical fitness. Another important factor is branch chain amino acids which are a key part of almost all your body’s metabolic processes.

How active your lifestyle is in general, and how much time you spend moving compared to sedentary activities affects your general fitness levels.

Staying positive, motivated and maintaining self discipline are all important for sticking to your fitness routine and maintaining physical health.