Using Fitness to Gain Focus

According to research from Penn State and the University of Maryland, an average person exercises around two hours each week. That is just half how much is recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Washingtonian) [site source: comfyliving.net]

Many of us could use more fitness activity in our lives. That’s pretty much a given.

Less than 25% of the US population gets enough physical activity.
http://www.verywellfit.com

The issue is our willingness to make time to get active. The key is to decide and determine that we will get off the couch and get active.

By increasing our activity, we stand a good chance of reducing health risks and increasing our own productivity.

Fitness Benefits

Using fitness as a means for gaining focus is nothing new.

Regular physical activity can improve your muscle strength and boost your endurance.
www.mayoclinic.org

The benefits of increasing our physical activity span beyond just losing weight and gaining strength.

A small study found that when mindfulness was combined with exercise, participants showed improvements in stress, depression, and anxiety.
www.verywellfit.com

According to an article by Sophia Aubrey for The Sydney Morning Herald, “After a month of regular exercise, you will be noticing improvements to your strength and fitness.” Additionally, per www.livestrong.com: “After a month or two of working out 30 minutes a day, you may have increased confidence, a boost in mood, better sleep, and enhanced muscle tone.”

The Mayo Clinic outlines 7 benefits of regular physical activity.

Fitness for Focus

I find that working out helps me gain focus. Also, regular workouts help me maintain a routine in an otherwise hectic schedule. But my focus is improved because I have spent time engaged in physical activity and my aha moments seem to pop up more frequently.

I use physical fitness to gain more focus.

It doesn’t matter if I am walking while listening to the Bible or jazz. It doesn’t matter if I’m jogging or running while I’m listening to an audiobook or a podcast. ( I rarely listen to my own podcast during workouts.) When I’m active, I get inspired and gain more focus.

I find focus during those workouts, runs, hikes and walks. I also find motivation and inspiration. I mean who can listen to David Goggins or anything from Rachel Hollis and not get motivated and make a move towards a goal.

To break 90 on my scorecard consistently, I don’t need to just hit the driving range consistently.

I need to use physical fitness to gain focus, so that I can combine that with my driving range regimen and practice rounds.

I force myself to find the time to fit in some fitness somewhere throughout my week.

I’m in need of the focus when the golf rounds go haywire. I need that focus when I come close but fall short of my golf goals.

Focus is a key benefit of fitness for me and my golf game. And becoming more active helps me gain more focus.

Find Your Fitness Fit

What anyone needs to do when it comes to fitness is to find what what fits.

I’ve got friends who would never dare think of playing a round hopping in and out of a golf cart. For them, walking the course is par for the course. Others focus on lightening their golf bag and slinging their equipment across their back from hole to hole for a full round of 18.

You’ve got to find what fits you. Find your own fitness fit.

Look at high impact physical activity like kickboxing, jiu jitsu or boxing. These include benefits related to both physical and mental health.
Consider adding a long walk or run, even a hike to your weekend activities.
Strength training with machines or free weights help with muscle tone and overall physical strength. Be sure to schedule in rest days between strength training workout days.
Use deep body stretching or yoga for part of your physical activity regimen.
Walk 9 holes or an executive course full of par 3 holes.
Change your daily diet. Look at keto or intermittent fasting combined with hitting the gym at least 3x’s per week.

Get into the habit of doing some body movements daily. Do some kind of physical activity daily and help yourself gain some focus among other benefits.

Be good to yourself and keep swinging.

Foot Care for the Fairway

Running and hiking are part of my rationale for embracing foot care.

Foot care is simply a form of self care.

It’s nothing new but it is new territory for me.

I went to a local salon for a pedicure under the advisement of a friend and I am so grateful. My feet have new life. I totally get why so many people swear by it.

What I don’t get is why we don’t talk about it more.

Proper Foot Care Benefits

For me, it’s not just about golf and fitness for the fairway. I’m a golfer but I also hike, walk, run, cross-train and play basketball and tennis. My feet are big part of that. As an athletic coach and referee for middle school and elementary sports, I am on my feet and on the move alot.

Pedicures are underrated self-care #fitness #running #selfcare
— RevBruceJ (@RevBruceJ1) November 28, 2022

Footcare offers plenty of health benefits, especially if we’re talking about ongoing foot care. As an older man, I need to remain mindful of how proper foot care impacts my health and wellness. Additionally, a healthy dose of foot care is recommended as part of a health and wellness regimen as well as a key part of self care.

Proper foot care has benefits for my golf game and overall health including:

Improved performance
Less pain
Limit the effects of long term neglect

For me, I suffered an injury to my foot nearly a year ago that led to an ingrown toenail that caused me ongoing aches and pains. It limited my turning on toes in my golf swing. It impacted how I ran and performed during long walks and hikes. It had an effect on my training sessions. It also impacted the types of shoes I could comfortably wear and what types of shoes worked for me to coach and ref games.

I was in serious need of a pedicure, an exfoliating foot scrub, and a foot massage.

My Personal Foot Care Plans

Getting a pedicure gave me more than just a sense of relief.

I feel like the foot care helped with my feet aching as well as the texture of my feet. You eliminate a lot of issues when you take time to care for your feet. I can attest to that for sure.

In the future, I plan on adding a pedicure to my monthly schedule (and budget). Basic pedicure packages run anywhere from $20 to $25 with more time and more services adding to the costs from there. I plan to add both the exfoliating scrub and reflexology massage myself.

Make an appointment. Even though many salons take walk-in clients, you don’t want to have to wait all day for a 30-minute appointment. Also, plan to bring cash for a tip. Some spots allow you to Cash App or Venmo your nail tech, but cash is still the king of tips.

See you on the fairway and keep swinging!

When Fitness Friday is a Flop

Some days work out better than others. That’s just a fact.

RevBGolf

Fitness Fridays Require Focus (Even After They Fail & Flop)

I try to spend my Fridays with a focus on fitness. Like I shared previously, fitness for the fairway makes a huge difference in your game. Strength training, nutrition and some yoga or basic stretching can help make a difference in your scorecard.

Some Fridays that doesn’t happen. It just doesn’t work out.

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Flop Shots and Inconsistency

It goes sort of like that flop shot that every golfer seems to flip out about mastering. As much as golf pros and swing coaches might suggest ditching the lob wedge in lieu of a gap wedge or alt wedge, it still sits in the bag. We still try to force ourselves to emulate or rather imitate what we see Lefty pull off from the fringe. We consider it working on our short game and fight to master a flop with finesse.

I have yet to see it work out. Its infrequent and inconsistent success keeps me chipping with my other wedges and 9 iron more consistently rather than taking the risk of yips taking over as I overthink what should be a simple and routine shot. I would rather face a shot with consistency and confidence. I would even putt it from the fringe if the lie is right and I can see the possibility of getting a good line at the hole. That beats out the possibility and potential of a flop from the fringe every time.

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Focus on Fixing What You Can Fix

So, when it comes to my Fitness Fridays, I sometimes lose focus or even miss the opportunity. I make the mistake of not getting in enough protein. I skip a meal or commit some other fitness cardinal sin. It turns out like that flop shot.

When your fitness focus flops, be sure to set up a comeback. Do not beat yourself up too much. You just need to refocus and get back at it to get back on track.

Comeback Commitment

Talk yourself out of doubt. Your self-talk will make a difference in your success.
Spend some time making a commitment to your fitness and nutrition regimen.
Set some simple and attainable goals. Think SMART goals.
Work on working in some makeup days in your weekly routine.
Meal plan and meal prep ahead of time, not the morning of or on the fly.
Keep a journal or diary of your fitness journey. Include workouts and meals, even results from weigh-ins.
Get an accountability partner to keep you honest and supported.

Your success is about long term results. Such success is achieved through commitment and consistency. You can change the course of your own success by making some changes along the way.

Think about it. Your golf round is not summed up by your worst par 3 hole. It is the culmination of all 18 holes. Approach your fitness plan the same way.

I want to make my Fitness Fridays more successful. I want to see a change in my strength and shape, even my weight. I cannot achieve it if I stay in the dumps about what one day that did not work out. I have more to achieve and I need to spend some time making sure that I focus on how to fix it when it flops.

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Now that flop shot? I think I will spend some time working on it here and there, but I doubt if it ever becomes one of my go-to shots that I would rely on in pinch. I will treat it like the days when my fitness focus does not work out. I will simply take a step back analyze what worked and what didn’t work, and then I will shove that lob wedge back in my bag and take a sure shot that I feel more confident about each round.

Fitness Fixes to the Fairway

I need to lose weight.

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If I am going to break 90 consistently, dropping pounds and improving strength and stamina are definitely necessities. Otherwise, my golf game will be so inconsistent it will become unpredictable.

I started a regular fitness regimen a few years ago and it has been beneficial. I walk. I run and jog. I play hoops. I lift weights. I hit up the cardio classes at 24 Hour Fitness on the weekends. And I need to keep losing weight and building up my strength and stamina.

It helps with my overall health and wellness.

It also helps with my golf game.

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Some time back, I found it difficult to walk a par 3 18-hole course. Heck, I could hardly handle a 9-hole with over 6 clubs in my bag at that time. It was all about a cart or no deal.

Nowadays I can walk that 18 hole par 3 course. I prefer mornings myself. There is something about that fresh cut grass smell in the air and the frost coming off the greens to make them slightly slick in the right (and wrong) places. It also serves as a major step count boost, especially if you get 18 holes out of the way early in the day.

My fitness level improves my ability to have a strong game.

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Consider the following items to fix your fitness for the fairway:

Nutrition: Check out your diet; what you take in day by day, meal after meal. Track meals and manage your diet based on your weight and other health goals.
Exercise: Get moving daily. Get those step in day after day. Join a run club or a fitness center. Walk at the local park. Just get up and get motivated to get moving. The heaviest thing you lift should not be your golf bag.
Rest: I used to not give this any credit, sleeping 4 to 5 hours per night and wondering why my immune system would shut down on me every so often. Duh!! I average 6.5 to 7 hours now. I even cut off my snacking after 9 PM due to how it disrupted my sleep. Like the commercial says: never underestimate a good night’s rest.
Stress Reduction: If you do not reduce your stress level soon, you will create a load of problems for yourself further down the road. Stress disrupts your entire system. Major and chronic illness is called disease. In other words, your body system is NOT at ease. From blood pressure and heart disease to anxiety and panic attacks, stress is a killer. At the least, stress can kill a great foursome and a good round of golf. Just ask your playing partners.

Make the most of your opportunities to stay fit. Fix what you need to fix to get fit for the fairway. It will show on your scorecard. Your body will definitely thank you for it.