10 Lifestyle Factors Affecting Your Fitness Results

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Training is like a Jenga tower: when stabilising blocks are removed or strained, the structural integrity becomes compromised. You must play strategically to ensure your tower remains strong.

There is no one formula for a balanced life. There are many individual factors that contribute to our lifestyles which, in turn, affect our training. Being aware of what’s working with, and against you, is the first step to building a healthy, sustainable lifestyle.

If you’re not seeing the results you expected, here are some lifestyle factors that may be affecting your training:

JOB STRESS

While exercise is a great way to blow off steam after a tough day, prolonged, elevated stress levels can lead to injury and burnout. Stress also impacts our recovery time as it increases muscle tension and slows our tissue’s ability to repair itself. Persistent stress can wreak havoc on our motivation, especially when our recovery times lengthen and results plateau. High cortisol levels not only make losing weight harder but can increase cravings for sweet, fatty and salty foods.

Listen to your body and what it needs. If you need to substitute a high intensity workout for something more restorative, do it! Take care of yourself in the seemingly small ways to benefit yourself in the big ways.

SLEEP

A lack of solid sleep (7 to 9 hours per night) can not only make your workouts feel more physically strenuous, but can completely derail your motivation to train at all. Disrupted sleep also impacts recovery as your muscles don’t have the necessary time to repair themselves. When we sleep, our body releases key performance hormones and works to restore various systems, making it some of the most valuable time we can invest in our training.

FINDING BALANCE

Trying to find balance is particularly difficult when it comes to socialising, but monitoring alcohol and ‘specialty’ food consumption is key to not undoing all the hard work you’ve already put in. That being said, remember to enjoy life! Eat the foods you want and drink if you’d like to. Just keep in mind that if you let loose every weekend, the results you’re looking for won’t happen. Time management is the other big element to finding balance. Knowing your schedule and planning workouts around work, appointments and social events means you’re less likely to skip training due to double-booking.

DIET

As we’ve already discussed, the foods we consume impact our training outcomes. Diet and exercise are a feedback loop – when you eat well, you’re more motivated to move, and when you move, you’re more motivated to eat well. But be conscious not to use exercise as punishment to “work off” what you’re eating. Consuming nutritionally void food can also weaken your immune system and generally leave you feeling poorly and lethargic. A low-quality diet can lead to micronutrient deficiencies and increased inflammation within the body, which can make you more susceptible to injury.

Food is fuel. Without proper nutrition, our body does not receive what it needs to build muscle and drive physical progression. Eat well and care for your body, remembering that while exercise sustains our training, a healthy diet is what drives it.

FAMILY OBLIGATIONS

Obligations and expectations vary between race, religion and gender. A single person with no local family will have different time commitments than someone managing their children or caring for aging parents. Be present and maximise the time you do spend training so that you’re less likely to feel guilty or use training as punishment for missing a session due to unforeseen schedule changes. Be kind to yourself when navigating implicit and explicit obligations, and don’t compare yourself to what others can do. No matter your circumstances, you’re doing the best that you can, and that’s enough.

WORK CAPACITY

Work capacity is the total amount of ‘work’ you can perform, recover from and positively adapt to. Your lifestyle and career will create a baseline for your work capacity. For example, if you spend 8 to 10 hours a day performing a very physical job, your work capacity will be higher, and your training needs will be different than someone with a sedentary job. Exposure to higher training stimulus will increase your work capacity and translate into muscular development. Remember to be patient and not force a higher work capacity than you’re ready for as you’ll increase your risk of injury.

INJURY AND/OR ILLNESS

We all experience and manage different conditions or ailments, and there’s certainly not a one-size-fits all approach to training. Take your body’s requirements into consideration and train accordingly. Whether you’re rehabbing a short-term injury or battling a chronic illness, your training will undoubtedly be affected. It can be frustrating and demotivating but focus on what you can safely do right here and right now that is going to move you forward in a positive direction.

YOUR AGE

Training, recovery and performance are heavily impacted by our age. We physically peak somewhere between the ages of 20 and 35, and while there is no need to stop training as you get older, it’s important to understand that your body’s response to training will change. Eventually our maximum capacity of strength and power, alongside flexibility will decline, meaning we need to work harder to maintain them. We also need to factor in longer recovery times and pay more attention to our nutrition as we age.

YOUR DAILY SCHEDULE

The reality is that we’re not all professional athletes, so training often moves down the list of commitment priorities. There’s no doubt that the amount of time dedicated to training will impact the results. However, your mindset is equally important. Perhaps some days the best you can do is squeeze in a quick walk or even a 10-minute yoga flow or ab burner. Great! Some days you may not have time to train at all, and that’s ok too. On these days, maybe you take the stairs instead of the elevator or stretch at your desk when you can. It all adds up in the long run. On the days when training to full capacity just isn’t an option, consider what else can you do to support a healthier lifestyle.

YOUR CURRENT FITNESS LEVEL

Training programs are naturally going to vary in intensity. A beginner is going to require a different regime compared to someone who has been training for over a decade. If you over-commit when first starting out, you may overwhelm or injure yourself, or perhaps just give up entirely. Alternatively, if you’re not monitoring your training, you may become too comfortable and plateau out. Our current fitness level is constantly adapting, so make sure you adapt with it.

Lifestyle factors can make our ability to train more challenging. Consistent training brings significant mental and physical rewards, so in the tough times, lean on your community (or join ours!) and reap the benefits. On the hard days, remember that every little bit counts. Small changes in routine, when applied with consistency and conviction, can lead to big results.

While certain lifestyle factors cannot be wholly eliminated, having an awareness of how and where your time, energy and focus are being directed will ultimately benefit your training. Be kind to yourself and maximise the time you do spend training.

Your coach,
Michael

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