The Three Pillars Of Fitness That Also Guide Your Life Journey

Summary

In this insightful video, David discusses the three pillars of Fitness: cognitive, physical, and emotional. He emphasizes the importance of having a well-thought-out plan that accounts for life's unpredictability, understanding one's strengths and weaknesses, and exercising for the right reasons to maintain a positive emotional state. By integrating these pillars, individuals can build resilience, improve their overall well-being, and better navigate life's challenges.

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Q & A

What are the three pillars of fitness mentioned in the video?

The three pillars of fitness are cognitive, physical, and emotional.

How does the host of the video handle his own stress and uncertainties?

The host handles his stress and uncertainties by doing a lot of thinking, working on himself, internalizing his imperfections and insecurities, and using exercise as a tool to improve his life, cognition, and emotional balance.

What is the importance of having a backup plan in the cognitive aspect of fitness?

Having a backup plan is important because it accounts for days when the primary plan fails due to unexpected events or emotional drains. It helps maintain a sense of control and reduces stress levels, contributing to better overall fitness and life management.

What should be considered when planning a physical exercise routine?

When planning a physical exercise routine, one should consider their strengths and weaknesses, recovery time, sufficient sleep, nutrition, and hydration. The routine should challenge but not crush the individual, and should be designed to avoid a sense of failure.

How does the emotional pillar of fitness contribute to overall well-being?

The emotional pillar of fitness contributes to overall well-being by ensuring that individuals feel good about their exercise routines and have positive emotions associated with their fitness journey. This helps in building motivation, maintaining discipline, and enhancing mental clarity and confidence.

What is the concept of 'margin' in the context of fitness and life challenges?

In the context of fitness and life challenges, 'margin' refers to the headspace, emotional space, and physical space one has to deal with the unexpected, such as illness, crisis, or stress. Building margin allows individuals to face challenges without being completely derailed, enhancing their resilience and ability to cope.

Why is it important to plan not just for the week, but also for a month or even a year in the cognitive pillar of fitness?

Planning for a longer term allows for a more structured and sustainable fitness regime. It helps in setting clear goals, preparing for potential obstacles, and maintaining a sense of control and direction in one's fitness journey, contributing to better adherence and success.

How can understanding one's motivations and feelings enhance their fitness regime?

Understanding one's motivations and feelings helps in tailoring the fitness regime to align with personal values and goals. It aids in identifying activities that induce positive emotions and satisfaction, thereby increasing the likelihood of long-term commitment and success in fitness endeavors.

What are 'exercise snacks' or micro-workouts as mentioned in the video?

'Exercise snacks' or micro-workouts are short, mini exercises that take only 30 seconds to a maximum of 1 minute to perform. They serve as a backup when the main workout plan cannot be followed, helping to maintain a sense of control and reduce stress.

How does the host suggest dealing with the stress of a messy divorce or similar life challenges?

The host suggests dealing with such stress by building margin in one's life through the three pillars of fitness. This involves planning ahead, understanding one's physical and emotional limits, and ensuring a sense of control even when external factors are chaotic. The aim is to maintain functionality and not let the stress derail one's fitness and life goals.

Outlines

00:00

🤸‍♂️ Introduction to the Three Pillars of Fitness

The video begins with the host, David, expressing gratitude for viewers joining the discussion on fitness, world, and self-care. He mentions that the topic arises from a conversation with a friend undergoing a stressful divorce, which has negatively impacted his fitness routine. David acknowledges that despite his seemingly well-balanced life, he too faces daily challenges and uncertainties. He emphasizes that fitness is not just about physical exercise but also involves cognitive and emotional aspects. David introduces the three pillars of fitness: cognitive, physical, and emotional, and promises to delve into each one to help viewers improve their overall well-being.

05:02

📝 The Cognitive Pillar: Planning and Adaptability

David discusses the first pillar of fitness, the cognitive aspect, which revolves around having a plan for exercise and understanding what to do. He stresses the importance of having a schedule and being prepared for when the plan fails. David shares his personal experience of training daily but having backup plans for unexpected situations. He introduces the concept of 'exercise snacks' or micro-workouts for those times when even the backup plan is not feasible. The cognitive pillar is about maintaining a sense of control, reducing stress, and ensuring that external chaos does not lead to a loss of personal control, thereby contributing to emotional stability.

10:02

💪 The Physical Pillar: Knowing Your Limits

The second pillar, the physical aspect, is about understanding one's strengths and weaknesses and planning exercise routines accordingly. David advises against being overly ambitious, especially for beginners, as it can lead to failure and a negative self-image. He emphasizes the importance of active recovery, sufficient sleep, proper nutrition, and hydration as part of a physical fitness regime. The goal is to avoid feeling overwhelmed and to ensure that exercise contributes to a positive self-perception rather than fostering feelings of worthlessness.

😌 The Emotional Pillar: Feeling Good About Your Fitness Journey

The final pillar, the emotional aspect, focuses on feeling good about exercise both during and after the activity. David explains that exercising for the right reasons, such as empowerment, confidence, and long-term health, is crucial. He warns against the pitfalls of feeling exhausted and demoralized after workouts, which can lead to a lack of motivation. By understanding what feels good and what feels bad, individuals can tailor their fitness routines to promote positive emotions. David concludes by highlighting the importance of building 'margin'—extra space for dealing with unexpected challenges. With a solid foundation in cognitive, physical, and emotional fitness, individuals are better equipped to handle crises and stress without being derailed from their fitness and life goals.

Keywords

💡Derby

In the context of the video, 'Derby' is likely a title or theme for the series of videos hosted by David. It sets the stage for the discussion that follows, which is centered around fitness, self-care, and personal challenges.

💡Worldbe

The term 'Worldbe' is not clearly defined within the script, but it seems to be part of the title or theme for the video series. It could be a play on words or a unique term created by the host to represent a global perspective or a holistic approach to the topics discussed.

💡Fitness

Fitness, as discussed in the video, encompasses not just physical health but also cognitive and emotional well-being. It is presented as having three pillars: cognitive, physical, and emotional, all of which contribute to a holistic approach to health and life improvement.

💡Cognitive

In the context of the video, 'cognitive' refers to the mental aspect of fitness, which includes planning, understanding what to do, and having a schedule or backup plans for fitness routines. It's about having mental clarity and control even when life gets stressful.

💡Physical

The 'physical' pillar of fitness, as described in the video, pertains to the actual exercise and activity involved in maintaining health. It involves understanding one's strengths and weaknesses and planning workouts accordingly to avoid failure and promote a healthy, adaptive response to stress.

💡Emotional

The 'emotional' pillar of fitness refers to the feelings and attitudes one has towards their fitness journey. It's about feeling good about the activities one engages in and maintaining a positive outlook, which contributes to overall mental health and motivation.

💡Stress

In the video, 'stress' is portrayed as an inevitable part of life that can negatively impact fitness and overall well-being. However, it's also mentioned that a certain level of stress, such as from exercise, can be beneficial for triggering adaptations and improvements in health.

💡Self-care

Self-care, as discussed in the video, involves taking actions to preserve or improve one's own health, particularly in response to stress. It includes physical exercise, cognitive planning, and emotional regulation to maintain a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

💡Margin

In the context of the video, 'margin' refers to the mental, emotional, and physical space one creates to handle unexpected challenges or crises. It's about having the resilience and flexibility to cope with life's difficulties without being completely derailed.

💡Adaptations

Adaptations, in the context of the video, are the changes or improvements that the body undergoes in response to stressors like exercise. These adaptations lead to increased strength, health, and fitness over time.

Highlights

The three pillars of Fitness are cognitive, physical, and emotional.

Cognitive fitness involves knowing what to do and planning ahead, including having contingencies for when the plan fails.

Physical fitness requires understanding your strengths and weaknesses and planning your exercise routine accordingly.

Emotional fitness is about feeling good about your exercise routine and exercising for the right reasons.

Exercise should not make you feel like a failure but should challenge you without crushing you.

Having a backup plan for exercise helps maintain a sense of control, reducing stress levels.

Margin, or extra space to deal with the unexpected, is crucial for maintaining fitness and life balance.

Stress can blindside you and affect your fitness, as it did for the friend going through a messy divorce.

Even with a perfect balance, everyone has their own share of problems and insecurities.

Exercise is a tool to improve life, cognition, and emotional balance.

A good fitness plan should include active recovery times and sufficient sleep.

Nutrition and hydration are essential components of a physical fitness regime.

Avoiding negative self-talk and maintaining a positive outlook is key to emotional fitness.

Having a clear plan and understanding your motivations can help you navigate difficult life events.

By building cognitive clarity and emotional stability through fitness, you can better handle life's challenges.

Fitness is not just about physical activity; it's a holistic approach to a better life journey.

Transcripts

thank you for joining me in this Derby

worldbe and self-care video I'm David

your host and today I'm going to talk

about the three pillars of

Fitness a lot of the subjects which we

talk about come from suggestions from uh

the comments that you make on YouTube

and from the emails that we receive but

this particular one came from a

discussion ahead with a friend U very

recently and he is undergoing through a

very stressful um part of his life right

now because he's going through a very

messy divorce there are kids involved

he's really stressed out it has

blindsided him he wasn't really

expecting this to happen

obviously and um his Fitness has

suffered as a result his weight has

ballooned a little bit because he's not

eating properly and he's not sleeping

very well and he's not

exercising trying to advise him trying

to suggest a few things he can do he

basically said to me well it's easy for

you to say that David because your life

is so well put together you don't have a

problem in the world and and that made

me think because although I present this

image of being always in control I have

my own share of um problems in my life I

have my own stresses every day I have my

own uncertainties about who I am and

what I do which I have to deal with and

as I age these things don't actually get

any

easier so although I appear to have that

kind of Perfect Balance it's anything

bad

and the way I deal with things the way I

have managed to put things together has

come from a lot of thinking which I've

done with myself a lot of work which

I've done on myself a lot of

internalizing of my own imperfections

and insecurities and then thinking how I

can use exercise which which for me has

always been a tool in order to make my

life better in order to make my uh

cognition better in order to improve my

emotional balance and that's what I'm

going to talk about today essentially

Fitness has three elements three pillars

if you like the first one is cognitive

the second one is physical and the third

one is emotional and I'm going to talk

about each one in detail now so that you

can understand them better and actually

see how you can use this knowledge in

yourself in order to improve not just

what you do physically in terms of

getting fitter but also how you feel

about what you do so emotionally get

more stable how you think about what you

do so you Ain the kind of mental Clarity

that allows you to have not just a

better fitness journey but a better life

Journey now the three pillars of

Fitness are cognitive and by cognitive

it comes down to knowing what to do so

if uh you're you're planning to get fit

if you're planning to exercise knowing

what to do in advance having some kind

of plan having some kind of schedule

laid out where you exercise one 1 2 3 4

5 days a week or whatever it is you're

actually doing is actually in place and

it is important within that kind of

plan to make sure that you take into

account the fact that you're exercising

but you also have other things going on

in in your life which are going to drain

a little bit of your time they're going

to drain a little bit of your emotional

resources they're going to cognitively

um tie you down because you're dealing

with issues in your head and all those

things will have a repercussion in what

you're doing in your physical life in

your fitness plan so if you have a

plan it needs to have a backup for the

days or the times when that plan fails

and if you have a backup then need to

have a backup on the backup because

sometimes things get so difficult that

even the backup can't work and I'm going

to give you an example here I usually

train about an hour a day every single

day of the week but there are days of

the week when I just can't because I

have to deal with things which I wasn't

expecting perhaps something in my work

life hasn't gone right and that's going

to absorb a lot more time and effort to

straighten out or you know sometimes in

my emotional World things are not right

and I'm not feeling it and things B and

I have sort of stresses to deal with and

I don't have time to exercise because

things have spun out of control a little

bit for those days I have a backup I

will do five or 10 minute exercise slot

and I know what to do in those backup

moments but even if I haven't got those

5 minutes I have a backup on my backup

by putting in place uh exercise snacks

which are mini exercises micro workouts

which will take me 30 seconds or 1

minute Max and by doing that what I

essentially do is not replacing my

workout obviously that's lost but I am

replacing my sense of control I am

telling myself thought okay things have

G not according to plan things are

spinning a little bit out out of control

from my planned schedule but that

doesn't mean that I'm living in a

chaotic environment in which I have zero

control and by gaining that control back

what I'm doing internally is I'm

reducing my stress levels I'm bringing

down I'm reducing the toxicity that that

kind of stress um uh sort of produces

inside us and that allows my organs my

internal organs and that includes my

brain to function better but it also

allows me to feel that I can still guide

my life when the external world is doing

its best to rest that control away from

me and that allows me to be emotionally

more stable because I don't feel as

anxious I don't feel any as as sort of

in a sense of panic

and that gives me that kind of um

control that I need in order to navigate

those difficult parts of my life or

those difficult parts of my day so

essentially when you are putting your

cognitive element in place when you're

saying you know I'm going to exercise

Monday to Friday this is what I'm going

to do each day you need to take into

account the fact that things are not

always going to be perfect and you need

to have contingencies and con

contingencies on your contingencies for

those days and this is really really

important I know it sounds a little bit

like we're over planning but like I gave

you the example it allows you to have

control to feel that you're in the

driving seat when everything else around

you uh seems determined to tell you the

exact

opposite the second element the second

pillar to Fitness is physical and that's

actually the thing which we do now

exercise is a stressor in itself we need

that stressor because it basically um

triggers the adaptations necessary for

us to become stronger and healthier and

um sort of fitter

overall but because it's a

stressor you need when you plan what to

do to know yourself what your strengths

are and what your weaknesses are and how

you're going to basically compensate for

each one in your exercise plan if you

are overly ambitious if for example

you've never done weights in your life

and suddenly you put in place a plan

where you're going to exercise four days

a week and you're going to do a lot of

Weights during those times well you are

basically setting yourself up to fail

because you have failed to take into

account that you may on a particular day

not have recovered enough to do what you

want to do you may on that particular

day not be able to do what you want to

do because you don't have sufficent time

or sufficient energy because something

else has happened in your life and that

then generates a sense of failure and

the moment we start feeling about

ourselves as a failure that toxic

internal dialogue will also good that

kicks in and the moment it kicks in all

we do because we know ourselves

intimately we know our Witnesses

intimately what we do is tell ourselves

how bad we are how bad we are planning

how bad we are disciplined how bad we

are at sticking with things how we're

not really worth anything as much as we

think we are and how delusional we are

that when we think that we can basically

do all this um without sort of um

stopping or dropping

it avoid all of

that make sure when you plan what to do

that you're working on your strengths

you're doing things which are helping

you feel that you're getting better you

can do things which challenge you by all

means but make sure that those

challenging things are not there to

crush you this is not what exercise is

it's not there to make you feel like

you're not worth anything it's not there

to make you feel that you don't deserve

to feel great about yourself so plan

wisely your exercise routine pick things

which challenge you by all means but

make sure you have active recovery times

in that make sure that you have

sufficient sleep for that because this

is basic self-care make sure that you

nutrition is okay because this is part

of your physical fitness uh regime make

sure that you hydrate properly make sure

you don't drink too much if you're

drinking make sure you don't smoke if

you are smoking and you shouldn't really

be doing any of those things but I'm not

here to preach this is your life you're

the one who's making those choices so

make sure that you're reducing the

stresses which you add to the additional

stress of exercise so that's your

physical pillar and finally we get to

the emotional pillar the final pillar of

Fitness emotionally we need to feel good

about what we do we need to feel good

about the things which we uh force

ourselves to go through when we exercise

and then we need to feel good afterwards

and we can only feel good about these

things if we're exercising for the right

reasons and you need to work out those

reasons for yourself if we

are feeling the right things when we

exercise if we are trying to basically

create that larger picture with a really

big goals which allow us to have great

life great longevity great health as we

age great

capability feel more empowered feel more

confident these are all feelings these

are all emotions and you need to build

those emotions in your Fitness regime if

you exercise for instance and you're so

tired from exercise and life itself that

at the end of your workout you're

utterly exhausted and all you can do is

crawl to

bed well I can guarantee you that you

will not be doing it for much longer

it's too difficult it makes you feel bad

anything which makes us feel bad

accumulates in our brain and demotivates

us this is the way we're actually

designed so avoid that by being smart do

things which make you feel

good work on yourself to understand what

it is that makes you feel good work on

yourself to understand why some things

make you feel

bad if you do all this if you have your

cognitive um pillar in place by planning

your exercise regime not just in the

week but perhaps in a month and maybe

even in the

year if you have your physical plan in

place so you know what to do each day

you don't have to work it out on the

spot you don't have to sit back and work

out what you're going to do before your

workout even begins because because if

you're doing that it's already tiring

you're tiring yourself out already

trying to work out what it is that

you're going to do you're trying to

calculate how much energy you have now

and you know if you're doing it at the

end of the day you're already tired and

it's exhausting you before you even

start

it and work on your emotional pillar

work on your emotions understand who you

are understand what it is that motivates

you understand what it is that makes you

feel good and seek it out understand

what it is that makes you feel B and try

to avoid it if you put those three

things in place in your Fitness life

well Fitness becomes easier for a start

but you also become emotionally more

stable you become better able to

regulate your emotions when things get

crazy you become better at dealing with

things dealing with stresses dealing

with a crisis because cognitively you

have clearer thinking essentially by

putting those three pillars in place

what we're doing is building margin and

margin is the uh head space and the

emotional space and even the physical

space we have to deal with the

unexpected to deal with an illness to

deal with a crisis to deal with a

massive stress in our life like a

divorce for instance like my friend and

when we have margin sure what we're

facing is going to challenge us for sure

it's going to challenge anybody we're

all human and we all get challenged by

these things but it shouldn't derail us

to the point that we can't

function and the only way to get to that

kind of physical cognitive and emotional

strength is to build it beforehand so

essentially by feeling good about what

we do feeling empowered feeling

confident feeling capable learning to

think clearly because we are making

better decisions each day because we're

not as stressed by life itself because

our fitness and our planning are allow

us to

d-stress then we have the margin

necessary when we do face a crisis when

we do face um an emotional or physical

or even a cognitive challenge to deal

with it more

successfully I sincerely hope this has

helped I hope it makes you think a

little bit deeper about what you're

doing in terms of your Fitness I'm going

to link to some more um resources in the

resource books on YouTube so please

check it out please let me know the

comments below how you found this if

it's helpful and what you do with it

take care of yourselves stay safe out

there