Weekly column by fitness expert Cashel Hayden for the Waterford News & Star, in association with Kingfisher Fitness Club

YES, that’s right, you heard me; just three things you can implement into your life right now that will ensure you are on the path to living a healthier, more abundant life!

In the world today; It seems harder and harder to know what exactly it is that we could be doing to get healthier when starting out to look to improve our quality of life. This has become a slightly overwhelming task due to the vast amounts of information out there. Below I will list three things we can start off doing daily to improve our health and wellbeing.

‘Making the decision to set aside a minimum of 15 minutes daily to read a book is a game changer’

A daily step target

This is one of the most under-rated forms of sustainable cardio we can be implementing into our lives daily. The benefits of a step count are due to the physical and cardiovascular output required; this is said to help conditions such as high blood pressure, heart disease and has also been linked to weight loss and improving our mood. So you’re probably now wondering – what exactly is this step target and where do I start?

This step target refers to the amount of steps we take each day and is usually tracked by our phone and often linked with any fitness trackers we may be wearing; i.e. fit bit, apple watch, etc. Setting ourselves a daily target of steps which we can sustain long term is quite manageable for even the least experienced in fitness. Research points towards a daily step count of 10,000 steps (which equates to approximately 8km) being the magic number when it comes to reaching the required activity level and its benefits among most of the general population.

This number can be broken down into smaller walks throughout your day and can be blended with the steps acquired as you complete any other daily tasks. Recording our steps on our phone and/or fitness tracker while making a conscious effort to hit our goal each day is really how simple this is. Putting time aside each day to go for a brisk walk to achieve a portion of your daily step target will soon be an easy habit to maintain once you get started!

Hydration

This is probably something we all fall down on (including myself!). Recognizing the importance of hydration on our health and wellbeing and the recommendations assigned by the World Health Organisation (WHO) for each individual – as each individual will likely have different requirements when it comes to remaining appropriately hydrated throughout the day.

Hydration is often overlooked despite its influence over people looking to both lose weight and build muscle. Unfortunately it seems optimising hydration is only associated with high intensity sports that require prolonged durations of endurance – which, put simply, is not the case. Hydration also plays a key role in our digestion and recovery as it helps to prevent constipation, flush toxins from our body, transport nutrients, and regulate body temperature, just to name a few.

The current guidelines from the World Health Organisation cite that an adult male (70kg) should aim to consume approximately 2.5 litres of water daily, while an adult female (58kg) should aim to consume roughly 2.2 litres of water daily. These, however, are basic guidelines and should be adjusted to suit the given individual’s body weight and activity status/lifestyle. Setting ourselves a daily water intake is a simple and effective approach we can implement immediately to improve our health and wellbeing.

Read daily

My third point of today’s article is a simple yet effective one. This concept is orientated towards our mindset and wellbeing/quality of life. Making the decision to set aside a minimum of 15 minutes daily to read a book is a game changer in my experience. This book can be of any genre of interest. This helps us to take time away from our busy schedules while broadening our minds. It is during this time that we allow ourselves some time to switch off and even learn something new – which should be on everyone’s “To do list” should they seek fulfilment in their life. Start with a 15-minute period set aside each day, this is a great place to start and build this up where needed.

The points I have listed above are just three of the many little things we can do to live healthier and acquire a better quality of life. I will aim to add more to this list in future articles.

I hope someone found some of this information useful, just some food for thought.

For any questions in relation to this topic or training, nutrition, etc. or for coaching inquiries simply message me on my business page on instagram @coachedbycashel_ or by email – [email protected]