I think sometimes we feel like something has to be hard to be valuable. I’m just not convinced that this is accurate, in fact, I’m almost certain that it is not. So I thought, I’m going to make a quick list of things that almost anyone can do that will dramatically improve their quality of life, and accelerate their training goals.

So here are five things that you can do that are really easy that will make a huge impact on your outcomes.

1. Get enough sleep. Clean up your sleep hygiene, and sleep more. For most of us, if we leave our devices outside the bedroom and hop into it with at least 8 hours until we wake up, then we will discover a whole new world. Sleep is the most underrated performance enhancer on the face of the planet (as I write this, I have a hunch that I’m going to need to heed my own advice on a few of these!).

Sleep is the most underrated performance enhancer on the face of the planet

2. Have a daily training habit. Try and do something that feels good every day. The low hanging fruit here is probably leaving your phone at home and going for a half-hour walk, but you could easily do something a little more focused like performing Original Strength Resets, or swimming some laps, but some easy daily work will make a world of difference to your wellbeing long term. Tim Anderson suggested that even 21 cross crawls daily would be an adequate shift, it adds up to a paltry 7665 cross crawls a year. That has to change something right?

3. Drink water. Try and grab a small drink of water every hour or so. If you had a tiny cup of water each hour, you’d easily clear 2L, and would keep your system moving and feeling great. I have nothing to back it up, but I’ve been wondering whether having water spread out through the day might provide superior outcomes to water in a rush. I think it would sit in our system longer and be absorbed better, but I haven’t yet done any research on this, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt (not the water, that might be counterproductive).

4. Hang, Squat and Carry. I’d love to see people spending more time with their arms overhead holding onto things. Whether that’s going to a park and playing on the jungle gym or flying fox, or holding on to your stairs with your feet still on the ground, I’m confident that if people were to spend 3 minutes every day doing this deliberately their shoulders would feel happier for it.

Alongside this, finding ways to sit with your hips as flexed as is comfortable would be really valuable as well. I’ve advocated to my wife that we should get a squat toilet a few times, which has been swiftly declined, but that would be the low hanging fruit in my opinion... That said, finding some way to spend 3 minutes comfortably in a rock bottom type position squat will do wonderful things for hips and knees. Maybe you’ll have to hang on to something or find a slope, or do it in heaps of small chunks, but this is a very worthwhile activity - If you can focus on breathing diaphragmatically at the same time, that will make it even more valuable again!

The final thing in this trio is carrying stuff. There’s something about farm work, that makes people really strong and connected. There’s a lot to be said for putting something in a backpack and going for a walk, or carrying something like a shopping bag in your hand while you walk tall, or even hugging something while you wander in your yard, doing three minutes of this every day can’t help but make a huge difference to your quality of movement and life!

Take five and improve your mental health by appreciating the incredible world in which we live.

5. Stop and smell the roses. This final one is the simplest to do but is super counter-cultural. Just go outside, breath deeply and enjoy the world around you for a little while. Try and just enjoy wherever you are for 5-10 minutes without an agenda. Listen to the breeze, watch the trees, smell the flowers, feel the ground underfoot. Take five and improve your mental health by appreciating the incredible world in which we live. It almost doesn’t matter where you find yourself, there are beautiful birds, interesting insects, and entrancing trees that you can enjoy. Taking some time to do this can’t help but take you to a better place (and probably make you more productive when you return to work as well!).

What do you think? Can these things help you? Are they achievable? Even though you easily try and do all five, I’d love you to try even one for a few weeks and let me know if it makes any difference at all. In fact, if you could flick me an email with what you’re trying, then I can follow you up in three weeks and see how you’re going!

We value people’s ability to move well for a long time to come. If this sounds like something you’re interested in, come along to our next beginner workshop to check it out or contact us to find out how you can get started with kettlebell training at Queensland Kettlebells.

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