Work/life balance
Hi everyone, its Andrew here, writing my first blog for a while! Today I wanted to write a more personal piece about the importance of maintaining a work/exercise/life balance. That term is of course a little bit cliché and what that balance looks like will be very different for every individual person. Kerstine and I are both huge advocates for the use of exercise to benefit both physical and mental health and again, the type and role of exercise will differ hugely between individuals.
We have both seen plenty of people in clinic who have become so tied up with work or other important life responsibilities that they have lost their relationship with exercise and now feel unable to re-establish that, whether that be down to a lack of confidence and motivation or chronic pain. This is where balance becomes critically important. It is not realistic to set yourself expectations of completing large amounts of high intensity exercise every day if you are starting from a position of doing next to nothing. Equally, not everyone feels at home in the gym and that is absolutely fine! There are so many different ways to engage in physical activity, both at home on your own or out in the community with other people and every person enjoys different things, so it is really important not to form your relationship with exercise based on what other people’s look like.
From a personal point of view, I currently juggle working across three workplaces which presents different challenges on a weekly basis and can often end up taking up a lot of my time. Additionally, my favourite form of exercise throughout my entire life has been to play football, which I have not been able to do for an extended period following my own ankle injury in November of last year. As a result, I would be the first to admit that my own relationship with exercise has not been great this year, even as someone who works encouraging others to exercise! But in recent weeks I have tried to ensure I make time to do something, on most days. For me that can be a long walk, a session in the gym, some time out hitting golf balls on the range or dedicating some time to my late stage ankle rehab. By varying my activities and listening to my body, I have started to reap the physical and mental benefits of exercise and I am now feeling a much better version of myself. But not every week is the same and it is absolutely okay to have a few days where you feel as if you do very little, just try to be active when you can and you will feel the benefit.
The closing message of this blog is to do your best to find time in your life to dedicate to exercise. If possible, try to find forms of exercise which you enjoy, as this naturally makes it more fun and means you will be more likely to keep doing it. If you find ways to maintain this balance of activity with work and time to relax, you will give yourself the best chance of feeling your best, as often as you can.
If you would like some advice on how to become more physically active, or have been suffering with an injury which you feel is holding you back from being as active as you would like to be, please do book in or get in touch as both Kerstine and I would be really keen to help you to get more active! We have great links with lots of local PTs, leisure centers, gym facilities, local groups and classes.