Growing up, I was always active. I was playing sports every Friday afternoon through school, and on the weekend was a part of a junior soccer, then rugby league club.
I was so attached to these sports, that they basically became my identity. I was lucky as a kid/teenager to have great health and could stay fit, playing every week.
But as I got older, exercise became less of a priority in my life - and my body seemed to be okay with that.
Now a father of two young children as of late 2021, my kids are beginning to test how well I can keep up. It frightened me to realise that I couldn't run a few metres without breaking into a deep pant. A few minutes of exercise would force me to sit down and focus on catching my breath, or as I say to my kids - take a little break from having too much fun.
So earlier this year, I decided to do something about my overall fitness. I joined a gym for the first time in years, and have been a 3 to 4 day regular. Mostly cardio of course, but I have been committing a few sessions across the month to rebuild my strength as well.
I know it's a cliche to say, be I feel so incredibly better. Not just physically, but a wake up looking forward to my days as well, including going the gym itself. The kids love that I now take them to new places to play like the park and to the beach.
With the increased exercise, the next problem I had was the aches and pains. They weren't awful, but were definitely holding me back from feeling my best. So in the last two weeks, I've been following up my gym session with a sauna. It's an absolute game changer, I feel amazing after every session. I've been doing ice baths too, but I may need to build up a bit of courage before stepping into those!
The takeaway from this, is if you're feeling like you're at a point in your life where your physical health, and as a result your mental health is beginning to slip - despite having a happy homelife, do whatever you can to keep away from the couch and instead be active!
I'm looking forward to sharing this advice with my kids in the future, but for now, I hope it helps someone else.
