Have you really thought about why you like or don’t like to exercise or keep physically fit? Do you start every New Year with the intention to get in the gym, get fit and lose weight and not manage to achieve or sustain these goals? Are you envious of your friends who love going out to run or enjoy their yoga class or boot camp session?
I believe there is at least one type of physical activity everyone can find which will not only improve their physical and mental well-being, but that they will love doing too, and not just for 2 or 3 weeks in January each year but throughout their lifetimes! Executive Science’s coaching and fitness programmes are designed to transform an individual’s ideas about exercise from being perceived as a chore to something which they love doing and provides energy and fuel to enjoy a happy and healthy life. These ideas are core to our philosophy and our physical fitness coaching programme.
The meaning of exercise has been embedded in us from a very early age. As children, we most probably spent a lot of our time running around and wanting to move. We then move into our teenage years where, for some of us, the exercise would not have been as appealing. Others may have been actively involved in sports clubs and other competitive activities. Some of our families will have been more active than others and some of us will have had access to facilities more easily than others. We may have enjoyed these pursuits or have found them to be a chore and made to do them by parents or teachers etc.
Then we become adults and we move into having a choice as to whether to partake in physical activity or not, as part of our busy working lives. Some of us continue to enjoy them, others partake in a more sporadic fashion and some of us do little by way of physical activity. As we get older, we experience different challenges such as busy careers, family commitments and health concerns perhaps related to ageing which affect our motivation to move. Our reasons for choosing which ways to move are influenced by social, environmental, and cultural factors such as our upbringing, social media, the infrastructure around us and the plethora of information available from the fitness and wellness industry about losing weight, getting into shape, and leading healthier lifestyles.
Our work is influenced by the research of Dr Michelle Segar, motivational and behavioural sustainability scientist at the University of Michigan. Michelle’s ground-breaking work focuses on implementing sustainable behaviour change and transforming the way we think about exercise. Grounded in scientific evidence based theory, her philosophy seeks to move away from the idea of exercise being a chore aimed at losing weight, getting in to shape or for more health related reasons, where most of us are trapped in a vicious cycle of failure; to physical movement and exercise actually becoming something we love and want to do which then produces the essential energy we need to navigate through our busy lives and moving us in to a positive cycle of success.
Scientific research tells us that sedentary lifestyles are more concerning for our long-term health than smoking. Becoming physically fitter is not necessarily about having to work out for hours in the gym, it is about incorporating more movement into our lifestyles and not necessarily in one go, but throughout our day, whether that be walking upstairs instead of taking the lift in the office or walking a stop further when you get off the bus.
Our programmes work with individuals and businesses through either one-to-one coaching programmes, (incorporating exercise programmes if necessary) or via consultations or training programmes provided to businesses to bring about long-lasting change leading to motivated and empowered individuals. As a result of following our programmes, individuals will have more energy, greater stamina, enhanced creativity, improved efficiency, enhanced mood, sustained levels of concentration, stronger immune systems, improved sleep, and generally be happier and more balanced and rounded employees!
