January 2023 - New Beginnings with Moore Associates Physiotherapy Ltd, Beeston, Nottingham.
The arrival of a New Year often prompts the question between friends & family:
"What are your New Year's Resolutions for 202x?"
I have been pondering this question for the past few days and have decided that a "resolution" suggests completed, resolved or somehow you have reconciled the year on Day 1 of 365!
I believe I have a better question to ask yourself every morning in 2023 and it is inspired from reading the stoics and reflecting on the work of Charles Duhigg...
"What small habit can I apply today, to improve myself tomorrow?"
Some examples from the physiotherapy perspective that I plan to publish weekly include taking opportunities to preserve your strength, improve athletic performance, obesity management, improve fitness and a myriad of other things I discover in 2023.
Let's start with this week's new habit (w/b Jan 2nd 2022) using the PRRACOB TM mnemonic I have created:
PROBLEM: " I have no upper body strength so I cannot do press-ups."
REFLECTION: "I cannot speak German because I do not make any effort to speak German."
Sounds ludicrous? You expect to acquire the skill of speaking a new language by prayer, PMA or other osmotic method? New skills, knowledge and attributes (KSA) are not going to arrive through the air by quintessence! You actually have to engage, commit and apply (ECA) yourself daily. Strength is one of the three S's (alongside stamina and suppleness) that figure in a fitness regimen. There are of course many attributes but let's keep it simple for week 1 of 2023.
Let me re-frame the new habit commitment and hammer home the point.
I hope you already have a habit, that takes 2 mins every morning and evening whereby you were repeatedly nagged, goaded and cajoled by loved ones to brush your teeth?
Good dental hygiene does NOT take 90 minutes, at a leisure facility, developing cramp in front of a mirror (your biceps do look fabulous though in that tight t-shirt)....and so, how can we start to develop upper body strength that can help you during jiu jitsu (technical stand-up for example), get off the floor if you fall, exit the swimming pool, or push that heavy coffee shop door open?
ACTION: "Whilst I wait for the kettle to boil, I will perform between 5-12 inclined press-ups on the work surface."
A press-up on the floor has been estimated to load the upper limbs with ~75% of your bodyweight and most of us agree (along with any of the Armed Forces of the planet) that feet and hands on the floor is the only way to do it. Do NOT do press-ups with knees on the floor - you're missing a bonus benefit when you dodge the full version **
OBJECTIVE: "By the end of January 2023, I will be able to perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions of press-ups on the kitchen worksurface as the kettle boils."
Now don't cheat and buy a rapid boil kettle and claim you ran out of time!
We do NOT need motivation to achieve our fitness goals in 2023.
Motivation is procrastination in disguise - tomorrow, later, maybe are all variations of "nope".
Your excuses are lies to yourself.
But you're not a liar are you?
Just commit.
Freedom from weakness demands a new daily habit.
Press-ups in between patient appointments is my habit every 20 minutes. Treatment couches in physiotherapy clinics can be adjusted downwards to make for a progression, in cms, each passing month.
What's your go-to press-up habit this month?
On the stairs before using the bathroom?
Dwarf wall in the garden?
On a bike rail as the children play on the slide.
**So you may be wondering what's the bonus benefit? That's a topic for another blog.
"What are your New Year's Resolutions for 202x?"
I have been pondering this question for the past few days and have decided that a "resolution" suggests completed, resolved or somehow you have reconciled the year on Day 1 of 365!
I believe I have a better question to ask yourself every morning in 2023 and it is inspired from reading the stoics and reflecting on the work of Charles Duhigg...
"What small habit can I apply today, to improve myself tomorrow?"
Some examples from the physiotherapy perspective that I plan to publish weekly include taking opportunities to preserve your strength, improve athletic performance, obesity management, improve fitness and a myriad of other things I discover in 2023.
Let's start with this week's new habit (w/b Jan 2nd 2022) using the PRRACOB TM mnemonic I have created:
PROBLEM: " I have no upper body strength so I cannot do press-ups."
REFLECTION: "I cannot speak German because I do not make any effort to speak German."
Sounds ludicrous? You expect to acquire the skill of speaking a new language by prayer, PMA or other osmotic method? New skills, knowledge and attributes (KSA) are not going to arrive through the air by quintessence! You actually have to engage, commit and apply (ECA) yourself daily. Strength is one of the three S's (alongside stamina and suppleness) that figure in a fitness regimen. There are of course many attributes but let's keep it simple for week 1 of 2023.
Let me re-frame the new habit commitment and hammer home the point.
I hope you already have a habit, that takes 2 mins every morning and evening whereby you were repeatedly nagged, goaded and cajoled by loved ones to brush your teeth?
Good dental hygiene does NOT take 90 minutes, at a leisure facility, developing cramp in front of a mirror (your biceps do look fabulous though in that tight t-shirt)....and so, how can we start to develop upper body strength that can help you during jiu jitsu (technical stand-up for example), get off the floor if you fall, exit the swimming pool, or push that heavy coffee shop door open?
ACTION: "Whilst I wait for the kettle to boil, I will perform between 5-12 inclined press-ups on the work surface."
A press-up on the floor has been estimated to load the upper limbs with ~75% of your bodyweight and most of us agree (along with any of the Armed Forces of the planet) that feet and hands on the floor is the only way to do it. Do NOT do press-ups with knees on the floor - you're missing a bonus benefit when you dodge the full version **
OBJECTIVE: "By the end of January 2023, I will be able to perform 3 sets of 12 repetitions of press-ups on the kitchen worksurface as the kettle boils."
Now don't cheat and buy a rapid boil kettle and claim you ran out of time!
We do NOT need motivation to achieve our fitness goals in 2023.
Motivation is procrastination in disguise - tomorrow, later, maybe are all variations of "nope".
Your excuses are lies to yourself.
But you're not a liar are you?
Just commit.
Freedom from weakness demands a new daily habit.
Press-ups in between patient appointments is my habit every 20 minutes. Treatment couches in physiotherapy clinics can be adjusted downwards to make for a progression, in cms, each passing month.
What's your go-to press-up habit this month?
On the stairs before using the bathroom?
Dwarf wall in the garden?
On a bike rail as the children play on the slide.
**So you may be wondering what's the bonus benefit? That's a topic for another blog.