Improve Your Day-To-Day Stamina
Usually when you read about stamina, you read about athletes trying to improve their athletic performance.
But improving your endurance and flexibility can improve anyone's life, from improving your ability to carry in the groceries to improving your ability to reach those herbs and spices on the top shelf of your cupboard.
Both life's chores and life's pleasures require sustaining some degree of stamina, and the more you have the easier and better life will be.
Stretch for Flexibility and Endurance People often see stretching as something they do to prevent injury and increase flexibility.
But in fact, by lengthening and loosening your muscles, you are helping make them more capable of enduring as well.
Simple stretches like bending to touch your toes or reaching for the sky can help stretch muscles throughout your body.
Look up some stretches that work for you and your lifestyle, but then be deliberate and focused about doing them on a regular basis.
They will only help if you do them every single day.
I like to stretch at least a little right when I wake up and right before I get into bed, no matter what else I do that day.
Gradually Increase Your Activity In Any One Area The principle of gradual adaptation has been around since the dawn of humankind.
The simple rule is to slowly increase your effort and activity level.
If you have been a couch potato for several years, you can't expect to turn into a busy body overnight.
Just like a marathon runner slowly works his or her way up to running the length of a marathon, and then slowly increases the speed he or she runs each mile, you need to slowly add activity to your life as you can handle it.
Simple little daily exercises can help you increase your activity level and your fitness level.
For example, if you park your car at the curb of your home, walk between your car and your home twice instead of just once.
Pretend you are getting something you left in the backseat if you feel silly.
When you put an item on a high shelf, put it up there, then take it down, then it put it back up again.
Along these same lines, be gradual in how you complete your tasks.
Don't try to improve your fitness by vacuuming your house as fast as you can -- at least not at first.
Instead concentrate on steady, even effort.
If you push yourself too hard at first you may hurt yourself or you may see the activity as so unpleasant you won't do it regularly.
Eat Smart and Drink Plenty of Fluids for Better Energy This is probably the most common and predictable area where you can improve your daily endurance, but it still worth mentioning.
Don't overeat, and when you do eat, try to eat whole grains, plenty of protein and minimize your saturated fats and simple sugars.
A large, fatty meal will slow you down and a sugary snack or meal will spike your blood sugar and lead to a crash in energy.
Don't be afraid of whole grains as they provide B vitamins and complex carbohydrates, both excellent sources of energy, but don't overdo the carbs and do increase your protein intake.
Last but not least, drink plenty of fluids.
Soda-pop, alcoholic beverages and coffee don't count; instead, drink mostly water with some occasional natural, unsweetened fruit juices.
Eight to ten eight-ounce glasses of water is the baseline, but if you can drink more than that, it will only help.
Supplement Your Lifestyle With A Few Smart Vitamins and Herbs Take supplements to help round off any nutrient deficiencies.
A quality multivitamin makes for a good catch-all.
Take supplements that help you make the most of your own energy.
For example, vitamin B helps you process the energy from your food and vitamin D helps your intestines be more healthy and capable of properly digesting your food.
Some supplements like quercetin and rhodiola rosea may help increase your stamina and endurance by helping you better process oxygen or modulate cortisol.
I hope these tips help you improve your daily stamina.
Just be conscious and deliberate about improving your daily activity and flexibility, and you will enjoy life more each day.
But improving your endurance and flexibility can improve anyone's life, from improving your ability to carry in the groceries to improving your ability to reach those herbs and spices on the top shelf of your cupboard.
Both life's chores and life's pleasures require sustaining some degree of stamina, and the more you have the easier and better life will be.
Stretch for Flexibility and Endurance People often see stretching as something they do to prevent injury and increase flexibility.
But in fact, by lengthening and loosening your muscles, you are helping make them more capable of enduring as well.
Simple stretches like bending to touch your toes or reaching for the sky can help stretch muscles throughout your body.
Look up some stretches that work for you and your lifestyle, but then be deliberate and focused about doing them on a regular basis.
They will only help if you do them every single day.
I like to stretch at least a little right when I wake up and right before I get into bed, no matter what else I do that day.
Gradually Increase Your Activity In Any One Area The principle of gradual adaptation has been around since the dawn of humankind.
The simple rule is to slowly increase your effort and activity level.
If you have been a couch potato for several years, you can't expect to turn into a busy body overnight.
Just like a marathon runner slowly works his or her way up to running the length of a marathon, and then slowly increases the speed he or she runs each mile, you need to slowly add activity to your life as you can handle it.
Simple little daily exercises can help you increase your activity level and your fitness level.
For example, if you park your car at the curb of your home, walk between your car and your home twice instead of just once.
Pretend you are getting something you left in the backseat if you feel silly.
When you put an item on a high shelf, put it up there, then take it down, then it put it back up again.
Along these same lines, be gradual in how you complete your tasks.
Don't try to improve your fitness by vacuuming your house as fast as you can -- at least not at first.
Instead concentrate on steady, even effort.
If you push yourself too hard at first you may hurt yourself or you may see the activity as so unpleasant you won't do it regularly.
Eat Smart and Drink Plenty of Fluids for Better Energy This is probably the most common and predictable area where you can improve your daily endurance, but it still worth mentioning.
Don't overeat, and when you do eat, try to eat whole grains, plenty of protein and minimize your saturated fats and simple sugars.
A large, fatty meal will slow you down and a sugary snack or meal will spike your blood sugar and lead to a crash in energy.
Don't be afraid of whole grains as they provide B vitamins and complex carbohydrates, both excellent sources of energy, but don't overdo the carbs and do increase your protein intake.
Last but not least, drink plenty of fluids.
Soda-pop, alcoholic beverages and coffee don't count; instead, drink mostly water with some occasional natural, unsweetened fruit juices.
Eight to ten eight-ounce glasses of water is the baseline, but if you can drink more than that, it will only help.
Supplement Your Lifestyle With A Few Smart Vitamins and Herbs Take supplements to help round off any nutrient deficiencies.
A quality multivitamin makes for a good catch-all.
Take supplements that help you make the most of your own energy.
For example, vitamin B helps you process the energy from your food and vitamin D helps your intestines be more healthy and capable of properly digesting your food.
Some supplements like quercetin and rhodiola rosea may help increase your stamina and endurance by helping you better process oxygen or modulate cortisol.
I hope these tips help you improve your daily stamina.
Just be conscious and deliberate about improving your daily activity and flexibility, and you will enjoy life more each day.
