Health and Wellness Tips for the New Year!
January 4, 2024
By Dylan Tehada
As a new year begins, resolutions and self improvement become two major topics of discussion. At the forefront of these discussions are ways to improve health and wellness. Whether it's implementing new diets or exercise routines or meditative practices, the blank slate that the new year brings forth presents many opportunities for individuals to make strides in improving their overall health. Health and wellness are an integral aspect of sports and basketball, in particular. One of the assets the greatest athletes possess is availability, which can only be achieved through discipline and focusing on good health practices that keep the body in shape for high level activity.
Health and wellness are the building blocks that establish a foundation for success in sports. Balance, strength, and flexibility are essential to fine tuning and elevating more advanced skills such as dribbling, finishing, and shooting. According to physical therapist, Andrew Alcid, honing these attributes through daily exercise allows athletes to train longer and more effectively.
“Getting to be really strong doesn't necessarily make you a better athlete, but it allows you to train longer and more effectively, without having to think about what your body can do, so that you can focus on the skills that you're developing,” Alcid said.
While strength training and conditioning by themselves may not correlate to direct success in basketball, an important thing to remember about the body is that everything is interconnected. Having a stronger upper body might allow a player to deal with contact in the paint more effectively. Stronger legs may increase shooting distance and jumping ability on finishes. The list goes on and on about how focusing on strength and conditioning not only makes training increasingly easier, but enhances one’s abilities. Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner and founder of LIVEBIG, Isabella Frediani, reminds her clients how the body and its individual systems are interwoven and dependent on the health and functionality of each other.
“The thing that I think people forget is that every system in your body is interconnected. It's like a large symphony, that if one instrument is off, then the rest are going to be off,” Frediani said. “If you are not taking care of your digestive system or your mental health or your stress levels, things like that, that's going to affect how you show up in your life and every category including how your game is.”
While integrating new health and wellness habits requires a lot of hard work and persistence, the key to achieving tangible results is consistency. In sports, practice makes perfect, and continuously getting reps and honing in on specific skills can elevate one's overall game. For example, if an athlete seeks to improve their dribbling, but only works on it once every so often, they can’t expect long term results. The same applies to health and wellness. In order to eradicate bad health habits and replace them with better ones, it takes time, persistence, and consistency. One of Alcid’s number one tips to remember when striving for new health and wellness practices is that consistency takes precedence over intensity.
“I think the number one thing that we don't think about with exercise and this time of year is consistency. Whatever your New Year's resolution is, whatever your mode of exercise or your preferred mode of exercises, consistency is going to be much more important than intensity,” Alcid said. “Sometimes you'll see your new level of activity is too great compared to your average last few months of activity. So take more days where you're actually doing the [exercise] rather than trying to work out for three or four hours and then be a wreck for four or five days.”
While health and wellness involves consistent physical activity, it is also a mindset. In order to achieve desired results one must possess the mindset and mental fortitude to turn those desires into reality. Frediani founded her business on three wellness principles that are integral to establishing and maintaining healthy life practices.
Those three principles are: balance, intuition, and grace. Balance involves allocating time to different aspects of life, whether it be school, work, or sports, evenly and setting one’s priorities straight. Intuition involves developing trust in one’s self to achieve their goals, whether that be through reflection, mediation, or journaling. Perhaps the most unique out of these three principles is grace, which involves dealing with failure in a constructive way and continuing to improve.
“I see grace as the first part of analyzing what went on. Let’s say I was playing a game and I missed all my free throws. Okay, let me give myself grace and know that something was probably off. Now the next step to think what was off. Giving yourself grace allows you to move forward.” Frediani said. “Some habits and routines take a little while to work on, but giving yourself that grace allows you the opportunity to grow and change to be more open minded about what's next.”
Just like basketball is a game of failure, the same applies to changing health and wellness habits. Striving for self improvement and chasing new goals is not a smooth process and involves strong will power and a positive mindset. It is important to remember that whatever one’s goals are this new year, whether it be to improve as a basketball player or to be healthier or both, to embrace the challenge and keep moving forward. If you’re interested in booking an appointment with Andrew email him at andrew@alcidpt.com. If you’re interested in booking an appointment with Isabella email her at isabella@livebigwhc.com or check out her website www.livebigwhc.com.
