by Michael Plank
We talk all the time about how no plan in the world matters unless you do it. Ideas are great, but action is what matters.
We also talk about how inconsistent action won’t make that big a difference over the long haul. What gets really powerful is not flashes of excellence, but consistency over days, weeks, months, and years.
All of which leads me to a new Monday blog format which we’re unveiling today.
Introducing “Bare Minimum Mondays” (credit for this amazing term goes to coach Aimee): Action Steps for the week.
On Mondays, I’ll send out a short e-mail with 4 concrete, actionable things to do over the course of the day or the week to improve your health and fitness. They won’t take a long, long time. They won’t be expensive. They won’t be complicated. Why 4? Because to make nearly any physical change you can think of – strength, endurance, fat loss, blood chemistry, energy, longevity, even some mental changes like mood and alertness – by far the most powerful areas to focus on are movement (i.e. exercise), nutrition (i.e. how and what you eat), sleep (both quality and quantity), and stress management.
Are you ready? Welcome to Bare Minimum Mondays!
Move
Accumulate 60 minutes of walking this week. One long walk, 10 minutes a day, six days this week, two 30-minute walks… it doesn’t matter. Just get some steps in. Walking is dramatically underrated and nobody is too cool to get benefits from it.
Eat
Use a nutrition tracker today and see how much fiber you’re eating. (MyFitnessPal is one of many good ones that have free options). Twenty years ago or so, people started talking about the benefits of more protein. Most folks are on board with that now. Fiber is kind of the new protein: incredible for gut health and cholesterol management, among other things.
At the end of the day, see what your number is. If you were under 30g of fiber, try to add 5 more grams tomorrow. As a very quick and rough guideline, shoot for 30g for women, and 40g for men. HERE are a bunch of high-fiber options.
Sleep
Nearly every adult I know spends time on some kind of screen before bed. There are all kinds of reasons – from blue light exposure to brain chemistry – that screen exposure negatively impacts sleep. One night this week, try to spend the last 10 minutes before you turn off the lights off of screens. Do some stretching, read a paper book, chat with a partner, or listen to some relaxing music (no podcasts(.
Manage
Stress is a killer. It’s been called the Bubonic Plague of the 21st Century. Take a couple of minutes at least once this week to undo some of that. (Working out doesn’t count: exercise is amazing, but especially with any kind of intensity, exercise raises cortisol levels (a stress hormone). It’s absolutely worth it, and is a great way to blow off steam, but doesn’t count as decreasing systemic stress.
Instead, try this: once this week, sit in a comfortable place or lie down, close your eyes, and breathe through your nose only for 2-5 minutes. Don’t worry about emptying your mind or concentrating or anything like that. Just keep your mouth shut and breathe. That’s it.
Four tasks: accumulate 60 minutes of walking, see how much fiber you’re eating and add 5g more, spend 10 minutes before lights out without screens, do 2-5 minutes of nasal breathing.
I’d love to hear what you think of this format. Helpful? Not-helpful? Things missing? More action tips? Fewer? Cite sources?
My goal here is to help. Let me know if I can do it better!