. To get my latest thoughts on fitness and wellbeing pop your email address into the box above to get the newsletter direct to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\nFear is a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, some fitness folks have cottoned on and now use it to drive people to their website, social media pages, or services.<\/p>\n
\u201cSTOP doing this if you want a flat tummy.\u201d \u201cEating this ONE FOOD is giving you cellulite.\u201d Sound familiar? This week\u2019s newsletter headline is a tongue-in-cheek nod to this approach.<\/p>\n
On this topic, a Well Enough reader recently told me it was hard to find helpful health information amid a quagmire of conflicting advice online. This reminded me of a handy tip for spotting misinformation, shared with me by Everything Fat Loss author Ben Carpenter: \u201cThe biggest red flag for me is one person making it sound like the thing they are telling you is revolutionary. But in health and fitness, the things that we know work aren\u2019t revolutionary.<\/p>\n
In this week\u2019s newsletter, I\u2019ll try to highlight the non-revolutionary acts that genuinely benefit your health.<\/p>\n
A couple of years ago I happened upon two 1950s exercise booklets produced by the Royal Canadian Air Force \u2013 the female-focused XBX plan and male-oriented 5BX plan.<\/p>\n
I flicked through, expecting to find a series of antiquated exercises and messages. But though the booklet isn\u2019t an easy read, filled with charts and figures, the rationale behind most of the advice remains watertight \u2013 and, dare I say it, better than many modern equivalents. <\/p>\n
\u201cLive to be fit and be fit to live,\u201d the XBX plan states. It encourages daily movement through 12-minute bodyweight workouts, prescribes progressive exercises that start gently then gradually ramp up in line with your improving fitness levels, and it works your body through all three planes of motion to maintain mobility. There\u2019s very little not to like. <\/p>\n
This also happens to be the workout Helen Mirren has used \u201coff and on my whole life\u201d because \u201cit just very gently gets you fit\u201d. As strength coach Paddy James once told me, \u201csuccess leaves clues,\u201d and Mirren\u2019s 60-year career would send Scooby-Doo into overdrive. <\/p>\n
I also spoke to experienced sports physiotherapist Alex Morrell this week about all things back pain. His advice didn\u2019t involve miracle cures or transformative products \u2013 just strengthening the surrounding muscles, improving a few lifestyle factors and de-stressing through breathwork: 10 breaths through the nose; five seconds in, five seconds out. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople overlook the importance of nutrition, hydration, sleep and other lifestyle factors that you take for granted, but they underpin everything,\u201d Morrell tells me. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you think about an athlete, coaches will try to optimise everything they do for better performance and recovery. Getting out of pain is a process of improving performance.\u201d<\/p>\n
If you can improve your sleep, diet and stress levels, even incrementally, Morrell says you will create a greater buffer against injury by building a more resilient body \u2013 inside and out. <\/p>\n
And finally this week, I dived into the topic of supplements: another area where people are often promised something just shy of a Dorian Gray portrait in their attic. <\/p>\n
Speaking to experts, the overriding message was that there isn\u2019t one universal vitamin, mineral or pill that will transform anyone\u2019s health for the better, as much as certain social media videos try to persuade you otherwise. <\/p>\n
There are some that are more widely applicable than others, such as omega-3 if you don\u2019t eat much oily fish, vitamin B12 for vegans and vitamin D for Brits \u2013 for weather-based reasons, I\u2019m sure you can guess. <\/p>\n
But the supplements that actually<\/em> benefit you will depend on your individual circumstances. For example, what you eat, your lifestyle and your ability to absorb certain nutrients. They should also be a last resort of sorts. <\/p>\nVassiliki Sinopoulou, a clinical dietitian and lecturer at the University of Lancashire, suggests looking at ways to improve your sleep patterns, manage your diet and stay calm before spending heavily on supplements \u2013 there\u2019s a theme here. <\/p>\n
Amie Leckie, a nutritional therapist with Heart Research UK, also prescribes a \u201cfood first approach\u201d to hitting your daily nutritional quotas. If you are suffering symptoms of nutrient deficiency such as fatigue, she recommends a visit to the GP and a blood test for further insights.<\/p>\n
\u201cSupplement companies are there to make money, so they\u2019re going to tell you their supplement is the best, but Mother Nature knows best,\u201d Leckie concludes. \u201cI\u2019m not anti-supplement \u2013 I use them daily. But what I use is based on tests and specific needs I know I have.\u201d<\/p>\n
To wrap up my ramblings: if something sounds too good to be true or is clearly designed to scare you, I would strongly recommend questioning it.<\/p>\n
For long-term results, try to make small, sustainable and positive changes to your consistent behaviours. And hey, if you have a spare 12 minutes, why not try training like Helen Mirren?<\/p>\n
Get the Well Enough newsletter<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore (The Independent)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nTo receive Well Enough with Harry Bullmore<\/em>, simply enter your email address in the box at the top of this page.<\/p>\nYou can also head to our newsletter preference centre to sign up for the email.<\/p>\n
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Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more The article below is an excerpt from my newsletter: Well Enough with Harry Bullmore. To get my latest thoughts on fitness and wellbeing pop your email address into the box above to get the newsletter direct to your inbox. Fear is a powerful motivator. Unfortunately, some fitness folks have cottoned on and now use it to drive people to their website, social media pages, or services. \u201cSTOP doing this if you want a flat tummy.\u201d \u201cEating this ONE FOOD is giving you cellulite.\u201d Sound familiar? This week\u2019s newsletter headline is a tongue-in-cheek nod to this approach. On this topic, a Well Enough reader recently told me it was hard to find helpful health information amid a quagmire of conflicting advice online. This reminded me of a handy tip for spotting misinformation, shared with me by Everything Fat Loss author Ben Carpenter: \u201cThe biggest red flag for me is one person making it sound like the thing they are telling you is revolutionary. But in health and fitness, the things that we know work aren\u2019t revolutionary. In thi…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13033,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13032"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13033"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}