INTRODUCTION
So, during the festive time, we all take a step back and have a well-deserved rest and relax a little. However, I have found myself skipping my steps and going days without getting my steps in. Doing this has shown me and taught me a few things. It has had some side effects that I thought I would run through.
SLEEP WAS EFFECTED
The first thing I found to be affected was my sleep. I wasn’t sleeping as well as I normally would. It wasn’t that I couldn’t sleep, I was getting tired and sleeping but I just found that I wasn’t going into such a deep sleep. My sleep quality was worst.
I was waking up and finding myself still tired, Was laying in more (More on this shortly). The moment I brought my steps back in I found myself going into a deeper sleep and getting a better quality of sleep. Getting good quality sleep will improve many other areas of your life, you will find your gym performance will increase when you get better sleep.
I WAS GETTING “LAZY”
Another side effect was I found myself getting lazier. By this I mean because I wasn’t going out for my walks at certain times I was just laying on the sofa or my bed, Wasn’t using the time to be productive or get other things done. Having that 1 hour slot a day where you get your steps in really helps me organise my day and I find myself planning my to do’s around my steps. When the steps aren’t there, it all falls apart. The moment I put my steps back in I found my productivity increasing and I was getting more done! This is a side effect I wasn’t expecting.
MY HEAD WASN’T CLEAR
One benefit of walking that I knew helped in clearing my head, So I knew that if I wasn’t getting my steps in, then I won’t have a clear head. Things like such a simple thing that steps wouldn’t affect, but that hour walking allowed me to think about things and plan things out. Was somehow easier to think when walking. So when I’m not walking I haven’t got that moment to process thoughts.
It is surprising how much walking clears your head and how much it can help your mental health. This is why so many people recommend walking for their mental health and we recommend starting a fitness journey with walking.
FELT MORE ANXIOUS
The biggest thing I noticed, as I started to feel more anxious. Why this is? I don’t know, might have been partly due to Christmas and the stressful time it brings. I also think this is another side effect from the above point. Not being able to plan and think about things ends up in things building up and naturally as humans we stress about them.
CONCLUSION
So, that is what I felt from not walking for a while. Now one thing I haven’t mentioned is how long this lasted. Looking back on it, I didn’t get my steps in for around 8-10 days. This is a long time, so don’ think that missing your steps for a few days will have these effects.
As we have said before in our Walking post (You can read it here), You should aim to have a weekly step goal, not a daily step goal, this allows you to miss a day if you need to. If you are starting a fitness journey and aim to start the gym for the first time, then we highly recommend starting with walking. You can check out our Instagram for any updates.
We have article covering so many areas of fitness and dieting! So if you want an honest answer to any question you might have you can head over to your blog! I am sure you will find the answer to it.
Written by Kieran Blacker
Kieran is the CEO and Founder of Sets & Reps. He decided to make an application that helped people get a gym workout when not at the gym. He designed, Coded and built the application himself.