Are You Confused About…
How to Achieve Peak Athletic Performance
& Set New Personal Best Records?
by Michelle M Pearson
I hope you are enjoying this month’s theme so far of “Are You Confused About…” as we take some time to answer some of our most frequently asked questions!
In addition to our title topic of achieving peak physical performance and reaching personal bests, today, we also want to answer the question: Is this site for regular folks wanting to lose weight and get healthier, or is it for real athletes?
Today’s topic comes about as I, along with a whole crew of folks are stepping our lives up to another level of health in every realm! Our wellness coaching clients and many of our readers are targeting this year as our best year yet, getting in the best shape of our lives thus far!
And, in all our social media relationships, we are reaching out to include a whole new bunch of you who are health or fitness coaches, aerobics instructors, Beachbody coaches and team members, and yes, even some real athletes!
For me personally, this year includes accelerated training so that I am prepared to climb Pikes Peak in September and Mt Kilimanjaro in January. And since I’ve never really been an “athlete”, I have physically, mentally, emotionally, and financially stepped into a whole new measure of challenges!
If you have been following the blogs very long, you might have already learned that I have been a wellness coach for 12 years. But after the past few months, I can definitively say… a wellness instructor is NOT by any stretch the same as an athlete! (But surely with all this training I must be gaining ground on that? I hope so!)
But, interestingly enough, I’ve also learned by following blogs of several elite and pro athletes this year, the reverse is also very true… athletes are not typically nor automatically healthy! Nor are most of them qualified to be true wellness coaches! Surprised? I was.
I was astonished at the lack of knowledge most athletes, even professional athletes, have in using nutrition, wellness technology, and even just the basic 7 Essentials to maximize their personal bests and reach their peak performances! I have been so thankful for the edge these things are giving me as my body encounters this higher level of fitness.
But you know what? This whole journey from average to “near” athlete really got me thinking.
The truth is, most folks, like lots of our readers, are not naturally athletic or lifelong athletes. They are basically just like me (even though you might not think I am just like you, you are seeing the “AFTER” version!). We might not be ultra athletes. We might not be marathoners, criterium racers, triathletes, XTERRA competitors. Nope. But we are…
…millions of ordinary folks with extraordinary dreams pressing in our hearts to be birthed. And most, if not all, of those dreams require a physical fitness level beyond our current state in order to be able to carry them out successfully.
I mean, if you can barely walk, how will you travel the world to help others? If you can’t bend over or walk up a hill, how can you volunteer at VBS, or anywhere you are inspired to, and live through the week? If you don’t have the energy to stay awake all day, how will you enjoy your family or grandchildren to the full? If pain or diabetes is threatening your body or heart health, how will you fully, actively enjoy your marriage and the bright future ahead of you?
And, if you are an athlete and can’t finish your season due to injuries, illness from impaired immune system, knocked out of the competition by younger, stronger, up-and-comers, what’s that mean for your future? Wouldn’t that cut a whole lot of fun and finances out of the picture way too early? Even your dreams require a physical fitness level beyond your current state in order to be able to continue as you get older.
My newly-wed mom is in her 70’s and loves to garden, travel, ride on her new hubby’s boat and trike. On the other end of the age spectrum, my youngest sons are in their 20’s still and compete in swimming, running, golfing, basketball, etc, and related athletic events. Somewhere in the middle, the other brothers and sisters are in their 30’s and 40’s and live full, active lives, several, in fact, will be climbing Pikes Peak with me this year.
And then there’s me, shortly before I hit 49 years of age, attempting, no, completing the Barr Trail on Pikes Peak. Next January, on my way to 50, I will summit the world’s tallest free-standing mountain peak. Yea, I know plenty of folks older and way younger than me do it all the time. But it isn’t a competition, it’s an assignment and an accomplishment at any age.
My point is that athletes and “regular folks” alike, at every age, can greatly benefit from excellent nutrition and valuable tips on the 7 most essential elements to health.
Achieving peak physical or athletic performance, setting new personal best records, applies to all of us!
That’s why this site can be so valuable across age, gender, and fitness levels! Athlete or not, no one can fully enjoy a long, satisfying life, virtually illness and injury free, without nurturing the body with godly wisdom and sound nutrition.
So, are you ready for your year of personal bests?
Whether your goal is losing pounds or inches, climbing mountains for charity, recovering from some disease, completing a GORUCK challenge, or doing the ultra Epic5, or simply being able to enjoy your children and grandchildren more…
The first principle is to realize that real, ordinary people AND ultra triathletes or professional athletes have the same foundational needs in working with the body’s design to produce health and peak performance. This is an area where most people make the first mistake.
The human body is designed like it is designed, so the basic key elements or requirements remain consistent. Activity level and environment then dictate timing and volume of those basic required elements.
What are the basics? The same as we covered in previous articles, with tweaks here and there for the endurance and performance demands! So, as a refresher, here they are with a couple of quick notes for changes I made for my greatly intensified 3-4 hours per day of training:
Essential Fats – The demands of endurance training has doubled my requirement for EFA’s. NKO Krill, Coconut Oil, Vitamin E and Evening Primrose are my arsenal against injury. Plus, highly absorbable EFA’s like these prevent hot flashes, lady athletes, as well as infertility, stopping of menstrual cycles, and “female athlete syndrome”. In male athletes, EFA’s again, prevent injury and speed recovery, but also prevent “low T” (and high DHT) due to burned up resources! As a bonus, healthy fats also are used as energy sources better than excess carbohydrates.
Essential Minerals – Increased amounts of Cellfood Minerals in my water keeps cellular communication at peak and hydration rightly regulated. Normal adult dose is about 24 drops per day diluted in 24 ounces of water, I use 32+ depending on my miles each day and how hot it is. Keeps hormones steady and aids in optimal repair and recovery.
Healthy Gut – magnesium and Primal Defense are my two go-to’s in this area, however I have added Psylium caps to help retain water in the GI tract. Profuse sweating cleanses the body, but also depletes the bowels of water essential for good, regular elimination of toxins, so this is a healthy way to address that need.
Water / Hydration – still just half my weight in water – yes even in the heat! But it is how and when that is being taken in that is vitally important.
Rest / Sleep – rest, repair, rebuild.
Breath / Oxygen – Cellular communication to transport both oxygen and fats in the body provides the most excellent results in endurance performance.We train with EWOT like the Olympic athletes do and also supplement with the world’s first and only (because it is patented) Redox Signaling Molecule supplement. (Read more on that here: “Advanced Nutrition“.)
O.K. that gives you a TON-O-TIPS to digest today! We invite you to come back for the next blog in the series, sign up for updates by email, or get on the RSS feed if that’s how you like to get your news!
Average or athlete, we appreciate you being here. If you are open to learn, apply what you learn, and you stay plugged in, you will increase, Spirit, Soul, and Body, in faith, fitness, family, fun, and finances!
Until next time, remember… Champions Live Differently!
Know someone who isn’t at their personal best?
Come On! #BeBOLD
Believe. Choose. Activate. Achieve. (Repeat.)
* Transparent Advertising Disclosure: Dr. Ray Pearson is an Independent Associate for ASEA. We do not receive any compensation for mentioning, reviewing, or recommending ASEA in our blogs or speaking engagements. Not a dime. However, if you choose to click through to our ASEA site and order product, we do receive compensation from that sale and you receive the most outstanding nutritional supplement currently available on the market!
Dr. Michelle's mission is to educate, activate, challenge and equip others to live a full, satisfying life, ever-growing in the Kingdom of God.
Michelle is a mountain-taker in all expressions of her calling. Sometimes it is on literal mountains leading ladies on spiritual adventures in faith. Other days, it is consulting with Kingdom-minded businesses and ministries to develop professional website platforms and social media strategies. Still other times, you will find her training mountain-takers to possess their physical land - their health, spirit, soul, and body - teaching classes and doing wellness evaluations for churches and corporations large and small, as well as providing "secret service" concierge wellness services for other speakers and ministers.
Wherever the call of God takes her, she firmly believes it is time for Christian businesses, entrepreneurs, and ministry leaders to be diligent to ‘write the vision and post it so plainly upon tablets that everyone who passes may be able to read it easily and quickly as they hasten by.’ And then ACT on the vision.
Read more About and Experience here: http://thepictureofhealth.com/michelle-2
- Great Faith Adventures - August 15, 2020
- Great Faith Adventures – Video Gallery - March 10, 2018
- 2016 Annual Year End Ministry Report - February 4, 2017
My husband and I have starting going a gym so we can do water exercises. I is better on my joints. We also do the Silver Sneakers class for people over 50. It has been over a year since we were able to exercise and it feels so good. Looking forward to loosing 150 lbs and being what God wants me to be. Healthy Spirit, soul and body
Love this! I plan to grow old together with my hubby, daughter, sissies, and my mama!
You’re not only a fitness coach, you’re a true leader. You don’t only live by excellence; you take people along for the journey. I had a WOW moment when I read some of your family members are climbing with you.
Great article I’m no athlete by any means but I want to be healthy when ever I get OLD and have grandchildren 🙂