👋 Hey. Welcome to issue #157 of The Everyday Athlete Newsletter.
Here are my 3 favourite ideas, learns and resources to help you improve your performance this week (4 min read):
📅 Health perimeters
When it’s on the to-do list, it can get bumped.
When it’s in the calendar, it gets done.
So if our health is a priority, it needs a protected time.
Because it’s easy to say health matters.
But it’s usually the first thing to go when life ramps up.
So what if we created "Health Perimeters"..
Blocks of time that can be shrunk and moved.
But can’t be skipped.
For example, your default daily time blocks might look like:
- 🛌 8 hours in bed
- 🏋️ 30 mins training
- 🍲 30 mins for meals
- 🚶 30 mins walking outside
You might literally schedule them.
Or just think of them as non-negotiables.
And then on those days when life does ramp up, we can adapt the:
- Size. So it might turn into a 10 min blast on the doorway pull up bar, a 5 min walk outside, a frozen meal jammed on the stove.
- Time of day. We moved house on Wednesday. So my 45 min lift at lunch was done and dusted before 6:30am.
So we can shrink or shift the perimeter. But we can’t delete it.
Because health rarely feels urgent.
And in the absence of boundaries, everything else wins.
So if health is a priority.
Treat it like one.
The same way you do for your family, clients and meetings.
Give it some protected time.
Give it a health perimeter.
💉 Black-and-white medicine is going grey
Aussie whole-body scan platform OneMRI just raised A$2.5M in a funding round.
They do whole-body MRIs. Checking for signs of over 500 potential conditions. From organs to head to knees.
With a largely black and white sick or not sick medical system here in Aus, this stuff is the future of health.
Difference between this and a thorough blood test?
- 🩸 Blood test = internal chemistry (shows the invisible signs in your blood)
- 🩻 MRI = internal iagery (shows the visible structures of your organs.)
Together = 360° view of your health (smarter baseline, better decisions, earlier action).
🔍 Symptoms as feedback
In her book Good Energy, Casey Means says:
"We are told that symptoms are things to fear and immediately treat. But they are a gift… cells can’t communicate with words, so symptoms are their way of wailing to get your attention to have their needs met."
A good place to start bringing awareness to symptoms is through her symptom questionnaire.
Look at the individual symptoms and categories you score the highest, and ask:
What is my body trying to tell me?
For example, you might start getting achy or tight in a certain area.
And most jump straight to treatment. Physio. Roll. Trigger.
Or.. “Matt, can you massage my neck?”. “Sure”. “Omg not so hard”. “I’m barely…” etc.
But if we can start seeing syptoms as feedback, it ight help us find the root cause.
You might realise... actually my gym program changed last week... and that exercise did feel a bit funky.. maybe I’m doing it wrong. i should get feedback on it. oh sh*t I’ve been skipping morning mobility too..
See, many have symptoms and get frustrated.
But it's much more effective to get curious.
That's it!
Have a great weekend 🤙
Matt
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The Everyday Athlete Newsletter is not a licensed health service nor a substitute for professional health advice, treatment or assessment. The information shared in this email is general and written for a specific audience. If you’re struggling, please see a healthcare professional.
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