Another season is passing, what are you going to do about it?

Looking to improve your health and fitness, but not sure where to begin? Here are 5 easy tips to get you moving in the right direction.

5 easy tips to start improving your health and fitness

So another day, week, or month has passed, and your intention to make changes in your lifestyle is still only an intention? You´re not alone! But the fact that you are reading this shows you are just a heartbeat away from finally taking the leap and moving from intention to action.

If you have been looking to improve your health and fitness, but aren´t sure where to start, you´re not alone in that either. Here are 5 easy tips to get you moving in the right direction.

Tip #1 - Drink more water

This summer 2025, in Switzerland June was a hot one, and July was quite depressingly rainy. In any season, hot or cold, and in everyday life, the majority of people aren´t drinking enough water. Sure there´s water in coffee, soda, or that iced tea, but that´s not what Mother Nature intended - you just need to drink water! Sparkling or still....while sparkling water is refreshing for some, the better option is still. Tap or bottled....well, now we are getting into a bit too much of nit-picking.

Also this talk about more water, and what kind of water...but no exact details on how much!

I´m not a doctor, nor do I play one on TV, there are many takes on this from the US´s Food Pyramid recommendation of 6-8 glasses a day, to the WHO´s recomendation of adult males needing 3.7 liters and women needing 2.7 liters per day. I´ll just say this: however much you are drinking, drink more, because you probably aren´t drinking as much as you think.

Tip #2 - Sleep more

In today´s 24/7 interconnected world, there is always something to occupy us when we should actually be sleeping. People who work odd shifts and not banker´s hours (which, what does that even mean anymore?) are often overly tired and don´t even realize it. Sleep debt is going negative in your health bank account, and eventually you´ll pay for that.

Adults should attempt 7-9 hours a night, per the NIH (National Institute of Health).

“Each night, when I go to sleep, I die. And the next morning, when I wake up, I am reborn. —Mahatma Gandhi”

Tip #3 - Start small

Every little bit helps, and starting small is still starting! There is never a "right" time, and there is always an excuse to start something later. Get up, right now, and go for a walk - then come back and finish reading this, believe me this will still be here when you get back.

Back from your walk? Good! A simple walk is momentum. All grand things started with small action. The Pyramid´s of Giza, a stone cutter had to strike the first of many hammer blows to chisel that rock from where it was embedded for many millennia. The Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, had to start somewhere, with Mr. Dickens first putting pen to paper and writing the first word, which lead to the next... "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."

Tip #4 - Socialize

Get active with a friend, spouse, brother, or sister. Heck, get active with all of them! Humans are creatures that require socializing to survive, and what better way to meet this need by meeting your physical needs too? Go for a walk together, ride bikes together, take that fitness class together. Accountability to others is sometimes what is needed keep ourselves honest, but also it´s just fun to work out together. I like to think of it as shared suffering.

Tip #5 - Be Bored

I´m sure you´ve heard it before but it bears repeating- PUT THE PHONE DOWN.

As Michael Easter notes is his book, The Comfort Crisis, "For 2.5 milion years, or about 100,000 generations, we had nothing digital in our lives. Now the average person spends 11 hours and 6 minutes a day using digital media. That´s from cell phones, TV, audio, and computers."

Life is not one dopamine hit after another. Watch the sunrise/sunset, listen to the birds, go out in nature without any technology. The quiet allows you to think without distraction and solutions find you and creativity blossoms.

We can help!

If you would like support in taking steps with any of these tips, send a quick email message to info@functionalfitnessparkside.com and we will be more than happy to help you out. We can´t drink your water for you, or make you sleep more, but we can be there to help guide you on this journey of health. All it takes is you showing up and being willing to change. We can help you make that first action and get you moving better. And we can help provide that social aspect of fitness! Just reach out, and let´s have that first conversation.