Our latest podcast episode focused on the six key pillars of health, fitness, and performance (endurance/movement, strength training, mental health, HIIT, sleep, and nutrition).
Are you getting enough of all six? Or do you feel like one or more of the pillars out of balance?
Here’s the episode: The Everyday Athlete’s Guide to the 6 Pillars of Performance - Athletica
Strength training is missing for me. It’s just not part of my regular routine. Got my A cycling event next weekend, and hoping to get strength training into my routine and habits after. I’ve got some mountain objectives later this year and early next year. It’ll give me an opportunity to change the focus of my fitness and for cycling to be less dominant.
Strength training is important, especially as we age. It helps prevent injuries, can improve endurance, and generally helps our form on the bike and run!
I have never had a training injury. I see strength training from the perspective of ageing well, together with balance work. I do want to incorporate it from that point of view. It’s a question of finding a routine that works for me and I can turn into an everyday consistent habit. If there are endurance benefits that is a bonus.
Thus is question of converting “I know I should be doing this consistently” into a place where I don’t even need to think about it, and it just gets done.
Nice episode! I look forward to the follow-ups.
For me it’s pillar 4, nutrition, that is out of balance. With two young kids I feel like the balance is accross this and pillar 6, mental health. Between their sports and activity schedule and their food preferences we have a lot of pasta, bread, and cereal. Sometimes it’s that there isn’t enough time to prepare multiple meal options others it’s that I choose to eat the family meal.
I do pretty well at breakfast and lunch eating a lot of eggs, yogurt, nuts, and salads. But then the day ends with a spaghetti dinner or mac and cheese or a rice based casserole.
At this moment in my life I’m ok with this knowing the trade off would likely impact pillar 6, and possibly others. I do my best when I can, keeping stress and anxiety down so that I can sleep well and be ready for training.
I hear you @jhbuchholz . In the beginning of my journey, it was difficult to see a life without pasta rice and bread.
But, I learned some decent recipes without those and now I can’t stomach pasta anymore. Plus our kids eat less pasta and bread 
MAF kitchen has great recipes that may suit even the pickiest of kiddos.
My favourite ways to cook for the entire family is spaghetti sauce with either squash noodles (seriously delissimo) or sweet potato baked in oven. Same with lasagna (use squash slices).
Even when I cook pasta for them, the meat ends up in my plate over a massive pile of lettuce and veggies. And guess what, the kids also pile in salad (most of the time).
The change takes time, but the benefits are massive. No more food coma 
Best of luck ! 
This is good encouragement to try again. We’ve tried various substitutes over the years and very little has worked well for the family. Lentil based pasta, zucchini noodles, cauliflower rice, whole grain bread … I end up eating most of the food or dish as leftovers throughout the week and the kids (and quite often wife) have PB&J dinner or cereal for dinner. The most successful nights are the kind you describe: family style “build your own plate” meals. Anyway, it’s been a while since we made an effort in this area, so time to try again!
I think I’ll also start a thread here for recipes. I’d love to hear from you and others what has worked. I’ll kick it off later today or tomorrow after I collect a recipe or two that has worked for us.
That was a really good episode. I actually listened to nothing but Athlete’s Compass and HIIT Science podcasts on my 7 hours of running this past weekend. I think I’m caught up now with listening to them all!
As for the pillars one I am focused on all pillars but still come up short in strength training due to some injuries and always toying around with nutrition.
Thanks, Mike! We always appreciate feedback - positive or constructive. You can always send me an email with specific thoughts on the podcast!