Kinesiotherapist Egidijus, who has a bunch of followers on Instagram, can tell right away if a person is physically active: it is not only about the muscles

It is not a secret that an active lifestyle is extremely important for our health. According to kinesiotherapist and personal fitness consultant Egidijus Enzelis, the more a person moves, the better he feels. Not only our physical endurance or changes in appearance are important – an active lifestyle also plays a big role in maintaining good emotional health. Egidijus, who inspires his Instagram followers to move more and take care of their health, notices that physical activity often helps people to overcome certain challenges in their personal life. The kinesiotherapist kindly agreed to share some tips with Delfi readers on how to produce some lifestyle changes for better wellbeing.

Relationship between an active lifestyle and emotional health

Speaking to Delfi, Enzelis admits that it is not difficult to tell if a person is physically active or not. Even looks or casual behaviour may serve as a telltale sign.

“There is a saying: your outside world is a reflection of your inside world. For example, if a person works a lot, does not get enough sleep, dietary habits are bad, does not get enough the healthy foods, there is a lot of stress, and routine is out of balance, everything shows up on the outside. A person looks tired, gloomy, constantly dissatisfied with everyone and everything”, Enzelis explains.

According to the kinesiotherapist, physical appearance also tells a lot about those who have chosen an opposite lifestyle. “A person, who has a healthy bedtime routine, cares about his eating habits, does sports, is physically active, likes walking, as a rule, looks better. Such person is in better mood, has more energy, looks younger, has far more positive attitude”, the kinesiotherapist adds.

Enzelis stresses that an active lifestyle is inseparable from the most important things in our everyday life.

“As for the people who are physically active, walk a lot, do other sports, they brain do produce more dopamine, also known as a pleasure hormone, which is directly related to better mood, stronger motivation, more ambitious goals, better concentration, better learning results and memory”, Enzelis explains.

Small habits make big changes

According to kinesiotherapist, the first change that people do notice when becoming more physically active is that they start feeling better.

“More movement means better cardiovascular activity; the muscles do tone up. That is also beneficial for our brain. People start sensing that they thoughts are no longer over the place, they become calmer, less impulsive”, Enzelis elaborates.

It is worth mentioning that an active lifestyle definitely goes together with certain physical changes. “An active lifestyle may also serve as a tool for reducing weight. Even if with greater physical activity the diet stays the same, calorie deficit may occur, thus we could notice some pleasant body changes”, kinesiotherapist promises and emphasizes that, nevertheless, the greatest impact is on the person’s psychological state.

“Physical activity, sports, workouts, exercising or any other form of physical activity will give you strength. You will feel stronger when dealing with everyday tasks, doing chores, become more stable and stronger psychologically, better with controlling our emotions”, Enzelis adds.

Importance of establishing right goals

Egidijus, who shares healthy lifestyle tips with his followers on Instagram, admits often receiving thank you messages from the people following the kinesiotherapist’s experience and path in the social media. According to him, when creating content, it is easy to notice what is the most important in people’s life. What is also very inspiring, they get involved in the activities promoted by Egidijus and are not afraid to ask for advice.

“As for inspiration to undergo some changes, in most cases it comes as a form of communication when digging into the reasons behind the goals a person has established, and how important it is for him. Often people want to lose some weight without realising how much it would cost, and, even more so, in order to solve some personal problems. Once you face and acknowledge your issues, everything in life start getting back on track”, Enzelis explains.

As kinesiotherapist puts it, it is especially important to set proper goals as it helps to feel better, the process itself is easier as a person has all relevant answers and clear understanding what he is doing and why. What is more, small changes lead to bigger achievements thus it is crucial to take baby steps.

“My advice is to take it slow, do not overdo. For example, going to bed 30 minutes earlier and getting out of bed 30 minutes earlier. Then some stretching, maybe take a walk or take a colder than usual shower. That is enough for a good start, to feel happy about small changes taking place”, Enzelis advises.

Kinesiotherapist accentuates the importance of listening to own’s body needs.

“You should ask yourself: do I want to feel this way? I am OK to stay in the same state forever? Do I want to change? If the answer to the last one is yes, it is high time to initiate some changes and begin doing something new. There is such a saying: the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results”, Enzelis explains.

People see things differently

Instagram is not the only place where Enzelis shares his tips on sports and healthy lifestyle – he also works at a gym. When dealing with clients, he encounters various different situations and reasons why do people start exercising: some are motivated to feel or look better, others just want to escape from everyday problems and seek some time alone for themselves.

From working at the gym Enzelis has noticed that people of different ages have different needs. “From my own experience I can tell that younger clients aim at better looks and greater strength, and older people are more concerned with better health, pain prevention and treatment, bodily function performance. For them looks is of secondary importance, more as an additional perk. Why is it so? Because when start working you, especially the younger ones, the want to look like Instagram models, for popularity and stuff. They want to look good, sexy, prove something, impress somebody”, kinesiotherapist elaborates on different motivation.

According to kinesiotherapist and personal fitness consultant, motivation changes over time, people tend to realise that getting fit is just a side effect of being physically active.

“It is not uncommon for sports bringing its own problems, because quite often people do not know how to do sports or push themselves too hard, and the older clients already have experience, have already passed that. That is why I call them more mature, because of their experience, they know what is throbbing muscular ache. They have already acknowledged that feeling better is more important than big biceps”, Enzelis explains.

Too much of anything is bad

In life, we all strive to find balance in various areas. According to kinesiotherapist, this should not be forgotten when doing sports and leading an active lifestyle.

“Sometimes less is more – everyone should bare this in mind. While exercising, we cause microdamage to our muscles, stress our central nervous system, thus need to rest for recovery to occur. If we fail to give our body a break, we would burn out very quickly”, he said.

The young specialist gives some tips how to introduce some physical activity into your life gradually. “For example, you could start exercising for up to 30 minutes, do up to 5 exercises per session for several sets, plus stretching and light walking. Do this 2-3 times a week until your organism and body adapt. Then you can progressively increase the load”, said Enzelis.

Kinesiotheraspist reassures that even less active exercising can significantly change one’s well-being, so the gym is not the only option for staying physically active.

“I highly recommend walking, especially outdoors, and stretching exercises (yoga is ideal for this). Walking is a great way to improve or maintain your overall health, and stretching helps to relax, stretch your muscles and prevents them from contracture, meaning you prevent pain in the future”, Enzelis explains.

Some tips from the expert

Kinesiotherapist and personal fitness consultant Enzelis has shared three tips on how to help not only your body, but also your soul.

1. Accept yourself as you are, do not try to run from or give up on yourself. Instead of criticizing, be grateful for yourself for everything you have already done and achieved. Real changes begin only when a person befriends himself – at first, in the inner world and only then on the outside. Then you can finally consider self-improvement, not replacing yourself with someone that is not authentic you.

2. Deciding on priorities and time management. These are two interrelated things, when you sort your priorities from A to Z, arrange daily schedule accordingly to what is of key importance and dedicate some time for things you like the most. With time management you get some time for yourself without feeling constant inner chaos.

3. Breathing. Breathing is the only free thing that can make you immediately feel better. Often, due to the constant stress, our breathing becomes suffocated, uncontrolled. Try just sitting quietly and following your breath, relax your shoulders, and after the first deep inhales and exhales – after two series for 30 times – you will feel immediate effect.