When it comes to improving your health, the basics are best! Focus on building a solid foundation of movement fueled by fresh, minimally processed food before jumping into advanced techniques like nutrient timing and ice baths.

Most people assume that changes to your health are catalyzed primarily by intense training regimens, advanced nutrition strategies, and recovery techniques. But the reality is that when it comes to changes in your body, building a foundation of the basics will always give you the most bang for your buck.

Pyramid of body change; the bottom includes movement and mindful eating as the base whereas the top includes advanced recovery techniques — If we think of body change as a pyramid, here’s what it should look like

At the bottom of the pyramid we have things like building a supportive social environment, moving your body, and eating a variety of fresh, minimally processed foods. Once you’ve mastered the foundation, a progressively overloaded training program, awareness of portion sizes, and goal setting will yield the next tier of change. And at the very top of the pyramid are items like nutrient timing, cupping, and soft tissue work. These are the icing on the cake.

My guess would be that this pyramid is quite different than what you might expect. All of the “expert stuff” – advanced nutrition strategies, ice baths, massage guns – is at the top. They’re a “nice to have.” The base of the pyramid, your foundation, is what surrounds you. Moving your body consistently and focusing on whole, nutrient dense foods will yield proportionally much more progress than weighing your food and engaging in regular cupping.

Of course I’m speaking generally here. If you’re an elite athlete who has mastered the foundational elements of body change then the top of the pyramid is definitely important for perfecting the last 5-10%. But for most people, focusing on the basics will yield the greatest results.

And how might you start to master the basics? When it comes to behavior change, here’s the golden rule:

Make healthy behaviors convenient and make other behaviors less convenient.

By simply changing your environment in small ways, you can make changes without even thinking about them. Park further away from the store when you arrive, purchase healthy snacks so that they’re accessible, surround yourself with a supportive social network. These are all little ways that you can alter your environment to be more conducive to building the bottom of your pyramid.

Regardless of how you do it, try not to get swept up by the flashy top of pyramid items. Focus on the basics, they never stopped working!

Train with Moxie