"That exploration is something that those of us who are experienced in fitness can and must continue and it’s something that can help the new person, or the beginner, somebody who is on fire for fitness."
Ebenezer Samuel
EFR 607: Ebenezer Samuel on Improving Mental Health With Fitness, Increasing Training Accessibility, and Being an Eternal Beginner
Fitness, particularly men’s fitness, is more than the weight you can lift or how fast you can build muscle. It’s about finding the physical activities you enjoy, being okay with failure, and getting creative. Furthermore, fitness is about connecting the mind with the body.
This week’s guest is a health and fitness educator who, throughout the pandemic, has gained some pretty powerful insights on fitness accessibility and the role of fitness in mental health.
Ebenezer Samuel, CSCS, is the Fitness Director at Men’s Health Magazine and the Head of Training Innovation at FlexIt Fitness, a virtual personal training app.
In this discussion, Ebenezer and Chase talk about the power of being the eternal beginner and how fitness can positively (and even negatively) impact mental health. He sheds light on his relationship with fitness and what he’s learned from the trends in physical activity he’s noticed over the past 2 years. Ebenezer also gives great advice for beginners in fitness on finding what fitness routine is best for you.
Follow Ebenezer Samuel @ebenezersamuel23
Follow FlexIt Fitness @flexit_fitness
Follow Chase on Instagram @chase_chewning
Follow him on Twitter @chasechewning
Key Highlights
Although there will always be a level of challenge in it, fitness has never been more accessible and attainable than it is today. “I think we finally understand, in the fitness community, that just getting people moving is the most important thing… and let’s not make this about 100 burpees,” Ebenezer says. The primary goal now is to find the balance between accessibility and a healthy amount of challenge/difficulty.
As a health and fitness educator, Ebenezer sheds light on how he’s navigated the pandemic and what he’s learned from trends in fitness throughout the past two years. The primary thing he has realized is that educating the beginner is what’s most important and impactful.
We’re all beginners in fitness at some point. Most of us will be beginners multiple times, whether we try a new activity or we lose a skill/technique by not practicing it. Ebenezer details the 3 key things about being an eternal beginner: you have to be okay with the struggle of failure, asking questions when you don’t know something, and embracing discomfort when trying new things.
Ebenezer breaks down how to find the best fitness routine for you, regardless of your experience level. He also speaks on the role of creativity in fitness and how he gets creative in his fitness routine.
He shares his candid thoughts on the role of fitness professionals and fitness education in the digital age as the world of social media has expanded.
Chase and Ebenezer speak on the impact of fitness on mental health and emotional health and how the fitness industry has shifted to address mental health. “For some people, fitness can be a detriment to [their] mental health… it’s not so much the act of fitness as it is the pressure surrounding them,” Ebenezer says, “I think for a lot of us and I think for myself, during the pandemic, fitness was kind of a way to center myself and pass the time… having that control was very useful to my mental health and can be useful to anybody’s mental health.”
Powerful Quotes by Ebenezer Samuel
What I’ve realized over the last two years and what I’ve realized through my tenure in Men’s Health is that a lot of times, it’s about educating the beginner.
That exploration is something that those of us who are experienced in fitness can and must continue and it’s something that can help the new person, or the beginner, somebody who is on fire for fitness… to sort of find the best starting point for them because it doesn’t necessarily need to be strength training, it doesn’t need to be cardio, it doesn’t need to be yoga, it needs to be what’s going to keep you fitnessing over the long haul. That is the best version of fitness for you.
The key thing with adherence for fitness is that people are having fun and they’re enjoying it but they want to do it.
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