Read · 7 minutes
The body carries
the mind.
Half of what men call a mental health problem has a physical component, and it's that half that often gets skipped.
Wellbeing gets talked about as though it all happens above the neck. In practice, a man who is sleeping badly, hasn't moved in a fortnight, is living on takeaways and hasn't seen daylight before lunchtime will feel dreadful
This isn't a substitute for talking, speaking to a GP, or for treatment. It's the foundation those things work better on top of.
Walking is a highly underrated activity
Twenty to thirty minutes, outside, on most days. It shifts your mood, improves sleep quality and settles a racing head
It's also free, needs no kit/skill, and can't be done wrong.
Lift something heavy twice a week
Strength training improves strength, joint health, bone density, lowers your risk of various diseases and does wonders for your mental health! There are so many benefits beyond changes to your physical appearance.
Push, pull, legs, carry something. You do not need a 6x a week bodybuilding programme to make positive changes. Two sessions a week and you will be doing 'future you' a massive favour!
The four that do the heavy lifting
- Sleep — aim for 7 to 9 hours a day (adjust based on how you feel)
- Daylight — expose yourself to daylight for ten minutes within an hour of waking, even under cloud cover
- Movement — walk most days and lift something heavy twice a week
- Protein and water — simple and unglamorous
Get these roughly right and you've done more for your head than any app will manage. Get them wrong and everything else is uphill.
The checks men put off
Men go to the doctor later than women, and later than they should. Not through bravery, but usually because it feels like they're making a fuss, and because appointments are awkward to get. The result is that things get found late.
It's worth booking and putting your mind at rest. Here are some options:
- Blood pressure — free at many pharmacies. It takes two minutes and requires no appointment
- NHS Health Check — free every five years if you're 40–74 years old in England (check NHS site for exclusion criteria)
- Anything that's changed — a lump, a mole that's changed in appearance, a cough that's outstayed a month, blood where there shouldn't be, going to the loo differently. Make sure you get it checked out
- Daytime exhaustion — keep a log of what you eat/drink and how you sleep. Build a picture of your habits to share with your GP
- Teeth, eyes, ears — get regular check ups for all if you can
Book one of them this week. Not because something's wrong, but because the version of you in ten years would like you to.
The overlap worth knowing about
Low mood and low energy have a long list of physical causes that are simple to test for — thyroid, iron, vitamin D in this country, blood sugar, and testosterone. If you feel persistently flat, it is entirely reasonable to ask your GP to rule those out rather than assuming it's purely psychological.
It cuts the other way too. Persistent physical symptoms with no clear cause are often stress showing up in the body — the gut, the jaw, the back, the chest. That's not a figment of your imagination. It's real and it responds to dealing with the pressure rather than chasing the symptom.
Mental and physical, together.
They're not two subjects. A good chunk of coaching is simply getting the basics back in place and noticing what lifts on its own.