BennyFit Strength and Power

The biopsychosocial model is a useful framework to help understand how the symptoms we experience can be affected by multiple elements.

Biology refers to tissue health, movement, biomechanics, posture, joint function, muscle strength, how the nervous system processes pain, physical impairments, and other physiological factors.

Often this is what people overly focus on without taking into account the psychosocial side of things. Ending up as a purely mechanical way of thinking is too reductionist to conclude the sole source of symptoms someone is experiencing.

Psychological refers to emotions, behaviours, and cognitive processes. Someone’s personality traits will undoubtedly play a role.

Weigh up the positive and negative emotions, and there could be a trend as to why someone is feeling more or less symptoms in a given day, week, month or year. Their mind and body is at its limits.

Sociology refers to someone’s support network, employment, relationships, beliefs, culture, educations, socioeconomic status, and other such factors all play their role too.

In a study (1) conducted in 2000, they concluded that providing compensation for pain and suffering after a whiplash injury increases frequency of claims for compensation and delays closure of claims and recovery. This occurs often in a car crash scenario.

Pain is complex. We need to give it its dues. My hot take: psychosocial factors are often more important than biology. There, I’ve said it.

Biology is important, don’t misconstrue my message. But, we need to zoom out. Biology isn’t the only thing contributing to your symptoms.

What can you do?

This is specific to you. Yes, be generally active, of course that’ll be what I promote! Look after yourself from a nutritional standpoint too.

But ask yourself; what can you do to destress? What do you like to do to destress? When was the last time you did these things?

Our lives are busy, and this is a big ask, but see if you can carve some time out for you.

You might be surprised at what might improve your symptoms.

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If you are aiming to reduce fat, you need to reduce your overall calorie intake. Here are a couple simple, but effective tips.

1. Fill up on fruit and veg
2. Eat lots of protein

This meal has just over 400 calories, with 39g of protein. There’s ~140g of broccoli. It’s a very good example of what I mean.

Hardly any calories come from the broccoli. It has vitamins, minerals and fibre which all contribute to you feeling fuller for longer.

The protein helps you retain/gain muscle. It also keeps you fuller for longer.

The fat also slows down gastric emptying, furthering the whole keeping-you-fuller-for-longer thing (see a pattern with me highlighting the satiety of this meal and why? This will help steer you to reducing your calories, as you won’t be quite as hungry despite eating fewer calories than usual, which is an absolute prerequisite for fat loss).

Carbohydrates will provide much needed energy for your resistance training which will help you retain/gain muscle.

If this is your goal, then look at your meals and make sure you have plenty of protein and fruit/veg accompanying them.