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Rise Lifestyle Pyramid

Learn about our Lifestyle Pyramid, what each section means, and why we intentionally ordered it in the way we did.

Chase Morlock

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Pictured above is our Rise Lifestyle Pyramid. It’s a simple, effective visual for understanding how to build a lifestyle that sets you up for long-term success. This approach has worked, and continues to work, because it’s simple, sustainable, and aligned with everything we do at Rise.

We’re here to help adults take control of their health: to get strong, move well, and build lasting habits within a supportive community. Through that process, we grow in self-discipline and self-mastery so we can better serve our families, friends, and community, and fully enjoy all that may come in the decades ahead.

This pyramid helps us reach goals like:

  • Feeling more energized

  • Losing weight

  • Gaining muscle

  • Playing with kids and grandkids

  • Going on hikes, hunts, and trips 

  • Feeling strong and healthy well into our 80s & 90s

  • Competing in recreational activities

Let’s break down each of the parts of the pyramid.

Shift Your Mindset 

There are 3 key takeaways from this section. 

  1. Growth Mindset: If you haven’t read the book “Mindset” by Carol Dweck, I highly recommend checking it out. But the gist of it is this: You need to have a growth mindset when it comes to health and nutrition. Having a growth mindset means that you believe you can learn new skills and you can accomplish new things. When growth mindset people have a setback or fail at something, they don’t get depressed or pout, but instead they use it as data to determine how they can be better and win the next time. On the other hand, if you are stuck in a fixed mindset, you would likely point your finger at something or someone to blame for your loss. You would want to quit because you didn’t succeed and that made you feel like you weren’t “good enough.” If that sounds like you, it’s time to transform your thinking into a growth mindset - one where you tell yourself that you can learn and you can accomplish goals. Check out a previous blog we did on growth mindset here. 

  2. 80/20. This principle applies to just about anything in life. The general idea of the 80/20 rule is to do whatever it takes to be healthy 80% of the time, and not to worry too much over the other 20%. I like to think about it like this: I aim to be very disciplined 6 days of the week, and then 1 day a week I loosen up a bit. My Sundays are much more relaxed and a day where I might indulge in some chocolate, which has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. 

  3. What is the goal and why? We need to clearly understand the goal you’ve set out for yourself, as well as your “why” behind it. Once we know that information, we can set up standards that will lead you to success. When times inevitably get hard and you want to quit whatever it is that you’re doing, remembering your clearly defined goal and the motivation for it will help you stay on track and succeed. The standards and habits we build around that goal are what you will fall back onto to keep you moving forward. 

This is the base of the pyramid because if we do not start off with a willingness to shift our mindset, then it will be very hard to make any real change and achieve a healthy lifestyle. For many of us, we need to ask, “what got me to this point?” and then, “what needs to change to get me to the point where I want to be?” Oftentimes, our mindset is the biggest factor.

Train Smart

  1. Strength train 2-3x/week: You should be doing safe, effective, and progressive strength training at least 2-3 times a week. Muscle mass and strength are key to living the way you want to live in your later years. Having a good coach and a program that fits your needs and goals will help immensely in this area.

There is no shortage of information on how important exercise is, but here are a few reminders of some of those benefits of resistance training: 

  • Increase lean muscle mass

  • Increase bone density

  • Protect joints from injury

  • Enhance quality of life

  • Improve balance

  • Retain independence later in life

  • Reduce signs and symptoms of chronic conditions such as arthritis, back pain, obesity, heart disease, depression, and diabetes

  • Improve cognitive ability

  • Improve heart health

  • Boost mood and self esteem

  • Increase metabolism

  • Reduce body fat

Weightlifting is a safe and effective way to reap all of the benefits listed above, and becomes even safer and more effective when you have a coach in the room with eyes on you. The purpose of a great coach is to help get you to where you want to be faster, and to do so in the most safe and effective/efficient way possible. 

One of the most common misconceptions is that strength training will help people lose all the weight they want to. While strength training definitely does aid in that process, it is not the main focus when trying to lose weight. The way to lose weight, gain weight, or maintain weight boils down to calories. 90% or more of weight loss will come from nutrition, 10% or less will come from training. That is why our nutrition section comes up in just a few more steps on the pyramid. 

Prioritize Movement

  1. You’ve probably heard these two taglines at some point: “A body in motion stays in motion.” and “Motion is lotion.” Both of these phrases drive home the same point - just move! Once you get in the habit of doing some sort of movement daily, it becomes part of your routine that you’ll refuse to miss. Simple movements can do wonders for our health, mood, digestion, and so much more. For example: Get up from sitting at work every hour and do a few squats. Go out and take a walk or bike ride every day. Hit up the pool and swim a few laps. Movement is key. A simple goal is to get 10 to 30 minutes of walking, biking, or your favorite movement every single day. 

We put in the Movement and Training sections of the pyramid before the nutrition portion, not because movement and training is more important than nutrition, but because these two habits are generally easier to add in. It is just flat out easier to maintain daily movement and weekly training for most people than it is to maintain and change your habits with nutrition. To change nutrition habits, it will take even more discipline. 

Fuel and Hydrate  

  1. Quality Nutrition: We eat to live, not live to eat. Quality nutrition means fueling our body properly with healthy, whole food options and starting to slowly eliminate some of those more processed foods. It doesn’t need to be an all or nothing diet. You can still enjoy sweets and treats, but we want the majority of our diet to be made up of high quality foods.

  2. Calories based on your goals: One of the best parts of having a coach is having someone to help you determine a plan that is right for you, something that can be tricky to do alone when there’s endless information available these days about “the best diets” or “the best workout plans”. One of the first things our nutrition coach will do is help you determine a simple nutrition plan based on what works for your specific lifestyle. A coach will give you a calorie range to shoot for according to your goals, and tons of helpful tips and recipes for staying on track with your calories.

  3. Prioritize Protein: Protein is extremely important to your success with nutrition. Shoot for about .8g - 1.2g of protein per pound of body weight or goal body weight.

    1. Check out this blog about the amount of protein you should be taking in.

    2. Check out this blog about some simple ways to get in more protein.

  4. Hydration: Your body needs water. As a starting point, aim to drink about half your bodyweight (or goal bodyweight) in ounces each day. While individual needs can vary, this is a simple and effective benchmark for most people. Water plays a crucial role in nearly every function in the body. It supports blood flow, digestion, temperature regulation, and recovery, and is a major component of muscle and other tissues. It’s not uncommon for us to sit down with people who are only drinking 20-30 oz per day. That’s very low, but more common than you might think. If you’re not close to the recommended amount, start simple: add 10 ounces per day and gradually build over time.

Recover Well

  1. Sleep 7+ hours: While training is important, your recovery may be just as important. If your body is not allowed enough rest and recovery time, you can only get so far. You need to allow your body a chance to recover from workouts and your day in general, and there is no better way than sleep. Aim for 7 hours or more, but if you are way off that target, start by just adding 30 minutes of extra sleep and see how much of a difference it makes. 

Recovery is not last on our pyramid because it’s the least important. In fact, it could arguably be second only to mindset.

However, after years of real, practical experience working with people, we’ve found that recovery is one of the harder habits to tackle right away. The good news is that when you build a strong mindset, stay consistent with strength training, move daily, eat well, and stay hydrated, your sleep and overall recovery naturally improve.

Everything works together.

This pyramid simply reflects the most effective way we’ve found to layer in these habits step by step, so they actually stick.

While these are all simple concepts, they are not necessarily simple to implement. Go through this list and see where you are already succeeding, and then see where you may be falling short. 

Pick one thing to work on this week and start creating the habit. When you get your mindset right,  train smart, move, fuel and hydrate, and recover, your health and fitness will change drastically. 

Get after it!