Health is often mistaken for fitness. The problem is that plenty of people can run marathons, lift heavy weights or clock hours in the gym but still feel run down, sluggish or unwell. A recent study on professional soccer staff in England and Spain has highlighted exactly why. These are people working in high-performance environments, surrounded by experts, yet most are struggling to maintain the balance that true health requires. The research found that only 7.6% of staff met all of the recommended movement and lifestyle guidelines and not one participant achieved a “healthy” diet score.
That might sound surprising, but it reflects a truth that applies to everyone. And that’s health depends on several interlinked habits, not a single pursuit. Exercise, nutrition, sleep, strength and recovery all sit on equal footing. When one starts to slip, the others tend to follow. For anyone studying a personal trainer course, this kind of data underlines an important point that clients don’t just need programmes that make them sweat, they need strategies that build balance.
The Illusion of Health Through Fitness
In professional sport, the focus is often on performance, like how fast, strong or efficient a person can become. For the support staff behind the players, that performance pressure spills over into their own routines. Long travel days, late matches and high workloads create an environment that rewards busyness, not necessarily health. The study, led by Coope and colleagues in 2025, found that just over one-third of soccer staff managed to meet the “general” 24-hour movement guidelines, which include sleep, physical activity and limited sedentary time. Fewer than 15% met the “secondary” recommendations that add strength training, screen time limits and consistent sleep schedules.
The results weren’t caused by laziness, but they were a reflection of imbalance. Many of the participants reported working out regularly but sleeping too little, eating on the go or skipping structured resistance sessions. They were fit in one sense and unhealthy in another. The same issue often shows up in the general population, which is why many of our fitness courses now include modules on recovery, nutrition and behaviour change. Health has always been about the sum of small, consistent actions across the entire day.
The Four Pillars of Real Health
Movement, strength, sleep and nutrition make up the four main pillars. When those are stable, the rest of life tends to flow more easily.
Movement refers to all daily activity, not only formal exercise but walking, stretching and moving between periods of sitting. Prolonged stillness increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic dysfunction. Research from the Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology shows that breaking up sedentary time improves blood sugar regulation and reduces fatigue.
Strength plays a vital role in long-term health. It supports metabolic rate, bone density, mobility and mental health. The soccer staff study found a clear link between strength training and higher diet quality scores, suggesting that those who lift regularly may also make better food choices and manage their routines more effectively. Strength training encourages self-discipline, structure and goal setting, all of which spill over into other habits.
Sleep is the repair mechanism that keeps every other system functioning. Around one in five staff in the study reported sleeping less than seven hours per night, which aligns with broader research showing how chronic sleep restriction leads to overeating and poor food quality. In a 2020 paper from the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, Theorell-Haglöw and colleagues found that people who slept longer and more consistently had higher diet scores and more regular meal patterns.
Nutrition connects everything. Diet affects energy, mental focus and how well training and recovery happen. The soccer staff’s average diet quality score was low, with most participants eating too few fruits, vegetables, legumes and wholegrains. Those working as Performance Nutritionists scored the highest, which makes sense as knowledge often drives better choices. For anyone considering a nutrition coach course, this finding highlights how understanding the science of food can directly shape healthier behaviour.
The Compounding Effect of Active Habits
The researchers discovered something encouraging: staff who engaged in regular strength training and higher-intensity physical activity tended to score better across multiple areas. These individuals didn’t just move more, they also ate better and slept longer. Moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and muscle strength training were both strongly associated with improved diet quality. Sleep duration was another positive factor.
This pattern supports a broader idea seen in many studies, that people who commit to one structured form of exercise often develop stronger routines in other domains. Resistance training, for example, can encourage planning around meals, hydration and bedtime. It introduces rhythm and consistency, which reduce impulsive habits like late-night snacking or skipping breakfast. A 2020 review in Sports Medicine by Maestroni and colleagues explained how strength training improves musculoskeletal health but also supports endocrine balance, helping regulate appetite and stress.
In essence, movement begets balance. The effort required for resistance or high-intensity exercise builds the kind of discipline that naturally reinforces the other pillars. When the training habit is solid, it becomes easier to make better food choices and prioritise rest.
When One Pillar Crumbles
The four pillars depend on each other. Neglecting just one can quickly undermine the rest. Training on five hours of sleep increases cortisol and blunts performance. Poor nutrition reduces recovery and immune function. Skipping movement leads to fatigue, even with adequate sleep. Each behaviour carries a biological cost that ripples outward.
In the soccer staff data, those with irregular sleep schedules or minimal resistance work reported the lowest diet quality. That connection might be behavioural as much as physiological. Tired people crave convenience; sedentary people tend to snack more. Long-term, these patterns increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and mental fatigue. The lesson is simple: consistency across all four areas creates stability.
Lessons From the Professionals
Performance Nutritionists stood out in the research for having the highest diet quality scores. They were living examples of how knowledge translates to behaviour. Other staff, such as coaches, analysts and physiotherapists, did not score as well, which suggests that knowing about sport or health isn’t enough if the working environment doesn’t support healthy choices.
The same principle applies to personal trainers and their clients. Just as elite clubs need systems that support their staff, trainers can build programmes that help clients look beyond workouts and focus on daily health routines. That might include helping someone establish a consistent sleep routine, plan quick but nutritious meals, or find ways to stay active between gym sessions. Encouraging clients to think in terms of the four pillars of movement, strength, sleep and nutrition, turns fitness into a lifestyle rather than a short-term goal.
When personal trainers approach health in this way, they create a structure that mirrors what the study authors proposed for professional sport, which is a balance built through routine, recovery and education. These small shifts can transform progress, helping clients feel stronger, recover faster and sustain results for years instead of weeks.
What This Means for Everyday Health
The takeaway from the study is that health is a daily equation. It’s not about extreme effort in one area. It’s about moderate, consistent attention to all. Regular movement, two or more sessions of resistance training each week, at least seven hours of sleep a night and a diet built around whole foods form the baseline. None of those behaviours need to be perfect. The key is that they all exist in harmony.
A good way to think about it is through the 24-hour lens used in the research. Every day provides opportunities to move, lift, rest and eat well. Miss too many of those chances and balance starts to erode. Pay attention to all of them and health improves quietly in the background.
The Real Definition of Fit
The best kind of fitness isn’t visible. It’s how the body functions, repairs and adapts. It’s how energy remains steady, mood stays balanced and recovery happens without exhaustion. True fitness comes from the interaction between movement, strength, sleep and nutrition. That interaction keeps the system working as a whole, no single habit overpowering the others.
When all four pillars stand together, the result isn’t just better performance in the gym or on the pitch. It’s a life that feels stronger, steadier and more sustainable.
Reference
- Coope, O. C., Spurr, T., Levington, A., Davies, T., Lloyd, B., Jordán, K., & Roman-Viñas, B. (2025). Moderate-to-Vigorous Physical Activity, Sleep and Muscle Strength Training Are Associated with Better Diet Quality Among Multi-Disciplinary Soccer Staff in Spain and England. Ramon Llull University. Click here to review the full research article.
- Canadian Society for Exercise Physiology. (2021). The Whole Day Matters – Adults 18+ – 24-Hour Movement Guidelines. Click here to review the full research article.
- Theorell-Haglöw, J., Lemming, E. W., Michaëlsson, K., Elmståhl, S., Lind, L., & Lindberg, E. (2020). Sleep duration is associated with healthy diet scores and meal patterns: results from the population-based EpiHealth study. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 16(1), 9–18. Click here to review the full research article.
- Maestroni, L., Read, P., Bishop, C., Papadopoulos, K., Suchomel, T. J., Comfort, P., & Turner, A. (2020). The Benefits of Strength Training on Musculoskeletal System Health: Practical Applications for Interdisciplinary Care. Sports Medicine, 50(8), 1431–1450. Click here to review the full research article.
- Ross, R., et al. (2020). Canadian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for Adults aged 18–64 years and Adults aged 65 years or older: an integration of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep. Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 45(10 Suppl. 2), S57–S102. Click here to review the full research article.
Coach the Whole Person, Not Just the Workout
Most people still see fitness as just exercise, but the latest research tells a different story. In the 2025 study of multidisciplinary soccer staff in England and Spain, only 7.6% met all of the 24-hour movement and lifestyle guidelines and not one participant reached a “healthy” diet score. The findings clearly show true health depends on all four pillars: movement, strength, sleep and nutrition. That’s why our Practitioner Diploma is a great place to start your journey as a fitness professional, but if you want to help clients create lasting change across every area of their wellbeing, the Specialist and Master Diplomas in Nutrition & Exercise™, Women’s Health & Exercise™ and Strength & Conditioning Exercise™ give you the knowledge and tools to do just that. You’ll learn how to assess, coach and design programmes that bring together exercise science, nutrition, recovery and lifestyle strategies, so you can help clients move better, eat smarter, sleep deeper and live stronger.
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