What exactly is "fitness"?
Well, I took that very question to Merriam-Webster for an answer. According to the dictionary, fitness is:
"the quality or state of being fit"
(Um, isn't the first rule of defining a word to not use that word in the definition?!)
Needing further clarification, I headed back to Merriam-Webster for more info. 'Fit' is then defined as:
"physically healthy and strong"; "sound physically and mentally"; "healthy"
Fitness, then, is a key component and indicator of good health, and not a separate entity.
I think there are a few different aspects that make up complete personal fitness including mental and emotional health, but today I want to focus on physical fitness.
Do you remember taking the President's physical fitness assessments in school back in the day?! I actually used to look forward to taking the tests in gym class every year! I wasn't sure if kids still did these in school so I Googled and it's still a thing. According to the website,
the PYFP (Presidential Youth Fitness Program) fitness standards encompass 4 main areas:
Aerobic Fitness; Muscular Strength and Endurance; Flexibility and Body Composition. Personally, I remember getting assessed in these areas in both the beginning and end of the school year by doing the following activities:
Endurance - Running a mile (timed)
Strength - How many pull-ups on the bar you could perform; How many sit-ups you could do in a minute
Flexibility - The sitting stretch-and-reach with the ruler!
[*Body Composition - Caliper measurement - I only remember having this done one year]
I think those 4 areas give a pretty well-rounded definition of fitness, and I wonder why we only administer fitness assessments on children? Ultimately, I think physical fitness is a huge part of being healthy and it would make sense to carry fitness assessments into adulthood. I think it would be ideal to incorporate something like this at yearly medical check-ups to give adults some kind of benchmark or guidance. Not to get too political here, but I think Western medicine generally deals with health as a 'put out the fire' type deal, treating patients when they are ill, and rarely focuses on preventing and maintaining health throughout one's life.
Children are by nature very active and fit creatures. They have boundless energy and their little bodies crave movement and play. It's often societal influences that end up hindering or stifling a children's desire to move as they age (ie. video games/electronics, too much sitting in school, not enough play time). This downhill creep in fitness levels only continues as we age. For many adults, the average day includes anywhere from 8-12 hours of sitting (or more)! Not only is this unnatural (the human body was designed to move!) but it's also detrimental to our health. Cue the new sound bite, 'Sitting is the new smoking'.
I've always loved to move and have been active consistently since I was a child. I never stopped enjoying exercising my body or seeing what it could do. I guess I never viewed exercise as a chore. My mom, dad and grandparents all go to the gym on a regular basis, and they are in their 50s, 60s and 90s (!) so I guess it runs in the family!
I spent my childhood playing outdoors and participated in sports throughout school. In college, I worked out in the campus gym or went running. After college, I didn't have a gym membership for a few years, so I ran, biked, swam, and used my dad's weights in our basement! When I moved out on my own, I joined a gym and continued running, as well as participated in club sports. Sure I take days off here and there, sometimes even a week or two from 'formal' exercise, but that doesn't mean I'm sitting at home on the couch motionless. Even if I'm on vacation, I'll make time for family walks, swimming, a run here and there. My body does not feel well if it's been inactive too long. I want to be fit because I want to be healthy for a long, long time. I want to be running around with my kids and grand kids. I want to be able to lift heavy things, spend hours walking around new cities, and swim in the ocean til the day I die!
I think where many adults go wrong when it comes to fitness is they have this 'all or nothing' mentality. Thus, the influx of 'resolutioners' at the gym every January. They go balls to the wall for a month or two, working out every day, restricting their diets like crazy, and then crash and burn. The thing most people don't realize is that you don't need a gym membership or fancy equipment to get and maintain fitness. Your body has everything built right in, and there are unlimited resources available online these days. Fitness should be a lifelong process and goal. In this culture of immediate gratification, people are looking for instant results, but it doesn't work that way. You certainly didn't get out of shape by sitting on the couch for a day, or eating 1 doughnut did you?!
I think of fitness the way I think about maintaining a car. It requires year round upkeep to continue running at its best. Regular oil changes, car washes, changing the wiper blades and headlights are all small little steps that keep your car in tip top shape. If you move your body at least a little each day, you will become fit and maintain your fitness for life. The key for most Americans I believe, is seeing fitness as an essential element to their health and incorporating it into their daily lives. I don't believe that the majority of adults in America believe this or make fitness a priority.
Sure some days may get away from you, but if you are exercising on a consistent basis you will never have to 'catch up'. You won't go through cycles of being out of shape, then in shape. Your weight won't cycle up and down, up and down. Diabetes, heart disease and a host of other illnesses will decrease in this country as well! I also think fitness begets healthier eating. You really can't eat greasy processed crap and be able to walk or run a few miles. There are more and more cities and pockets in America that are becoming health and fitness focused, and hopefully their reach continues to spread throughout the country. Fitness for life people!
You really can't argue with that
This is a fitness blog, and I realized recently that I haven't talked fitness in awhile. I guess because I'm not training for a race right now (that's about to change!), I haven't felt the need to track my workouts or training progress. But fitness is extremely important to me and a cause that's near and dear to my heart. Please let me know if there's any fitness related content you'd like to see from me, or if you'd like me to share my workouts with you. I'm working on ideas for how to incorporate more fitness posts into the rotation, instead of just using this space constantly as a (public) diary for my random thoughts about life (although that will certainly continue!). I am not a certified personal trainer but I love fitness and have been active my whole life, and love helping and inspiring others to get to the same place! And, maybe one day I will stop saying I'll pursue my CPT and actually get it :)
What is your definition of fitness?
Do you think a national adult fitness assessment would be helpful?
