Friday, February 13, 2015

What is "Fitness"?

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?
 
 
 
 
 

14 comments:

  1. Found your blog via the IDEA Inspired Bloggers page. I think it's cool that you've always led an active lifestyle. I agree that fitness is a journey. Read somewhere that people will do what they need to do when they're ready to do so. I guess the first step to health and fitness is making the choice to be healthy and fit.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Patricia. Thank you so much for stopping by! I totally agree with that! The motivation must come from within, as we must be advocates for our own personal health. I'd like to try and help motivate people to do so and to see that fitness really is an integral part of good health, and not a separate entity.

      Delete
  2. I would like to see some advice for 'beginners'.... vague as that may sound. I know you've been active for majority of your life but seeing as how most of America are standing here with me in my underused sneakers I think we would benefit from any sort of advice on how to run, how to start a using weights, etc. To be honest, the weight section of my gym intimidates me to no end.

    Just an idea, and, love that grumpy cat :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Farin. Thank you so much for your feedback! I will take this to heart and craft some posts around it. I think the most important thing is to start slow, and start small. Taking on too much too fast will result in burnout or worse, injury! If you want to start running, I would start with longer walks first, and then work in periods of alternating running/walking. Please also feel free to email me anytime at jillyruns@yahoo.com and we can communicate more that way as well!

      Delete
  3. I remember fearing the Presidential Fitness Test--I'm pretty sure I only looked forward to the sit and reach. Not the sit ups, the shuttle run, the vertical leap, forget pull ups, especially not the mile. And yet I rode horses nearly every day, played a lot of sports, and was always moving. Mom was great about making sure that we ate good meals at home, but I was always eating crappy food and likely too much. Then I "cleaned up" my diet and cleaned it up too much. So which was healthier? Hard to say. Now I think I have found the balance between true fitness and true health and also having fun.
    Fitness is a conundrum--I feel like health is almost easier to qualify. Great thoughts for the weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess calling it a "test" was not the best idea, because all students fear tests! Also, I think the fitness measurements were a good idea, but I don't remember actually working towards the goals (pull ups/sit ups/running a mile) throughout the year in gym class so I'm not sure how students that weren't up to the standards were expected to improve. Its the same issue I see with adults now. They are given no guidance in terms of how to get and maintain fitness and so they just don't pursue it. I think fitness is directly tied to good health and I wish there was a way to make this message mainstream and somehow incorporate into our healthcare initiatives.

      Delete
  4. This was a great post and I remember those presidential fitness tests. I have been active and played soccer my whole life so I loved when we had these "tests" because I always excelled at them. My definition of fitness is different now but I am still active everyday of the week and I eat much healthier than I did when I was younger. I agree that most adults think fitness is an all or nothing deal, but I don't believe so, I think its about finding something that is sustainable for your lifestyle (which is different for everyone!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Totally agree with you! That's why I don't advocate or push that everyone pursue running. The key is really finding what you like. I think if healthcare started to focus more on prevention and overall health, people would become more motivated to take charge of their fitness.

      Delete
  5. I definitely remember those tests and dreading the pull ups. The gym teachers took that stuff seriously, and with good reason.

    Now a lot of schools have gym cut totally out of the day. I don't get that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Haha, I think a lot of kids dreaded the 'tests' because there was no preparation or conditioning throughout the year to help them prepare for them! I think many adults are in the same bucket. Its been so long since they were naturally active as kids that they just don't know where to begin, so they don't bother.
      And, I cant believe a school district would REMOVE gym from their programs?! How is that even legal. Yeah, I'm sure what the kids need is less physical activity.

      Delete
  6. I remember those tests and I asked my 3 kids who are in school and they said "yes, it's still happening." I think it would be awesome to have an adult version.

    Jen@jpabstfitness

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha, wonderful! Glad to hear it wasn't just our generation who took them!
      Yeah, I think a scaled version for various adult age groups/disabilities/etc would be beneficial to at least give people an idea of where they should be. Then, there should be support offered as to how they can get to their recommended level. This is a lot to ask for an already taxed healthcare system, but I believe fitness needs to be an essential component to good health.

      Delete
  7. Man, funny how different people remember the same thing. I remember feeling like a total failure in those tests. I was an active kid but like so many others have always been overweight (still working on that...successfully!). This was a great post....maybe we should start a challenge where we do the Presidential Fitness Test and then 1-2 months later see how far we've come. :) Could be pretty awesome!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh, I'm so sorry those tests made you feel that way. I think a lot of students felt that way because they were not supported or given conditioning throughout the school year in order to get their fitness levels up, and unfortunately even back then our society was pretty sedentary.
      I love your idea of having some kind of benchmark test and then working towards improving and retesting a few months later! I'm going to do some research and see what I can come up with for this!

      Delete