It’s very rare for me to write, comment, or vent online, but after pondering the idea, I’ve decided to share some of my thoughts with you on what fitness is, what it’s really about, and who should be considered fit. Of course, this is just my opinion at this point in history, but it deserves to be mentioned anyway. I am writing this, no doubt, out of disappointment. I read articles, newsletters and blogs from fit people constantly to learn and improve myself in this industry we call fitness, but lately I have come across a number of very fit people drawing lines in the sand (regarding what fitness is ), which, in my opinion, you don’t really need to be there.

Now you’ve heard me say it a million times! Fitness is (technically) generally defined in a way that has something to do with having optimal levels of:

1. cardiovascular endurance,
2. muscle tightening,
3. muscular strength,
4. flexibility,
5. body composition (fat vs. lean body mass)

While this is true and I certainly agree, I think what we are talking about is a quantitative way of looking at a qualitative issue. Yes, sports are quantitative. How much, how many, how low, how high, how strong, how far, how large, how long – these are things that we very often associate with sport. In America we tend to be a quantitative society. We want to know how much money a person has, who has the most friends, who spends the most on clothes, who has the lowest percentage of body fat, who can bench press the most weight, and who can run the longest distance in the least amount. possible. of time. We are obsessed with numbers, quantities and keeping score.

So I pose the question: Is fitness really a quantitative thing? Or could it be that physical fitness is something qualitative? Maybe a combination of both? What you think?

The only thing I can say about this is that (for me) physical fitness is more than how many times you can lift a weight, how far you can run, or whether or not you are flexible enough to put your feet behind your head. For me, physical fitness is about things that cannot always be measured with numbers, it is about more than a number, a weight, a distance, a score.

I tell my clients that we all have strengths and weaknesses at various times in our lives. At 24 he had 9% body fat year-round, could squat 700 pounds and bench press 405 pounds for reps. I can’t do that anymore. But I can do 35 pull-ups, stand on a stability ball for as long as I want, and touch my face with my knee when I stretch, everything I couldn’t do as a 24-year-old beast boy. So was he fitter then or now?

Take a look at the people around you. What is your story? What are your experiences? Are they fat? Are they too thin? Perhaps they are very weak and cannot lift much weight. They may have a low endurance level and can’t run very far before running out of breath. Think about it for a moment and then ask yourself: if maybe your current level is better than before, does it really matter that they don’t live up to your idea of ​​what fitness should be? If you think about any of these things, they all depend on one thing: your perception of that person. I take the position that physical form evolves as a person goes through life. What you thought about fitness early in your life may not be the same idea you have about fitness later on. I encourage you to embrace fitness throughout your life no matter what face you currently have.

To get better! Improves in some way. You may not always be able to do what you did when you were young, but there are ways you can become even better than you were. And I’ve seen people who were very sedentary when they were young who have steadily improved their fitness level as they got older. A client of mine, Lisa, told me that she is (in her 60s) in the best shape of her adult life. Isn’t that what fitness is all about? If you really think about fitness, isn’t it about getting better, improving, and doing what you need to do to feel better about yourself and your physical body? Isn’t it primarily about quality and not quantity?

I think so. I believe that fitness has an infinite number of faces and acquires an unlimited number of characteristics. I encourage you to try not to view fitness in such a narrow scope that you forget that fitness, above all, is about people. It’s about people getting better, not being the best. Fitness is not a sport, it is not a race and nobody keeps track. Fitness is about you as an individual. You can be a phenomenally successful athlete like Lance Armstrong or Drew Brees (both fit people) or you can be like my client Lisa (also fit person) who in her 60s decided she wanted to walk with more energy, feel more stable and be able to play with their grandchildren.

Now I encourage you to consider this: Lisa can honestly say that she is in the best shape of her adult life, can Lance Armstrong say the same today? So what is the fitness level of which person serves them best? I let you decide.

Try to think of fitness as inclusive, not exclusive. Sports are wonderful and to have a winner we have to keep score and compare one with the other. I encourage you to leave scoring to athletes on the field of play, and only on the field of play, and not in the daily activities that people undertake in their quest for fitness.

Look for fitness for life!