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Fit
for What?
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by: Tanja
Gardner
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Copyright
2005 Tanja Gardner
Unless we’re talking about our bodies, and the
amount of exercise they can do, we usually talk
about being fit in relation to something. An
object is ‘fit for use’, clothing is ‘fit to
be worn at work’, and food is ‘fit to be
eaten’. My parents used to have a running joke
that they were fit – fit to drop! Everything
else is fit 'for something'. So why do we insist
on describing ourselves as ‘fit’ or
‘unfit’ without relating the concepts to
anything else?
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
It’s a basic truth that the human body wasn’t
made to sit still for any length of time. We spent
tens of thousands of years evolving in an
environment that required us to move – to find
shelter, to catch food, and to keep ourselves safe
from predators. We’ve only been living
lifestyles that allow us to be sedentary for the
lesser part of a hundred years – not nearly
enough time for evolution to adapt our bodies to
this new environment. We see this constantly
reflected in modern rates of heart disease,
atherosclerosis, chronic aches and pains, and
muscular and bone deterioration in people who have
become inactive as they age.
On top of this, activity has a very real effect on
both stress and energy levels. Our bodies have a
‘use-it-or-lose-it’ way with energy – if we
don't constantly use and then replace energy (with
activity, followed by rest and good nutrition), we
start noticing our energy levels gradually
draining away. We feel tired, lethargic, and as
though any amount of effort is just too much to be
worth it. And if we’re also under stress – for
example, at work, or in a difficult relationship
– we feel the energy loss and the stress even
more intensely.
These are general principles that seem to be true
whoever we are. But different lifestyles require
different amounts of energy, and exact different
prices in terms of stress. We enjoy doing, and our
bodies are suited for, different kinds of
activity. It makes sense then, that the amount and
type of activity that will help us reach our
optimum fitness, will be different.
DIFFERENT STROKES
If that’s the case, then getting ‘fit’
without a frame of reference seems like a
meaningless concept. Unless we know what we want
to be ‘fit for’ – what fitness means to us
– there’s no reason for us to get or stay that
way. If my life is basically calm, quiet and
easy-flowing, and I’m quite happy to keep it
that way, my ‘optimum fitness’ is going to be
very different to someone who’s discovered a
deep fulfillment in setting themselves a goal and
achieving it. Someone who’d just like to go for
a walk with friends without getting puffed is
going to have a different optimum fitness level to
someone who wants to discover how it feels to
finish a marathon.
On top of this, what people want often changes
over time. Perhaps at one point in your life, you
enjoyed spending a couple of hours a day
exercising, but now you’re finding there are
things you’d like to do far more with that time.
Alternatively, when you first started creating
your optimum life for yourself, it might have been
enough for you to just keep your body healthy. As
you tried new activities though, you might have
discovered you were actually enjoying some of them
for their own sake, and wanting to get fitter so
you could do more of them. So at different times
in your life, you’d have a different optimum
fitness level.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE “FIT FOR”?
Which brings us back to our original question –
can we talk about being fit, without knowing what
exactly we’re ‘fit for’? The way we see it,
your optimum fitness level depends completely on
what you want to be able to do in your daily life,
how you want to be feeling, how much energy
you’d like to have and how exercise fits in with
the rest of your life. So your first step in
moving closer to optimum fitness needs to be to
make that all-important decision “What do I want
to be fit for?”
About the author:
Optimum Life's Tanja Gardner is a Stress
Management Coach and Personal Trainer whose
articles on holistic health, relaxation and
spirituality have appeared in various media since
1999. Optimum Life is dedicated to providing
fitness and stress management services to help
clients all over the world achieve their optimum
lives. For more information please visit check out
http://optimumlife.co.nz,or
contact Tanja on tanja@optimumlife.co.nz.
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