What Is Fitness?

At its very core, fitness can be defined as the condition of being physically able to perform aspects of sport, occupation and daily life with relative ease, and to maintain good physical, mental and emotional health. Or, at least, that’s how I’d define it. The dictionary definition of fitness is simply, “The condition of being physically fit and healthy.”

But, that doesn’t really answer any questions. Looking at that dictionary definition, you may be inclined to ask, “What qualifies as fit?”

And here’s where things get a bit vague. The criteria for being fit may vary from person to person, quite heavily. In most cases, no one criterion of fitness can really be established as a rule of thumb, because the lives of every person are so different. Looking back to my personal definition of fitness, one can see that I did not specify what these aspects, of sport or occupation or daily life which may be performed, actually are because the sport or occupation or daily life differs for everyone.

That being said, I do believe that there are a few guideline criteria from where we can start a journey of fitness. I have selected these criteria to cater to as many regular groups of the population as I can feasibly accommodate.

These criteria relate to cardiovascular health and musculoskeletal health. That is to say, health of the heart, health of the lungs, the health of the bones and joints, and the health of the muscles.

These, at the very core, translate to results in the form of a good heart rate, the ability to walk or jog for moderate distances without running out of breath, or struggling, the ability to carry load and stress and to be able to move around effectively without trouble and to perform movements under tension or against resistance, with ease.

A lot of people relate a high level of fitness to looking a certain way or being able to accomplish certain athletic feats. While that isn’t necessarily an incorrect approach to fitness, I would like to state that there is much more to being fit than those relations. True fitness is not necessarily just about the way you look and athletically perform, but also about how you feel, how you’re able to control yourself mentally and emotionally, how efficient and effective you can make your own body, and how comfortable and satisfied you can feel with the way it operates.

With this, I welcome you to a world of health and happiness and, hopefully, to a new you.