What does being fit mean to you? WHAT IS FITNESS?
How you define it will most likely be very different from what many other people think. Similar to politics and religion the question can lead to heated debates!
Scholars have whittle down the meaning of fitness to this summed up definition: Fitness is the body’s ability to function efficiently and effectively. It is comprised of 11 components that contribute to one’s quality of life.
11 components are a lot! Seriously, no wonder fitness is so diverse and hard to define for the average Joe! Basically, there are 5 components that are HEALTH related and 6 that are SKILL related. As a trainer it’s my job to try to integrate all the Health related components into a client’s lifestyle while also teaching and integrating the more “athletic” or SKILL components into a client’s workout plan in order to create optimal fitness. What are the components of Fitness? The first 5 are HEALTH and the last 6 are SKILL:
- Body Composition
- Cardiovascular Fitness
- Flexablility
- Muscular Endurance
- Strength
- Agility
- Balance
- Coordination
- Power
- Reaction Time
- Speed
Many popular fitness programs do not incorporate all 11 components. For example: yoga…is mainly about flexibility and balance, so can a yogi be truly fit by definition? What about a marathon runner? They run an run and run some more so they are mainly working their Cardiovascular Fitness and Muscular Endurance. Is a marathon runner fit?
I believe the answer is Yes! Yogis and Marathoners are fit. One does not need to be an expert at all 11 components in order to be fit. But, I do believe, one needs to be conscious of all 11 and understand that in order to be your best, your fittest, you do need to incorporate all 11 components. You do not have to be an expert them but you do need to incorporate the concepts connected with them.
It is quite often that a new client comes to me with very little basic fitness knowledge, most of what they know about fitness has been gleaned from fitness product commercials and elementary school PE class. Very few clients have ever been exposed to what i term Fitness 101 information. I take it for granted because I grew up an 4+ sport athlete, loved PE, read fitness books and magazines in my free time and went on to study exercise science in college. I am a fitness nerd and forget that the average person has very limited TRUE knowledge about fitness.
My goal is to empower you to be your fittest! I want to empower you with the knowledge of Fitness 101 that will enable you to understand your body and become your BEST! Watch for more posts and video content digging deeper into Fitness! We’ll call it Fitness 101, just like in college 🙂