Fit to Call Yourself Fit

We tend to compare ourselves to others. Usually its our worst to their best. What is your best and how does it fit into "fit"?

To discover this, I think it's important to define what "fit" really means in the broad sense and also in your own personal sense. For example, if you previously hadn't exercised for three years, but have been working out 3-4 times per week; find that you are gaining lean muscle and losing body fat, and that you have more energy and can do more than you have in the last 3 years...are you fit? If you are naturally a thin person, but have never really exercised, would you define yourself as fit? If you go to the gym most days of the week for a general workout, does this mean you are fit?

Appearances can be deceiving; don't be fooled.

The naturally thin person may secretly desire to become more fit, even if she/he is constantly told how awesome they look. The 'working towards fit' individual may look at the naturally thin person, and not know that and get jealous. I've seen this, so many times. In all cases (yes, I am speaking in absolutes here), I think it's vitally important to avoid comparing our worst to another's best.

This short blog post from Stop Chasing Skinny shows how we can do this, from the perspective of a "skinny" person.

So, are you fit? I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, about how to define, or describe fitness. The truth is, there are so many aspects to get into. As a society, we could say, "to be fit, you must be able to run a 5k without stopping." Well, that's great for some, but for others, it may not be realistic. For example, a gentleman in his 50's may have had knee replacement surgery from an old football injury. He swims 2,500 meters every other day and is in great health. But, because we defined "fit" in one way, he wouldn't qualify.

This is my opinion, but here is a way that you can define general fitness:

Can you perform 1 or more of these activities:

Cardiovascular

1. Running for 30-minutes at any pace without stopping

2. Walking briskly for 60-90 minutes while holding a conversation

3. Biking at an above leisurely pace for 60-minutes

4. Swimming for 30-minutes with minimal rest

5. Dancing, Zumba, rowing, hiking, incline walking, rollerblading, or any other moderate movement exercise for 30-60 minutes without getting super out of breath

6. Playing a recreational sport like football, basketball, volleyball for an afternoon

Strength

1. Being able to do 10 to 20 pushups in a row

2. Being able to perform basic strength movements in good form and for at least 20-minutes (examples: squats, lunges, rows, pullups, bench press, deadlifts, shoulder press, core exercises)

3. Being able to perform above ordinary tasks like moving heavy furniture, loading boxes, etc.

We could go into balance, agility, and many other measures of fitness, but the point is this... "fit" is all relative....to you. You may read this list and know that you can do it all, or you may look at it and think the opposite. Here's the key, there are 9+ examples here. Did you read the list and pick out 1-2 that you couldn't do or did you pick the 5-6 that you can. Focus on your strengths and build on it. I can do most of these things, but swimming for 30-minutes consistently? No thank you, there is no desire there; and that's ok.

This year, I have chosen to run a marathon. Why? Two reasons: 1) often, when someone finds out I'm a trainer, the first question that comes out is, "oh, do you run marathons?" Now, I am not sure what one has to do with the other, but I figured, I might as well do one, so I could answer 'yes' to that question (for those of you wondering, yes, this is 90% of my motivation for doing the marathon!); 2) I like to compete against myself and see what I am made of.

I love CrossFit. It's one of the influences that helped me develop my passion for fitness. I am training for a marathon, and for my body, find that the 2 do not mix as I'd like. Because my goal is the marathon, I have to dissociate myself from the CrossFit world, even though I am constantly surrounded by friends/colleagues who are participating and competing in the sport. Sometimes it's hard, because I feel like I am not as fit as they are, because I am running versus doing CrossFit workouts. In my head, I know this is nutso talk, but in my gut, I am jealous of their workouts. The point here is...whatever your goals are, stick with them. Don't let the sway or enticement of someone else's goal sway yours. Become the fit that you want to become in that moment. Define it for yourself and then stand proud of your progression.

If you go from playing recreational basketball, to training and completing a triathlon, I'm proud of you. If you go from getting winded walking up a flight of stairs to being able to walk up 4 flights of stairs easily, I'm equally proud of you. If you go from not exercising to walking 10-minutes a day, I am ecstatic for you. (Please, insert your own goals here and then get excited about them).

Go after your goals, and define what fitness means for you.

By the way, I'd love to hear your definitions and accomplishments!