What Is Fitness, Really?

When you hear the word fitness, what probably comes to mind is the gym or the monkey bars in the nearby park.

But is that all there is to fitness, or does it have a deeper meaning that we don’t really understand?

Well let’s start here — If you look at the body objectively, you’ll come to find out that it was built for high performance.

The skeletal-muscular system, which is quite complex, works in synergy with all other internal systems, to ultimately allow you to do a variety of movements.

As a matter of fact, fitness was quite natural for the most part of human existence, as we did not really have big cities and easy food around every corner.

Living in nature is what led to the complex development of the human body and all of its components and systems.

That is to say that while nowadays fitness is something that makes you look good, in the past it was a survival trait — Something that helped you thrive and survive.

Now, in the modern-day times, where we have an abundance of instruments to develop the body, becoming fit is an easy task.

But before you get under the bar, let us define the word “fitness”.

By definition, fitness is the condition of being healthy and in good physical shape.

Fitness can change its meaning if you put it in the context of a certain competitive sport, but in case you are not training for a certain discipline, fitness isn’t just strength or looks.

Instead, it is the physical ability of an individual to endure a multitude of different physical tasks.

I mean, think about it — Humans can run, swim, sprint, climb, crawl, jump, push, pull, cycle, hike, dive, juggle, dance and overall, we can move our bodies in a variety of ways.

Certainly, visual and strength development is best achieved through weight and bodyweight training, but we shouldn’t really limit fitness to just a couple of exercises, given the vast variety of movements we can do.

The more movements you can do, the higher your level of fitness and more importantly, the better the level of enjoyment you get from your body.

Again, unless you are a competitive athlete, limiting yourself to developing just a couple of physical qualities is not your best bet.

Because doing that would be like having an amazing, track-dedicated sports car and only taking it to the quarter mile drag strip.

Learn more about the body, its muscles, its internal systems and put them to use.

Don’t be afraid to do cardio and don’t be afraid to lift weights, climb, jump and sprint, all of these are just functions, which when developed, will make you feel, look and perform better.

Enjoy the vast variety of movements and flow you can achieve with the greatest biological tool in our known universe — The body.

THIS is fitness.