The Truth About Fitness
Today, we are talking about fitness and what it really is. We’ll talk about how we are introduced to fitness and why it is important, we’ll talk about the fitness industry and how it leads us astray with exercise, and we’ll end with a discussion about what fitness actually is and why it is so vital for our exercise longevity that we shift our perspective.
The overwhelming evidence and social narrative around wellness is that physical activity is a major factor in positive long term health outcomes. It improves sleep, mood, significantly lowers acute and chronic disease risk, and the list goes on and on. Essentially, when you regularly exercise everything gets better.
What actually is exercise, though? There are a few major caveats to begin this discussion with that are well worth mentioning and are crucial in creating a deeper understanding of what fitness really is.
For one, exercise is amazing and beneficial and positive only if we are assuming you are engaging in an activity that is appropriate to your fitness capabilities at that time. If we reach too far outside of our capacity, we run the risk of minor or even serious injury. These injuries can permanently change the trajectory of our physical exercise abilities, and this is why it is tremendously important that we understand what we are doing, why we are doing it, and what our bodies are capable of and can tolerate at that time. This includes understanding the health of our joints, our skeletal system, the limitations we already have from past injuries or lifestyle consequences, and the effect and stimuli that the type of exercise we are engaging in will have on what we currently have. In short, what I’m saying is that when we decide to begin an exercise program, it is of utmost importance that we determine whether or not it will be helpful and beneficial or harmful and dangerous to our bodies.
The second important caveat here is the intention of our engagement in exercise. Why are you choosing to exercise? What is the narrative you tell yourself? How were you taught to view exercise and physical activity as a child? Were you taught that exercise is an amazing and beautiful expression of self love and the joy of motion; a celebration of the fact that you are human and that the human body has capabilities that are unbelievable? Were you taught that your body is an absolutely awe inspiring phenomenon that elicits a feeling of complete mystery upon further examination? My guess is… probably not.
I would venture to guess that your introduction to exercise was absolutely terrible and traumatizing. Presidential Fitness Testing, anybody? What a brilliant idea! Let’s take kids that have been forced to sit for 8 hours a day that haven’t been training for any sort of fitness testing and then thrust them into the same fitness tests they use in the Military. Then, when they aren’t soldiers because we’ve force fed them food that doesn’t meet their needs and taken away their ability to run and play and move like children naturally do, we’re going to judge them, humiliate them in front of their peers, and condescend them for their lack of connection and understanding within their bodies.
My guess is your introduction to fitness was eerily similar if not exactly this: Fitness is a competition, it is scary and painful, and it is a form of punishment because I’m not good enough and I can’t meet the expectations held of me. Because of the Presidential Fitness Testing, American children experienced this from the early 1950’s until 2013, when it was rebranded as the Presidential Youth Fitness Program. Same concept, different name. This also has nothing to say about the way sports are thrust upon and impact kids as it pertains to exercise, but the principle messages we are sending our kids are essentially the same as the Fitness Testing. Is it really any surprise that a majority of Americans avoid exercise when they were traumatized by it before they even were capable of understanding what it truly is?
Now, let’s talk about the adult populous of Americans that do participate in exercise. Traumatized as they may have been, they still show up. Let’s summarize something I said earlier: Exercise is only safe and effective when it is done within the boundaries of our current capabilities. If we are 55 and have joint issues, Crossfit probably isn’t the best or wisest option for us. If we haven’t been active in 10, 15, maybe 20 years, we probably can’t and don’t need to do the workouts from when we were “in our prime” to see results. This, however, is the space where the fitness industry seems to lead people. Fitness trainers and influencers are more often than not people who are already in great shape, they probably have little to no injury history, and have a Savior Complex towards the people they are training.
These are the people who design the exercise programs people find online, these are the people we see on social media, and who are training people in gyms. Sadly, they give people with completely different bodies and capabilities than them the same programs they use. This is the perfect recipe for injuries, joint degradation, and lack of commitment and consistency. In conjunction, trainers, influencers, athletes, coaches, and marketing companies continue to perpetuate the same message that they were all taught as children: Fitness is punishment. You must punish yourself because you aren’t good enough and you aren’t meeting the expectations society has of you. Why in the world would anyone actually subject themselves to this activity when this is the narrative thrust upon them from all sides? When was the last time you decided to engage in a behavior that wasn’t fitness because you thought you were a failure and you needed to be punished?
So, with our understanding of how people were introduced to fitness and how the industry continues to perpetuate this traumatizing introduction, let’s answer the question posed at the beginning. What is fitness? Fitness is formally defined by Oxford Languages as “the condition of being physically fit and healthy”. Interestingly, the definition contains no mention of being able to pass the fitness test that people train for to join the military… you know, the same test that was your introduction into fitness? What this really means is that fitness is defined by the individual and their own goals and capabilities. I have clients who are in their 60’s and 70’s who could care less about how lean and toned they are because they simply want to be strong enough to maintain their independence. Is their definition of fit and healthy the same as someone who is 30 or 40? Absolutely not. Are they unhealthy? Absolutely not. They take no medications and suffer from no chronic diseases. Fitness is the condition of being physically fit: a state of being that is entirely subjective to an individual’s lifestyle, goals, and capabilities. Fitness is the condition of being healthy: objective measures of health included, this is something that changes as we age.
We’ve arrived at the conclusion: Fitness, structured physical exercise, is an act of self love. It is a celebration of our bodies, exactly as they are in that moment in time, and it is a way in which we express our love for ourselves by transforming our mental and physical state. Exercise shows us who we truly are, what we’re really made of when we are taken outside of our comfort zone, and it gives us a window into the infinite potential that is ever-present inside of us. Fitness is a medium in which we can discover, navigate, and truly find awe in the mystery of our human bodies. We were taught that this act of self love and self discovery is punishment and that we should compare ourselves to everyone else who can participate in human motion because we are inherently not good enough. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Here are a few tips I would like to offer as a perspective shift on exercise:
Clarify the intentions and the reasons why you participate in or want to participate in a specific type of exercise. Is it something that will actually improve your health, help you discover the potential inside of you, and bring you joy? Or is it something you want to or think you should do because somebody told you that you “should” do this type of exercise and have created goals and expectations for you (we’re pointing the finger at you, social media influencers and personal trainers) based on their assumptions and the exercise they like to do? (News flash: just because a trainer or influencer likes a type of exercise, it doesn’t mean that exercise is going to be beneficial for everyone)
Once you have clarified your intentions, decide what exercise actually brings you joy and makes you feel amazing. Now, this might be something that is actually really difficult in the process of doing it, but think about the workouts you have felt amazing and empowered after. This can literally be any form of exercise. Dancing? Sure! Running? Hiking? Resistance training? Yoga? Pilates? Biking? Swimming? Anything you love to do that brings you joy and helps you celebrate your body is the best answer here! There is no one best type of exercise because everyone’s goals, preferences, and capabilities are different. The question here is how do you want to express and show love to yourself?
Remember you are worth the time. You are good enough. You are always worth it. No matter what happens, remember that you reserve the right, from the moment you are born until the moment you die, to express self love and to make some time for this practice. This is a form of spiritual expression, to show yourself and create time for yourself to express self love, compassion, and care for the beautiful and awe-inspiring body you inhabit.
It is my pleasure to leave you with a beautifully powerful quote from Rumi:
“Do not feel lonely, the entire universe is inside you. Stop acting so small. You are the universe in ecstatic motion. Set your life on fire.”
With all my heart and precious time,
Noah
