The Forgotten Concept of Health and Fitness

What is your reason for exercising?

Are you doing it to look good? Maybe it’s to show off to work colleagues? Or perhaps it’s even just because someone on Instagram told you to?

The truth is, we live in a society where all of the above are probably accurate, and nearly all of us have been guilty of at least one of those reasons entering our thought process at some point in our fitness journey - and that includes myself, so absolutely no judgement here!

The sad part is that all of these reasons and many more unnamed ones that are prevalent in the fitness world today, are so far removed from the initial concept of health and fitness that it is causing people to make some very questionable decisions when it comes to their own health.

So here’s my attempt at helping us all press the reset button…

Definition of ‘Health’:

Complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not only the absence of illness or infirmity.

Definition of ‘Fitness’:

The ability to meet the demands of the environment and perform daily activities with vigor.

So when we put these two definitions together, you could define Health & Fitness as:

Being in a strong physical, mental and social state of wellbeing in order to be able to perform daily activities and meet the demands of one’s surrounding environment.

We can then look into a little bit further to see how regular physical exercise can help us achieve the above; so let’s first define what actually is exercise?

Definition of ‘Exercise’:

A form of physical exertion done to improve health or fitness or both in order to improve one’s quality of life.

Now if you take one thing away from this blog post, I want it to be that definition above, and most importantly, the very last part of that definition - to improve one’s quality of life. When you break it all down, as I have above, that is what I believe is the very concept of Health & Fitness - and the one that has been forgotten in all the noise that has now crowded the Health and Fitness sector.

We live in a world where people are far too quick to copy what they see on social media, or to try out the latest health and fitness FADs and crazes, without applying any sort of logic or common sense to what it is they’re actually doing, and how doing that is going to help them reach their fitness goals - let alone applying it to how it will help improve their quality of life, as per the whole definition of exercise.

Inside Out Fitness Coaching was built on this whole premise - trying to rise above the noise and often dangerous misinformation that crowds the fitness industry; and trying to help people get back to the founding principles of Health, Fitness and Exercise - taking part in structured, enjoyable and sustainable physical exercise to help improve their quality of life.

If we all make an effort to think about what we’re trying to achieve with health and fitness, and keep that in mind before following the latest trends we see on social media, we may just be able to gradually move back to its basic concept that seems to have been forgotten.

If you need any help getting back on track towards your own fitness goals, get in touch with us to find out how the Inside Out Fitness Coaching team can help you!