Fitness
What is fitness? Fitness is defined as the condition of being physically fit and healthy. The quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task. What is physical fitness? Physical fitness is a state of health and well-being and, more specifically, the ability to perform aspects of sports, occupations and daily activities. Physical fitness is generally achieved through proper nutrition, moderate-vigorous physical exercise, and sufficient rest. The ability to carry out daily tasks with vigor and alertness, without undue fatigue, and with ample energy to enjoy leisure-time pursuits and respond to emergencies. What does fitness mean to me? To me, fitness is a little bit of all of this, the ability to do any one task, to the best of your abilities, and to have enough energy to still be able to handle other tasks on top of that. Being healthy is a big part of fitness for me, and being in shape. This is the part that gets tricky for a lot of people, because when you speak of being in shape and/or being healthy, people typically think of athletes that are toned, have a lot of definition, have ripped, 6 pack abs, and muscles that seem to be bursting out of their clothes. I will not argue saying people like that are not in shape, because they are, but being in shape or healthy, or up to do the tasks that are asked of you, does not mean you have to be all of those things. Fitness, is a level of being healthy and happy, while being in shape enough to perform those tasks asked of you on a daily basis, and also having the energy to do tasks asked of you outside those daily tasks. If you are an athlete, having the ability to compete not just in your respective sport, but being able to also give it all you have in the gym, and still having the energy to be able to go home and take care of the responsibilities asked of you at home.
Fitness is a journey, and one that takes a long time before you can really start to feel that you are at your best. Funny thing about fitness though, is you keep on advancing, and your body keeps on adapting to the stress and resistance that you put on it. This causes your body to either build up strength, grow and start to handle these stresses and the resistance that you put on it, and make your level of fitness greater, or, your body might start to breakdown or develop imbalances, which can lead to injury. The trick to continue growing in your fitness journey, is the ability to listen to your body and understand the demands that your body can handle each and every day. Also, do check ups, see how your body is growing, how your body recovers, how you advance during your fitness journey. Check ups are important, these check ups can help keep you healthy and keep your fitness journey progressing forward instead of side stepping, or worse, taking steps backwards.
My job, my goal, my vision is to help as many people as possible grow in their own fitness journeys. Continue to push forward, break down walls and obstacles that may have been there before, but together, we can figure out how to break these walls down, run right through them, and go to much higher levels of fitness than you thought possible. Every journey starts with taking that first step in the right direction, and your fitness journey is no exception. There is absolutely no reason to not start today, to take that first step towards progress today, right now. The more we try to set start dates, and the more time we put from today to that start date, means more time to make yet again another excuse to not start that journey. You already made the decision that you want to live your best life, you have already made the decision that you want to become healthier, happier, and more physically fit, so start today, and do not let time make excuses for you. You absolutely do not need a special date, or a new year to make the best decision of your life, so start your fitness journey today, focus on your best life right now, and start progressing to your goals now, because there is no time like the present, and it is never too late to realize all of your dreams!
Ryan Baker
NASM Certified Personal Trainer
Team Beachbody Coach
Fitness Instructor/Coach
Athlete