Defining Fitness

I was thinking about "being fit" today. I do fitness assessments on new to fitness people all the time, and often I am told "I just want to get fit." So, I ask them how they'll know when they're fit. And most people don't know. They haven't really defined it. And I realise that it's a lofty task to define fitness if you're not aiming at something specific.

Reflecting back, there are a number of times in my life when I would define myself as having been fit. And you can kind of trace my fitness (and fatness) through a few stages of life. And each level of fitness was acquired in different ways, through the use of different training techniques, intensities, and sports. Sometimes I was aiming at something, and sometimes I wasn't.

5-17 years old
I was fit as a child. Remember way back when when we had to do phys ed at school (remember phys ed!?) and I swam. Mom made sure all her kids could swim, and I loved swimming. I wasn't so much a sporty person, but I was always up for the challenge, particularly when it was a fit test, and when there were badges to win. I could do all the sports, even if I didn't enjoy them, I never felt "can't" until probably after grade 9. Then those who were good got MUCH MUCH better, and team sports became a REAL thorn in my side. I didn't like it and I couldn't do it. I also danced until boys became more interesting, and then really fell off the wagon in grade 11: no more compulsory phys ed! I did have a job as a swimming teacher and lifeguard, so was still in shape, but that was the start of a downhill spiral that so many teenagers go through. Activity levels decline dramatically in the teens and I was certainly no exception to that rule.

So I think we could define my childhood fitness as being able to participate fully in life. I'd say this is what 99% of my clients are after.

18-25 years old
Then I got FAT in University - all I did was study, work, and eat Zoodles and Pizza Hut. I got fatter after uni when I started to work full time and was married to a man who felt that watching TV was an activity. Getting him to go for a walk was like ... well, name something hard. And trying to do something independently led to all sorts of other problems I'd care not to divulge here.

By the time I was 25 and getting a divorce I was soft and fat and sad. My ex's parting comment to me was "... and your ass is fat."

25-30 years old
After the divorce I let anger drive me. I was mad at him and mad at me and I was COMPELLED to exercise, to take back something that I felt had been taken from me. I worked out like a fiend. (Remember the movie Double Jeopardy? The scene where Ashley Judd is running around the prison yard in the rain and a lady comments "That is just sheer hate driving that woman on".. anyway, I digress.)

I swam and trained for swimming 6 days a week. I swam a full day Saturday (yes, I would spend up to 6 hours in the water), half day Sunday (three to four hours) and after work pretty much every day. My weights training was very swim specific, and that was at least two nights a week, usually followed by a swim, as well as a fitness class thrown in there, too.

Yes, I probably over trained. I went from a size 14 (that's about a 16-18 in Aussie terms) down to a 2 in a very short time. (They don't even make size 2 in Australia! You have to go down to junior clothes to get that size.) Upon seeing my ex-husband less than 10 months later, he wondered if I had been eating, asked me to turn around so he could see my ass, and asked me to spend the night. I said no, felt oddly empowered and vindicated, and stopped working out so much. I went to a more sensible schedule and maintained a healthy eating and workout schedule.

I was uber-fit (at least in the water), but I don't think I appreciated any of it. I don't remember feeling strong. Exercise was a cathartic release, so I don't even think I enjoyed being *that fit*. I don't even think I noticed. I just *had* to.

I think people with a lot of stress in their life may do this, and it will come naturally to them (I know someone who rides his bike a lot so he doesn't have to think, for example.) I also suspect that the emotional stress I was under and my strong convictions against drugs and alcohol saved me from going down a terrible path. I'm not quite sure how to word the idea in my mind, but to me there is probably an element of 'positive addiction' there and wonder if we could get druggies and alcoholics exercising if we could turn their lives around?

Anyway, after that, I started to run with Running Room groups (how awesome are they!?) until I hurt my knee. And then I started  focusing again on swimming - but this time with the 'masters' program, just once a week. I also started doing weights training for body sculpting for the first time, with the thought I'd work towards a competition at some point.

I had a sensible, healthy diet, I was a healthy size, and just felt really healthy at that point. I wasn't as slim or as cardiovasculary fit as I had been previously, but I was enjoying myself more and appreciated the strength and shape of my body. I felt strong. I was probably a size 6-8 CDN, 8-10ish AUS.

I was working out for strength, tone, muscle definition and body fat reduction. I was living very specifically towards a single goal: of competing in body building/sculpting. It gave me focus and direction. Without this goal I would have probably stopped working out.

30-36 years old
But then I went to Australia on vacation and got vacation fat. Happy! Lazy! Enjoying! Relaxing! Fattening! :) I came all the way back up to a 14 (AUS) or 12 (CDN). It's was a pretty significant jump in just a year.

And then I got a job at the Leisure Centre, got a horse, started doing stuff... and then I became a fitness instructor! In the last five years there have been definite ups and downs to my fitness levels. I have never been able to get down below a size 12 (10 CDN) in the lower body. My legs are just too muscular now, and I have that annoying 'over-30s' layer of stubborn fat that I'm not working that hard at getting rid of. If I want anything to fit in the legs, the waist is just going to be loose, and that's all there is to it!

When I started training to instruct BoxFit there was a significant increase in my fitness levels, and definite decrease in my body fat percentage. The fitness gained from this class (Step plus Aeroboxing) was really transferable, and I was doing much better in cycling and my triathlon times were getting better, although my runs were still trouble due to that damn knee!

But I was exercising as a way of being involved with friends, as an instructor and leader, and because it was FUN! What great reasons to exercise!

The past year has seen a huge change in my fitness! I started training for the Blackwood Marathon and Mat and I took up rogaining. My endurance had gone through the roof!

My walking fitness is ridiculous - in no small part due to the improvement in my running fitness. I can honestly say that I feel that if I didn't need to sleep I would be perfectly capable of walking for 24 hours straight!

My ability to push on for long periods at a steady pace is unlike any previous fitness I have had! And I feel more comfortable with my body's size and shape than ever before. I'm actually not that worried that I have big legs. It would have bothered me a few years ago. But my legs are big because they are strong!!

I started training for something specific, and got a lot more than I bargained for! Endurance, strength and flexibility!


Anyway, I'm sure you didn't really need to know all that about me, and I really didn't define fitness at all, did I!? :)

I think the point there is that we all go through changes and have different needs at different times in our lives. Exercise has played a huge part in my life in a wide variety of ways, and it's always had a positive impact on my whole life experience!

Perhaps I am going to have to change what and how I ask about clients 'wanting to get fit.'