Are you fit for life? Part 1
PRINT PAGE
Are you fit for life? Part 1
What does your fitness level mean to you on a daily basis?
For many it relates to whether a person or individual simply has enough fuel to do the task they are wishing to partake in, be it a sporting activity or any other form of recreation. For some it is a question of getting through the day, before crashing into bed at the end of it, ready to get up and do it all over again.
But within the commonly accepted meaning of fitness or conundrum as some may call it – is there any room for us to consider or examine the quality, or place emphasis as to how we are with ourselves throughout the day?
The question here asks us about the day-to-day affairs of human life in relation to how fit we are and not just how we prepare, let’s say, for our recreational side-line after work.
Generally, there are two types of fitness we refer to. The first is measured on getting from A to B in the best, shrewdest or fastest possible time with little to no regard for the body outside of the particular lineal movement, race or deadline. Think of a ‘sprinter’ or a short distance athlete. This is commonly known as anaerobic fitness.
The second is measured out over a longer period of time, how long and how much one can endure the task at hand before reaching their absolute cut-off point or limit. Often with this particular measure there lacks the assessment of quality within the action, work or performance period. The mere fact of the ‘staying power’ is seen and accepted as ‘good’ fitness. Here we have the image of the middle distance runner and or the marathon athlete. This fitness is referred to as aerobic fitness.
When we begin to look closer into the field of Fitness, what clearly stands out are the extremes that are current within this industry, all claiming to offer the answers to our health and fitness problems and dilemmas, without truly delivering a sustaining and simple approach that inspires people to sensibly support their bodies. This is said for the purpose of consideration to a grander possibility and not as a critique of any sort.
At a time where we have seen rapid declines in health and fitness levels, with staggering statistics indicating the all too common reality of increased obesity, diabetes and asthma rates worldwide, consequently, we have also seen extreme trends develop with the explosion of the 24 hour gym and fitness centres as a desperate response and a solution for many struggling to visit the gym as their only means of fitness, and or, for the purpose of the cosmetic make-over of how one looks.
According to an Australian fitness industry survey of over 10,000 people, approximately 24.8% of current gym members in Australia belong to a 24-hour facility.
Yet with this solution in place are we missing and avoiding the most crucial question that asks -- "Are we actually fit for life?" Are we able to handle the rigours that demand dealing with other people or problems that arise with machinery, computers etc?
Are we all suffering from a lack of fitness that cannot be purely built up from workouts at the gym, (no matter how many we accumulate)? Are we prepared and fit enough to be and deal with people on a daily basis?
Fit people get sick. Fit people get angry, frustrated and can be stressed out by work commitments, family issues and or office politics. The same applies to all those who are not considered fit.
It seems that fitness or non-fitness bears little true significance with regard to life’s daily activities.
Reports indicate that: The stress of strenuous exercise transiently suppresses immune function increasing the risk of getting an inflammation of the upper respiratory tract caused by a viral infection, also known as a cold. Athletes, when compared with lesser active individuals, experience higher rate of URTI after training and competitions. In non-athletes, increasing physical activity is associated with a decreased risk of URTI.[i]
Is there another form of fitness we have yet to discover?
And what if it has been discovered, and it shows a differing and or expanded version we have yet to consider, then what?
Read on for: Are you fit for life? Part 2
Filed under
Self-empowerment, Fitness, Productivity, Overwhelm, Human body, Health conditions
