Physical Fitness

Our mental definition of physical fitness determines if we like the idea or not. Our perception of what physical training is controls if we want to be engaged in it or do whatever we can to avoid it.

In many cases, the type of exposures we have had in the past creates many misconceptions.

Our fitness training programs may be put on hold because of these misconceptions.

Or we may get involved with the type of fitness programs totally unsuitable for our unique personalities and needs.

What is physical fitness?

Physical fitness is our body’s ability to engage life with confidence and joy. It is owning a body that is responsive to our needs at work and home. It is a holistic partnership of our mind, our heart, and our physical body.

This partnership determines the quality of our life and the nature of our activities as well as our longevity.

We were born to be fit.

Watch young children. They cannot help themselves, they squat, they crawl, they run, they climb, and they chase each other.

They giggle as they do these things.

Healthy children express the energetic engagement with life that is physical fitness.

What do adults do?

They either create exercise guidelines that are so far removed from natural motions, or they focus on the fun aspects of activities so much that they neglect the health benefits and safety and create chronic pain and injury.

Engaging life with confidence and joy is a lifetime process not limited to our twenties and does not end in our eighties.

A client came to one of my camps. She was in her mid-fifties. The camp was her first exposure to physical activity.

One day she was trying to pull a large fitness ball away from another client, and she burst into laughing.

“I had no idea that exercise could be so much fun,” she said.

“What did you expect?” I asked.

“Something hard,” She said.

“Are you getting stronger?”

“Sure.”

“Are you experiencing less pain?”

“My knees don’t hurt as much.”

“Are you losing weight the way you want to.”

“I am.”

“Are you happier?”

She laughed.

“Then this is physical fitness training,” I said.