Photo by Fitsum Admasu on Unsplash
Fitness:
1. the quality of being suitable to fulfill a particular role or task.
2. an organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.
Fitness has also come to be confused or interchangeable with health. Health AND fitness often intermingle, this is true, but are not the same.
One can have fitness without having health and health without having relative fitness.
Health is the state of being free from illness or injury. General fitness can for sure help with this, but is not altogether necessary.
On the flip side, you can be extremely fit to do a job like step on stage as a bodybuilder, but you may have psychological disorders and gut issues.
Another example is in the sports endurance industry, where extremely fit young athletes are dying from heart failure.
Today, my list is to help you stay fit WHILE, helping improve your health.
Perpetually Fit
– Move
Sit as little as possible. If you forced to sit, do your best to get up and walk around every 30 minutes: a side benefit, increases in mental performance.
– Walk Daily
Dr. I-Min Lee did a study on walking and suggested, if mortality — death — is your major concern, you can reap benefits from 7,500 steps a day. That’s 25% fewer steps than the more common goal of 10,000 steps. (after 10,000 steps the benefits were negligible in terms of mortality rates)
– Resistance Train
Perform resistance training at least every three to 7 days, depending on the type of training you are doing and your recovery capacity. Resistance training can be with your bodyweight, resistance bands, weights, machines, or rocks…the tool doesn’t matter as much as the doing. Resistance training is the fountain of youth.
– Stretch Daily
You don’t have to do marathon stretch sessions to benefit. You can stretch the major muscle groups first thing in the morning for five to ten minutes and then again before bed for five to ten minutes to substantial benefit. Train your body to bend like a willow tree, or you will break like an oak. If you want to geek out, here is an excellent book on mobility.
– All-Out-Efforts
Push yourself all out now and then, BUT make sure you have been consistently doing all of the above items and are READY to push all out before you do. Things like sprints work well here.
– Cardio…
…get some in, but don’t overdo it. Too much cardio increases estrogen and cortisol, not good. Running, walking, biking, rowing, hiking, versa-climber, etc. it all works. Just get your heart rate elevated for a bit consistently.
– Every Day
Do something to improve or at least maintain your fitness every day. Hint: pick from the above list. NEVER MISS A DAY…and if you do NEVER MISS A TWO DAYS IN A ROW.
Stay fit, my friend.