HOW DOES ONE DEFINE FITNESS?

Are you sick, well, or fit? Here is how I see the definition of fitness courtesy of Greg Glassman. “Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat. Practice and train major lifts: deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast. Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow. Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.”

Coach Glassman is one of the rare fitness professionals to define fitness.

Do you think he is onto something? Millions of others around the world do, and are improving their lives by moving closer to fitness on the “Sickness – Wellness – Fitness” continuum.

This continuum is the only model that merges fitness and health with definable metrics.

Coach Glassman goes on to further state: “Done right, fitness provides a great margin of protection against the ravages of time and disease. Where you find otherwise, examine the fitness protocol, especially diet. Fitness is and should be ‘super-wellness’. Sickness, wellness, and fitness are measures of the same entity.”

A fitness regime that doesn’t support health is not effective. With this in mind, and that fitness and health are interrelated: What role does nutrition play in our sickness, wellness, and fitness?

Many would say that nutrition is the basis for all levels of sickness-wellness-fitness.

Now that we’ve defined fitness, in my next column, we’ll tackle one of the biggest obstacles to getting fit: nutrition.

Johnny West is head coach and owner of CrossFit 760 Torquay and is a lifelong athlete with an appreciation for all things sports and outdoors.