The Sprightly Spud

Ahhh fitness. That elusive, ethereal state of being sought out by so many of us. We can all picture it; jogging along a beach, glossy, vitamin nourished, hair softly swaying in the breeze, as rippling abs flex in anticipation of their next green smoothie.

Yeah. Keep dreaming.

In reality, there are very few of us who will ever achieve this ideal image of ‘fitness’, because genetics and life simply don’t allow it. However, is this really what fitness is? And, surely there are more reasons to exercise than to look a certain way, right?

Right indeed.

How can we define fitness?:

‘the ability of your body systems to work together efficiently to allow you to be healthy and perform activities of daily living’.

This means the ‘elite’ human condition must involve a combination of aerobic endurance, strength, flexibility and power – not just looking ripped.

The Benefits:

1. Mental Health

For a lot of people, the drive to begin working out comes from an aesthetic goal, but in reality the motivation to continue training is often for the psychological benefits they get out of it. One of the main reasons why I love training is the way it makes me feel. I know that when I wake up on one of those days where it feels like the world is just too big and too scary, if I move my body in some way, I WILL feel better.

Not only is this a result of the endorphins that start shooting around your body, but focussing in on movement can act as a distraction. Personally, I find that this gives me time to process whatever is bothering me, making it seem that little bit easier to manage.

It’s not just the ‘bad’ days that exercise can help with either, it can also boost our ‘good’ days to a whole new level of fabulous. Aiding focus, mood, and overall self – esteem, training really is a brilliant way to set yourself up for success.

Being ‘fit’ means that working out (in whatever shape or form you enjoy most) becomes part of your day to day, making regular exercise more likely. Consequently, we find ourselves with a more sustained ‘good mood’, as well as general confidence, as we are spoilt with emotions like pride, and achievement.

So maybe it is true; health = happiness.

2. Family fun

Exercise isn’t going to stop you aging, that’s not a claim I’m going to make. However, being fit may allow you to engage in more childish, playful activities for longer.

For example;

• Good aerobic fitness is going to let you keep up with a toddler around a trampoline park

• That strong bone density built through regular jogs may help you to avoid injury when running and jumping on a basketball court

These improvements to functionality are inevitably going to improve your quality of life and make memories.

3. Trust in your stamina

Whilst lost on a vast golf course in the welsh countryside earlier this week, having already hiked for three hours, I was incredibly grateful for two things:

1. The ‘parked car’ location tool on my phone

2. The fact that I wasn’t worried about getting to tired to continue, and having to call mountain rescue

Whilst the ideal situation would have been to not get lost in the first place, at least I knew that my stamina was strong enough to sustain the journey back to my car. In all honesty, I can thing of few things scarier than not being able to get home, and being left stranded somewhere in the hills, so my fairly outstanding aerobic endurance was much appreciated.

The Low Down:

Overall, fitness is absolutely not limited to looking good. It’s about how we feel, perform, and function in day to day life. Maintaining great physical condition means we can fully enjoy everything life has to offer, whether that be hiking in the mountains, engaging in ‘childish’ play, or even just being able to go to work in a good mood.

What’s more, when we train to reap these benefits of fitness, rather than aesthetic goals, it allows us to focus on variety and try at least some of the myriad forms of workouts available to us. This might be yoga, dancing, tennis, swimming …. The list goes on.

Stay fit: it’s good for you.