Embracing the word FITNESS
What does it mean in America in 2024 to be physically “fit”? The term might conjure images of a sculpted woman in full makeup and a too tiny bikini, or a dude with six pack abs grinding out a zillion reps with some aggressive energy at a grody gym. But these images only serve to show us how far we’ve strayed from true embodiment
Physical fitness is something that can look a thousand different ways on the exterior. It’s available to everyone, even if you don’t have two hours a day to put in to the gym. And somehow it eludes us.
But did you know, fitness is the number one predictor of recover6 and longevity … in every single scenario and situation? You get into a car accident? Fitness predicts how quickly (and if) you recover. Need to have surgery? Fitness predicts how well and quickly you’ll recover. Getting older? Fitness (and especially how much and how often you move) predicts how full of joy and vigor that chapter of your life will be. There’s much to take seriously about the benefits of physical fitness beyond what a visual aesthetic has to offer.
Especially now, where one in two American adults has a diagnosed metabolic dysfunction of some kind and we are constantly having to adjust our “normal” to accommodate new symptoms that are becoming increasingly common as good health evades us.
As someone who struggled with disordered eating and an obsession with achieving a certain physical aesthetic as a teenager, I know very intimately the way that the skinny culture of the 90s was psychological torture to so many women. No amount of restricting, purging or doing the Stairmaster was going to make me the 6 foot 3 Victorias Secret model that I saw was the ultimate goal, and I ultimately drove myself a little crazy in that dangerous pursuit. So in my recovery from that, which was blessed and so fortunate (and difficult), I (understandably) railed against the idea of “fitness” in every way.
Yoga was appealing to me because it seemed to lack the pressure to push oneself into places that were too challenging physically - focused more on acceptance and meeting the body where it is at. And that is critically necessary at some points in some peoples journeys
But I can’t help but feel as though something has been crucially lost in the “health backlash” (I’ll venture to call it) toward the weight loss culture of the 80s and 90s and the resulting rejection of “fitness” as something that is only available or important to a small and beautiful (and annoying) fraction of society. It’s the proverbial throwing of the baby out with the bath water.
What if our images conjured, instead, when we think of physical fitness, were of a woman in her eighties who can still chase here grandbabies around and pick them up without pain or fatigue? What if we thought of someone enjoying the exertion of gardening, stacking wood, or hiking without fear of getting sidelined by an injury? What about someone who gets taken out by colds and flus less often (when all their friends are going down around them!) because of the degree of their physical fitness? These are the true spectrum of benefits of physical fitness, and they are the birth right of each of us as humans.
That’s because physical fitness is achievable by everyone, regardless of ability, genetics, or body type. It’s not measured in inches or pounds, but rather in heart rate variability and blood sugar markers. It doesn’t come by chance - it takes work, repetition, showing up for yourself (every day), and pushing yourself just a little bit beyond your perceived limitations. There is the expansion. There is the growth.
It requires letting go of the aesthetic and remembering WHY you’re there - so that you’re not measuring exterior or visual changes, but changes in mental health. mood. breathing. strength. stability.