What do we mean when we talk about "fitness"? The word implies a connection to a higher purpose: "Fitness for what?"
Biologically, "fitness" refers to the propensity of an organism to pass on it's genes. Biological fitness is clearly context dependent: i.e. an anaconda isn't so fit if it gets moved to the arctic. I think we can build on that, while making it more human.
I think of fitness as our capacity to thrive in our environment. That's going to be different for each of us, depending on our environment and our preferences. However, there are some useful implications of thinking of fitness this way:
- Chores, errands, work, play, and family activities might be the best kind of exercise, since they are physical activities that are directly tied to your lifestyle.
- Supplemental exercise should be geared towards your lifestyle and improving your ability to accomplish things you need to be able to do.
- There's no such thing as a universal "best exercise" or "best diet", because we all have different fitness objectives.
- "Fitness" is not static: We do different things and have different priorities at different points in our lives, so our fitness goals should change over time. Many of us will even have seasonal fitness changes, since we don't do the same things in winter as we do in summer.
How do you all think about "fitness"?
Is it a highfalutin ivory tower concept or is it just ABs?