What is your idea about fitness? Are you striving for weight loss in order to keep yourself fit and healthy? Let me broaden your perspective about fitness so that you can take the best decision for yourself.

Fitness is a very extensive term which is much more than just following a homogenous exercise routine regularly. It is about being healthy from head to toe and inside out. It can be described as one’s competence to accomplish his daily grind with complete vigilance and abundant energy without unreasonable lethargy or exhaustion. It is never exclusively about hitting the gym and undergoing a strict diet routine to merely shed some extra kilos. Fitness is a collective state of a healthy mind and body both.

Components of fitness

Endurance – Relatable to stamina. Capability of an individual to perform a low intensity activity repetitively. It also encloses the cardiovascular health of a person.

Strength – Potentiality of a person to execute high intensity activity. It is directly proportional to the amount of weight one can lift.

Flexibility – It refers to the mobility or range of motion of joints and stretchability of muscles in varied positions. For example – bending down to touch your feet without arching your knees.

Balance – Ability of an individual to distribute body weight evenly in order to maintain correct upright posture steadily.

Core Muscle Strength – Core is the powerhouse of human body. A healthy and strong core supports the body efficiently and protects the body from various ailments.

If any of the above-mentioned components is left unaddressed, you have failed at your idea about fitness. Each of these has its own distinctive importance and relevance in life. While one maintains your stamina, other keeps your bones strong. All are strongly inter-related. Ideal fitness is achieved only when all are worked upon collectively.

As fitness is often masked by losing weight, different people adopt various practices to lose weight. Some engage themselves into physical exercise while others concentrate on diet alone.

  • People who choose diet plans without participating into any physical exercise end up with flabby muscles, loss of tone and generalised weakness.
  • On the contrary, exercising alone without maintaining a balanced and nutritious diet makes you weak internally.

All the elements of fitness need to be targeted upon in order to attain and maintain a fit body and mind. For an instance, solely running on the treadmill without involving into any strengthening exercise will increase your stamina but will adversely affect your knees due to lack of strength. Also, only being engaged into strengthening exercises and not performing any stretching activity before and after workout predisposes you to body pains and stiffness.

So, losing weight by targeting a single component is a myth. It can never deliver long term effects and will not be able sustain a completely healthy body.

To avoid this, you should consult a physiotherapist or an exercise expert for proper conditioning as well as strengthening of your body. A proper fitness protocol should be designed so that all the factors are addressed in a channelized manner.

Disclaimer

This information should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment as this is for informational purposes only. One must consult their healthcare provider before making any healthcare decisions. Any damage, loss or injury suffered by an individual as a result of reliance on the information contained on this site is neither the responsibility nor the liability of Orthocure Clinics.