In my industry, people talk about getting fit, being fit, staying fit, etc.
But what does fit even mean?
What you define as fit and what I define as fit are likely two very different things.
- An elite level Ironman triathlete is fit.
- A professional ballet dancer is fit.
- A pro basketball player is fit.
- An elite rower is fit.
- A horse show jumper is fit.
- A pro racecar driver is fit.
What does ‘fit’ mean to you?
In other words, what do you want to do with your fitness?
If you were fit, what would that look like? What would you be able to do now that you couldn’t do before?
If you want to be fit to run a marathon, there is a specific training strategy that will get you to that level of fitness.
One of my friends is a pro basketball player. He has a specific training plan that ensures he is fit for his sport.
I want to be fit and strong enough to play whatever sport that comes up on any given day, so my training program is highly varied.
Even within this framework of a training program, there are levels that must be attained before you can progress.
Without a foundational level of strength, doing more advanced exercises isn’t going to be easy or beneficial.
Without a foundational level of fitness, more specific fitness goals will be very far out of reach.
With our bootcamps, they are designed to build you a foundation of a strong core, relative bodyweight strength and progressively increasing fitness.
This can then be used to propel you toward some of the more advanced goals you may have if that’s your choosing, or you may find that the level of fitness you reach training with us is all that you need to be able to keep to your definition of fit.
So when you tell me you want to get fit, I’m gonna come straight back at you with a bunch of questions to define what ‘fit’ is to you.
If you don’t have a definite goal, how can we know how to get you there or even when you reach it?
Using myself as an example, I am doing a regular amount of training each week of varied modalities.
I stretch, do foam rolling, massage work and lots of mobility to keep my body moving well and progressively increase my range of movement.
For motivation I follow Hunter, the guy in the pic below (www.facebook.com/Hunter-
I do specific hip stabilization exercises to rebuild that foundation, unlock my hip flexors and reactivate my core to fire properly. This all relates back to my gut issues which shuts down some of these functions when inflammation is present.
I do sprints on a Monday as I have a basketball team I fill in for on a Monday evening and I need to build some level of fitness and speed for that.
I lift weights or do bodyweight strength work 3 days a week either at home or at a gym doing handstands.
This helps me get stronger and also build skills to allow me to do more advanced acrobatic stuff that I want to get into.
I walk or hike for an hour in the bush once a week so I can switch off and build a base level of endurance. Bold Park is usually my office of choice.
I do weapons training at a martial arts gym when I have the energy to build skills for fighting and learn other movement patterns.
I also dance salsa once a week, but I don’t really count that as exercise even though it can be 2+ hours of dancing.
All of these activities work towards supporting my definition of ‘fit’.
Sometimes I will skip an activity or cut down the volume because rest is more important in keeping fit.
My challenge to you is, figure out what you want to do and what fit really means to you. Then we can help support you with extra training or activities to push you towards those goals and your new definition of fit.
We also go through stages where we want to get fit for a fun run or fit for the Rotto swim or fit for a mudd run.
When this happens, your training strategy should change and you need to let go of what you had to do for your previous goal and focus on what you need to do for this goal.
If you are reading this as resonate with some of it and it helps redirect you towards a new goal, that’s great.
Even share it with a friend who may need some direction.
I’m a big believer in having a physique goal as well as a fitness goal to keep you focused on performance and not just the scale or mirror.
If you want a hand plotting out a new training plan just email or come and talk to me and I’ll help you out.
