What is fitness?

There are thousands of different interpretations and definitions of fitness out there. Some define fitness as purely lifting weights, while others might say it means solely running or hitting the cardio machines for 60 minutes a day. We believe fitness is so much more.

Fitness is about bettering your mind and your body. It's about getting enough whole, good quality food to support your goals. It's getting enough sleep to recover from the day's strain and charge up for the next day. It's about feeling good about yourself and building confidence.

What it's not necessarily all about is burning the calories or doing 30 minutes on the treadmill to "earn" your mac-n-cheese. It's about being able to move and control your body through space. It's about building strength through free weight movements and becoming a well-rounded individual that can approach anything life throws at them with confidence. It's more than just having a clean bill of health. It's all that AND being able to do all the things you love without fear of injury or more dire consequences. It's getting off your blood pressure meds and gaining strength and stamina so you can continue to hike, play pick up sports, etc. It can also be about staying in peak shape during your off-season as to improve your performance in-season.

Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, defines fitness as the following:

Eat meat and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch and no sugar. Keep intake to levels that will support exercise but not body fat.

Practice and train major lifts: Deadlift, clean, squat, presses, C&J, and snatch. Similarly, master the basics of gymnastics: pull-ups, dips, rope climb, push-ups, sit-ups, presses to handstand, pirouettes, flips, splits, and holds. Bike, run, swim, row, etc, hard and fast.

Five or six days per week mix these elements in as many combinations and patterns as creativity will allow.

Routine is the enemy. Keep workouts short and intense. Regularly learn and play new sports.

Basically we want to be prepared for whatever life throws at us. This can mean anything from getting fit for the upcoming ski season or being able to keep up with your kids or grandkids (or all of the above!). We want to build strength and resilience now so that we can continue to live our best lives well into our golden years. Life is unpredictable. We want to be prepared for the "unknown and unknowable" by challenging our bodies and minds.

It's not about going hard until you feel like you're going to puke. It's not even about lifting super heavy weights. It's about becoming the best version of yourself and having fun while doing it!