HOW FIT ARE YOU?

While in Junior-High School, naturally as a restless and hyper-active young teen, the Physical Education class was constantly my best period of "study".
It was a time that felt like birds were released as a sign of independence, the kids would troop out of every class like prisoners freed from a correctional facility.
It didn't quite matter which sport one participated in really, we could virtually do all sorts, ranging from racing to soccer and on and on.



"It is health that is real and not pieces of gold and silver"...Mahatma Ghandi

Unknown to us back then, the world of fitness, health and sports was getting well structured and systematized internationally as science, research, media and the commercial scene had made it quite imperative for sports to take deliberate paths designed to bring out the best in man in competitions, making selected people appear as super humans and legendary models for the coming generation.
Physical fitness is a general concept defined in many ways by differing scientists, thus you may consider two major categories. (1.) General fitness which is a state of health and well being, and (2.) Specific fitness which is a Task-oriented definition based on the ability to perform specific aspects of sports or occupation.

Physical fitness is generally achieved through correct nutrition, exercise, hygiene and rest.

  

One word that attaches itself so tightly with fitness is "Discipline".
Why? Evidently because the moment you decide to be fit, you are deliberately choosing a different type of lifestyle entirely. You are saying goodbye to the yummy Hot-dog Shawarma, the tantalizing Burger, the smoking hot Pizza (I love Pepperoni) and a whole lot of amazing super grubs.
That is actually the easy part, because the next step will require you to get up early at dawn for some cardio, which will go a long way in helping you burn those calories that you so easily amassed, and have to take pain to lose, awesome right? yeah right, we all wish.

Chris C. brought a fine perspective to our attention in the book titled "Commitment: Two essential items for success", highlighting the important factors as "Mental commitment" and "Elimination of negatives". In other words, having a well garnered momentum of will power coupled with positive mental attitude will help us achieve whatever we want to, hmm cool.

 Sadly however, obesity apparently appears to have come to stay judging from what the researchers' statistics say, for example, using the US as a case study, new study found that of 22 industrialized countries the US has the highest number of obese people, 2/3 of US citizens over twenty years are overweight and so on like that.
Obesity is a medical condition in which excessive body fat has accumulated so much to the extent that it has an adverse effect on health, leading to reduced life expectancy and / or increased health problems.
Ironically, well perhaps i should also add "without prejudice", i was once privileged to meet a group of officials of The World Health Organization (WHO) and believe it or not, some of them were actually over weight. My point is, it is extremely difficult to practice what you preach in this spontaneous world where your activities are generally pressurized and largely determined by your prevailing environment.

For example, despite the fact that most of us are aware of nutritional facts, some factors still deter us from following doctors's recommendations to the letter. Even doctors don't stick to the plan a hundred percent, after all i know doctors that are chain smokers and voraciously after women.

See? Emerging facts continue to prove to us that fitness coupled with discipline and healthy deprivation will always be a healthy choice which is fueled by personal will power, making it a unique lifestyle and expressing the joy of independently choosing  a different way of living.
Basically however, most people have narrowed down the reasons for doing exercise to three which are (1.) When you are unhealthy and the Doctor strongly recommends it, (2.) When people complement it and, (3.) When it pays the bills (Then you have to be a model, an actor or a social figure in some way).

Fitness is not only a fine encouraging word you want to remember and be a part of, it is in some sort of way a celebration of life, appreciating the gift of life and telling God thank you and that it is awesome to possess some unique set of skills that the average person doesn't have. Being fit is a testimony in some sort of way, people tend to not only admire you, but they will also look up to you like a hero that can make things happen and perhaps save the day when trouble calls (Just like superman).
Well, regardless of whatever, we all are humans, so in effect some obstacles will always threaten our fitness plan, maybe due to our environment as the case may be. For instance, in third world and developing countries where the principle of the "Hierarchy of needs" thoroughly dictates the pace at which we move, like from our priorities for food, clothing, security and the likes of how we graduate in our need and ego, keeping fit might seem out of place in certain societies.
Rich and perhaps comfortable people are the ones that deliberately keep fit in gyms with their designer gears and stuff.
Most people will just see you as rich and unreasonable without adequate priorities, even if they are aware that the Doctor sternly recommended it for you.
Unfortunately, it is all basically a mash up of negative stereotypes, high stigmatization and inferiority complex of a lowly motivated populace.
Fitness is like war, you have to first of all make up your mind to want to and love to make a cautious effort to dedicating your life towards the fitness direction. You've got to eat fitness, drink fitness and preach fitness with infectious enthusiasm, or else you'll meet with a brick wall of exercise plateau, and it'll be a shame if your granny has more fitness than you do..



One more thing,  "Take care of your body, it is the only place you have to live"...Jim Rohn. (Wink)



Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@gmail.com)



SOURCES:  Google
                    Wikipedia
                    Men's Fitness
                    The Guardian
                    Worldometers
                    W.H.O.