Fitness vs. Health?

[ithero]

A somewhat philosophical discussion:

Are fitness and health synonymous?

Is Fitness a "degree" of "health"?

Does "Being fit" usually/always correspond to "Being healthy"?

Which is morally better to have? Which is better to have as a DJ?

Thoughts?

 

[Shiftkey]

Yes, they are the same thing.

 

[manuva]

No they're not the same thing.

You can be very fit and not very healthy, and you can be very healthy and not very fit.

I have been very fit and unhealthy - through uni I was training 5 times a week (boxing) and binge drinking 5 or 6 nights a week. I destroyed my liver and gave myself chronic fatigue. I was eating junk food most days and eating very few fruits and vegetables. I was very fit, and very unhealthy.

My aunt is a super healthy yoga instructor. She drinks nothing but water and only eats organic foods etc etc. Her doctor recently told her how un-fit she was - her cardio vascular capacity was appalling. While she was very healthy, she never did any cardio vascular training or weight training. She was healthy but not fit.

 

[ethnomethodologist]

I can run a four minute mile...

than I stop and smoke a cigarette. The cigarettes are catching up though.

 

[Shiftkey]

No they're not the same thing.

You can be very fit and not very healthy, and you can be very healthy and not very fit.

Only if you consider the superficial and not the reality.

There's also a big difference between BEING something and DOING something.

I have been very fit and unhealthy - through uni I was training 5 times a week (boxing) and binge drinking 5 or 6 nights a week. I destroyed my liver and gave myself chronic fatigue. I was eating junk food most days and eating very few fruits and vegetables. I was very fit, and very unhealthy.

So you LOOKED fit, but you weren't fit. You were neither fit nor healthy.

My aunt is a super healthy yoga instructor. She drinks nothing but water and only eats organic foods etc etc. Her doctor recently told her how un-fit she was - her cardio vascular capacity was appalling. While she was very healthy, she never did any cardio vascular training or weight training. She was healthy but not fit.

This person is neither fit nor healthy. Maybe she EATS healthy, but if she were healthy she wouldn't have a crap cardio vascular system.

 

[A-Unit]

Re:

The question is wrong, the thinking isn't.

LOTS of guys do steroids, or super supplements, look great, drink quite a bit, or binge eat, but aren't internally healthy. Yes, they'll live well during their 'physically fit' years, but they'll also decline quicker.

However, there are those yoga instructors who are somewhat chubby or fat by BMA standards, but can twist into a pretzel, withstand 100 degree heat for an hour, plus, and consumes only natural stuff. It DEPENDS on what your body is conditioned for.

A yoga instructor might not do a 4 minute mile, but the runner won't necessarily be able to bench 250, and the lifter might not be able to withstand the 100 degree of Bickram Yoga w/out puking. I knew what are considered 'in shape' lifters, who went to do muay thai, and they couldn't last 20 minutes, nor do the situps, pushups, or jumping jacks. These guys pushed 220-250.

Fitness is relative to what you're trained for, health, IMO, is related to over wellbeing and functionality of your body. Health will keep you living longer, whereas, football players, from all the abuse, as 'inshape' as they appear, normally die earlier, have a harder life at age 60,70, and 80 (you did watch the superbowl when all the X-Mvp's came out right?).

I met a 90 year old guy who has surpassed his wife in longevity. His secret was that he's always walked, everyday. Kept his body in use and his mind. So he's 'alive' through will. He has accepted and embraced life. His will to live is evident b/c he uses what he has to the fullest. Genetics play a role, but your health will lengthen or shorten that genetic predisposition.

People first need to learn to get active these days, THEN focus on extending their already short and difficult life span.



A-Unit

 

[Visceral]

Maybe the secret is to find a way to get a wide range of benefits from your health and fitness habits? Such a regimen may not be ideal for any particular goal, but it might put you far ahead of those who follow more dedicated programs.

 

[manuva]

Originally posted by Shiftkey

So you LOOKED fit, but you weren't fit. You were neither fit nor healthy.

I was running about 30km a week, as well as training hard 5 times a week, 90 minutes at a time. I was sparring probably 20 rounds a week. I was at about 9% body fat, very ripped. My endurance and recovery rates were awesome. My resting heart rate was 49 bpm.

Explain to me how I wasn't fit?

 

[Shiftkey]

Originally posted by manuva
I was running about 30km a week, as well as training hard 5 times a week, 90 minutes at a time. I was sparring probably 20 rounds a week. I was at about 9% body fat, very ripped. My endurance and recovery rates were awesome. My resting heart rate was 49 bpm.

Explain to me how I wasn't fit?

You did it for me:

binge drinking 5 or 6 nights a week. I destroyed my liver and gave myself chronic fatigue. I was eating junk food most days and eating very few fruits and vegetables.

 

[Panik]

Wouldn't the smart thing then be to do some Yoga (it isn't all just stretching---inversions, etc.), weight train, practice a martial art + cardio, eat as healthily as possible, and do some sort of daily meditation (to keep the mind healthy)?

Oh, don't forget about the 'healthy sex life' part...

Doesn't Tai-Chi have all those benefits (except that of weightlifting and sex)?



Panik

 

[Shiftkey]

Tai-Chi isn't intense enough to be good cardio IMO. Seems more in the same catagory as meditation or yoga. Last time I checked, you don't eat during Tai-Chi either

 

[manuva]

What I described was poor health. Not poor fitness. Fitness refers to the body's physical capacity for exertion and endurance, health to its state of nutrition and wellbeing. Being fit is an important part of being healthy, but you can be one without the other.

Why else would we have separate words for them?

 

[Shiftkey]

Why else would we have separate words for them?

Because the English language is redundant.

Fitness

1. The state or condition of being fit; suitability or appropriateness.
2. Good health or physical condition, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition.
3. Biology. The extent to which an organism is adapted to or able to produce offspring in a particular environment.

Health

1. The overall condition of an organism at a given time.
2. Soundness, especially of body or mind; freedom from disease or abnormality.
3. A condition of optimal well-being: concerned about the ecological health of the area.
4. A wish for someone's good health, often expressed as a toast.

Seems pretty similar to me. The definition for fitness even uses the word health in it's definition

 

[manuva]

In that case, next time you have a nasty illness you should go for a run to improve your fitness.

 

[Shiftkey]

Now you're just being stubborn.