What does it mean to be “fit?” Fifty years ago if you asked ten people this question you’d probably get ten very similar answers. Today the definition may be significantly different depending on who you ask.
Perception plays a big role as some people see in their mind a runner or cyclist as someone who is really fit. For others it might be the image of a bodybuilder, figure competitor, gymnast, or dancer when they think of someone who is fit.
So how would you best evaluate how “fit” you are?
The first thing I think we need to do is come to an agreement on what fitness really is. While any one of the people mentioned above would need to train and condition their body it doesn’t mean they’re necessarily fit.
It might simply mean they’ve become very good at one particular physical skill. It is my opinion that a true measurement of fitness shouldn’t be specialized or limited to one area.
Let me give you an example. Let’s take a male distance runner who regularly does 2-3 miles at a 6:00 minute/mile pace no problems. He is lean, trim and has strong aerobic capacity. To many people he would be considered as someone who is very fit.
Oh really? Personally, it just shows me that he’s very good at running. He’s got strong cardio-respiratory capacity and has become efficient at that particular activity.
If I take this same individual and ask him to do an activity that involves a high intensity/ short duration workload like let’s say….a barbell power clean with an overhead press his cardio-respiratory system would likely struggle in less than a minute.
Why? Because his body hasn’t been conditioned to work in that particular energy system.
On the other hand, if we take the traditional bodybuilder and ask him to run 4-5 miles, his cardio-respiratory system will fail in a matter of minutes as well.
So which one is really fit? I say neither one is truly fit!
They’re specialized…they do what they do well but outside of performing their exercise of choice they have a ton of limitations. That’s not being fit in my book.
You show me the guy who can run a 6:00 minute/mile pace for 2-3 miles AND then do a few sets of barbell cleans/overhead presses at the end and I’ll show you someone who is fit!
Being fit means you can complete any variety of physical activity regardless of the “workload” that’s presented to you.
There are 10 physical skills that are used at Shaping Concepts with my Charleston personal training programs to evaluate the performance and function of the human body. They are as follows.
1. Cardiovascular/ Respiratory endurance: the ability of the body systems to gather, process, and deliver oxygen
2. Stamina: the ability of the body systems to process, deliver, store, and utilize energy.
3. Strength: the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of muscular units to apply force production.
4. Flexibility: the ability to maximize the range of motion at a given joint
5. Power: the ability of a muscular unit, or combination of units to apply maximum force in minimum time.
6. Speed: the ability to minimize the time cycle of a repeated movement.
7. Coordination: the ability to combine several distinct movement patterns into a singular distinct movement.
8. Agility: the ability to minimize transition time from one movement patter to another.
9. Balance: the ability to control the placement of the body’s center of gravity in relation to its support base.
10. Accuracy: the ability to control movement in a given direction or at a given intensity.
Just because you’re really good in one of these physical skills doesn’t make you fit. More often than not when specialization is the goal in fitness training you’ll always have limitations.
Any limitation could be a difference maker when you’re called upon to use your physical skills. It could be the difference maker in a game or even between life and death in traumatic situations.
How confident would you be in your level of “fitness” in the following situations?
- Climb up and over a rocky ledge relying on your bodyweight strength to reach safety…
- Sprint 400 yards to escape a street thug who confronts you in an alleyway late at night…
- Run three miles to get to a phone to alert EMS of a life threatening accident involving your best friend…
You can brag all day long about how you can bench press 400 lbs or cycle for 20 mile rides but it will be “what you can’t do” that will make the difference when you’re thrown into an unexpected situation.
You might look like you’re in really great shape and have a body that people “perceive” as being fit but could you actually depend on it in most ANY situation.
Is it worth it to solely develop cardio-respiratory capacity/endurance at the expense of strength, power, speed, or agility?
Personally I would say no although that’s exactly what a lot of cyclists and runners do when they fail to work on any of the physical skills other than endurance and aerobic capacity.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with people doing whatever exercise they prefer. If you like long-slow distance running, spinning, cycling, or other cardio-endurance work go for it.
My point is not to bash any particular type of exercise but rather to expose the limitations of too much specialization.
Having said that, I do believe there are some ways to train that are more effective than others to improve all 10 physical skills and develop true “fitness” across the board.
What’s the secret?
From my experience one simply needs to work his/her body in all the energy systems, varying the demands and workloads placed on it.
This is best accomplished with various combinations of the human movement patterns (reaching, rotating, pushing, pulling, level changes, and locomotion) all done in different degrees of intensity.
Regularly completing short duration/high intensity exercise is one of the best ways to improve in several areas of physical skill while minimizing limitations. This type of fitness training (also called “burst training”) will develop a body that functions as good as it looks…regardless of what you throw at it.
The beauty of it is when you vary the demands of your workouts while still focusing on short duration/ high intensity workloads you’ll see improvements in all areas, including endurance and stamina.
Now don’t get me wrong, if you want to get really good at running a 5K you need to do specific work and conditioning for that workload. However, the person training for a 5K would be much better served to include some “burst training” into their exercise regiment instead of simply training with long distance runs.
There is a direct correlation in improvements for distance/endurance activities when an individual includes high-intensity/short duration exercise.
There is a common misconception by many runners that lifting weights will make them tight, muscle-bound, and hinder performance. This is simply not the truth as runners can significantly improve their performance by including strength training exercises.
Here’s an example of a basic burst training workout for you to see. You can use most any bodyweight or free weight exercise (or combination of both) when doing burst training.
Burst Training Workout Example:
Push-Ups
Pull-Ups
Bodyweight Squats
Box Jumps
V-Up’s
A workout might consist of completing 10 repetitions of each movement for a total of five rounds (for time). The lower your time gets (over time with training) the “fitter” you become. There’s no way you can drop your time on this workout and not improve in one or more areas of physical skill.
If you haven’t done burst training before I encourage you to give it a try. Anyone can do burst training regardless of fitness level. Beginners simply work at a lower intensity and progress as they get stronger.
The example workout I just provided was done (5) rounds for time. Know that there are endless variations of burst training workouts and it’s not always done for time.
It could be as simple as taking 2-3 exercises in a group and completing them back-back without rest (super-setting). You would rest for 30-60 seconds then repeat the set again.
Remember, the idea with burst training is to work in short “bursts” of high intensity exercise done in short durations…rest, rinse, and repeat!
That’s it…you don’t have to make it more complicated than it is. I assure you if you give burst training a try you’ll undoubtedly improve your level of fitness in no time, not to mention improve the way you look. Have fun, train hard, eat primal, and live strong!
Shane Doll is a certified Charleston personal trainer, fat loss expert, speaker, and founder of Shaping Concepts Personal Training Studios. Learn more how you can receive a FREE no-obligations trial of his Charleston personal training programs and experience the Shaping Concepts difference for yourself.
Posted:
Thursday, May 13th, 2010 at 9:51 am
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