Fitness: A Primal Concept and It is Not Optional

What is fitness? When you turn to the dictionary for a definition of the term you get two ideas. The first is very general, fitness means being suitable for something. The right tool for the job is fit for the job. Fitness then is context specific. When someone wants to be fit you have to ask what they want to be fit for. The second idea takes us further. Fitness is the ability to adapt to the environment you find yourself in. The most primitive single celled organism must be able to respond to the conditions that its environment presents. It must be able to adapt to heat and cold, atmospheric conditions, and a host of other conditions present around it, or it does not survive. If it does not survive it cannot be considered fit. Likewise, with the most complex life forms, and even with the human animal fitness is evident in the ability to survive in whatever environmental circumstances they are faced with. 

 Fitness is first survival. Human fitness though has another aspect. Humans have a need to grow and learn, that is greater than all other species. Humans are the learning animal. To be considered truly fit humans must thrive. They must harness the power of abstract thinking and awareness to come up with solutions that elevate their place in the environment.

Our ubiquitous cultural definition of fitness as only physical fitness obviously falls short of the whole concept of being fit. The original definition of fitness referred to life fitness, to being fit for life.  Physical fitness while important is a small subset of the definition of the word. The single celled organism doesn’t exercise, it responds. The lion and the antelope don’t do regimented conscious exercises though they have an impressive physical presence. Our primitive ancestors did not exercise, they lived, learned and responded. Physical fitness or life fitness. There is big difference. The main mechanisms of physical fitness are 1. Repetition of certain movements and 2. Progression of physical challenge, more weight, more repetitions, more miles, faster times, more range of motion etc. Physical fitness is extremely important, and its advantages are many however it may does not address the whole person. The broader concept of life fitness does.

Three mechanisms of life fitness

Mind-body unity, learning, obstacles and resilience. 

1. It includes physical fitness, but it adds the mechanisms of Body-Mind unity.  If you are someone who enjoys exercise or sports or have physical goals you can achieve far more than you thought possible if you do not go about it mindlessly. The inner game is of utmost importance in everything you undertake. Body-Mind unity means embodying what you want, having it expressed thoroughly in your body and mind at the same time Body-Mind unity means you don’t emphasize one over the other, they are both integrated into all your actions.
2. It involves learning which is the primary human advantage over all other animals. Humans cannot fly unaided, they cannot tear a seal apart with their teeth and claws as a polar bear can, but they are capable of more and deeper learning. Learning involves the ability to change both themselves and their environment defines humanity. As in the parable when a seed falls into the ground and quietly dies it opens itself to becoming a giant oak tree so an entire human life can be seen as a magnificent growing and learning experience.
3. It is process oriented rather than goal oriented which means that there are no quick fixes. Mastery requires time.  
4.  It involves progressive challenge in all areas of life not just in those that effect physical appearance or physical stamina. All obstacles can be seen as learning experiences and there is not an obstacle, challenge or struggle that individual humans have not been able to turn into a positive if sometimes painful experience. 

Advantages of Life Fitness

It means you are not missing the whole point of fitness, you can adapt. 

  Human life is said to have originated on the plains of Africa. Imagine the position our primitive ancestors were in when they were faced with predators like the lion. Humans were first a victim. A bare-handed human is no match for a lion. Lions have been known to eat people. Humans learned to make spears and then learned to improve them over time. The tables turned, and we humans were no longer only prey. From victim to a greater mastery of our environment. In the Masai tradition the lion hunt was a right of passage, a symbol of personal bravery and high achievement. One spear is sufficient to kill a lion, yet it took courage, commitment and skill to hunt the lion and the possibility always existed even for a skilled hunter that the lion might win.

Most of us will never hunt a lion with a spear yet the possibility of elevating your place in the environment through skill and commitment remains a good definition of the broader meaning of fitness - life fitness. Awareness of the current situation you are in is a prerequisite for correct response and use of skill. What do you fear and where could you apply more commitment and skill to change your life? In other words what situations are asking you to find a way to adapt, to change yourself or to change your environment. 

1.  You can learn, you can grow, you can change. You can deal with the inner environment as well as the outward one.

If you exercise consistently you may have stronger muscles, be able to run farther, change your VO2 Max, and you may even create other healthy conditions. You do this through carefully exposing yourself to physical challenges, progressive training. But this is not all there is to fitness. Stepping outside your comfort zone in the more metaphorical sense is necessary for deeper growth. Awareness and embodiment are two of your most powerful tools to deeper learning, transformation and accomplishment.

Your center of gravity when you are standing is located just below the navel and in front of the spine. Your most powerful muscles are located toward the center of your body, ready and available to move your center. The gluteus maximus (butt) is usually the thickest muscle in cross section in the body. It is powerful and relatively fatigue resistant. There are many exercises that you might do to strengthen this large and important muscle. But instead of exercise I would like to direct you to some movements that will increase your awareness of this muscle and how it functions and allow you to move more powerfully.

Lie down on the floor and squeeze your glutes powerfully many times.  Pay attention! What direction do your knees tend to move when you do this? How does your pelvis move? Pause briefly. Now squeeze only the right glute many times. What direction does your pelvis move now? Does it roll to the left? Squeeze only the left glute many times. What is this movement like?

Come to a kneeling position. Squeeze both glutes powerfully a number of times. How does the pelvis move now? Does the pelvis tilt forward? 

While still on your knees place the left knee out in front on the right leg with the knee bent at 90 degrees. Squeeze your glutes and notice that you can only squeeze your left glute powerfully. What does your pelvis do? Does it rotate to the left? Switch the position of the legs with the right leg bent out in front of the left leg. Squeeze the glutes again. How is this movement different?

 All these questions are increasing your awareness of how you use this mighty area of yourself. Stand up and squeeze your glutes, keep squeezing them many times. Does your pelvis tilt more than is necessary for proper standing? While still standing, pause and rest for a few moments. Now Squeeze only the left glute a few times powerfully. Stop, pause and squeeze only the right glute a few times. Squeeze both glutes and notice which way the knees turn. Can you feel them turning to the outside? Can you feel your weight shift a bit to the outsides of your feet? Intentionally shift some weight to the outsides of your feet and curl your big toe under toward your heel just a bit so that your arch increase slightly. Do this every time you contract both glutes. Pause. Stand and notice how your standing is now.

Walk around the room and see what you can notice. Does your walking feel more powerful? Run a few yards just to notice. What do you sense? Do you feel more powerful or different? What if you climbed a few stairs now? You have not done any real exercise, you have not done these movements day after day, week after week, yet you have increased your power through awareness, by taking the time to notice.

Now dig deeper. Think in broader terms. What is your center? What are you like inwardly in the center of your being, what are your gifts your unique strengths? Think, notice, sense, feel and see how you use those strengths. Feel the power that is unique to you, maybe you can’t put it all into words, but you can feel the areas in which you potentially move into life in easy and fulfilling ways. Turn a quiet but powerful focus onto the strengths that were there since the day you were born. Feel the difference this makes in the way you stand and move about. Return repeatedly to a sense of your own balance and ability to move in any direction to do what you most deeply want in life. Keep digging deeper, keep exploring, keep asking questions, keep noticing where your strengths lie and how to use them.

2.  You can thrive, you can fully use your own strengths, you can find self-satisfaction, you can contribute your uniqueness to society.

By now you should see that there is more to fitness than exercise. Nothing very  profound can be accomplished without awareness. It is said that most human beings use only a very small percentage of their potential, perhaps 5 or 10 %.  In the pyramid above we see a process-oriented approach to fitness. By slowing down, noticing and esteeming the process more highly than a quickly achieved external goal we have the opportunity to achieve at a very much higher level, to get to a higher level of personal satisfaction and value to and service to others. Remember that time is irrelevant if you are doing what you, want. When you are doing what you enjoy you will not mind spending time on it. In this pyramid there is no failure only continued experimentation, trial and error and improvement.

 There are a couple of secrets to this pyramid, the first is the proper use of effort. Effort for efforts sake is of little value, but effort toward the development of greater skill is a secret to success. Next it is not trying harder that matters but the sorting out of conflicting desires and interests. High intrinsic achievement, a life lived fully requires focus on the most important things. It requires not more effort as such but the laying aside of distractions, hindrances. You don’t need to do it perfectly but increase your focus when you are accomplishing a high priority by being willing to let go of distractions, deepen your commitment, unify your will, take your time.  Dig deeply enjoy your gifts, become more aware, go through the process of learning and experimenting and achieve greatly. You will!