What Is Fitness

“Do not fear death. Fear the nursing home.” -Greg Glassman
Before embarking on any fitness program it’s worth asking: why? What are your goals and what do you hope to achieve? Many people will say they want to be more fit but what does that mean? Here at EmerFit we define fitness in two parts:

  1. Being fit means being able to complete the tasks of your daily life in a safe, efficient, and effective manner. All of our hobbies, sports, jobs, and day to day activities require a certain level of fitness.
  2. Being fit means taking measures to insure we can maintain our active lifestyles until the end of our days. In most cases the better our health now the better off we will be later. And it is never too late to start.

Both of these definitions are best fulfilled when we have some objective measure with which to determine our “fitness”. In other words we need to keep score. As Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, likes to say “Men [and women] will die for points.” So we record our reps, our times, and our loads. We then compare those with scores from our peers but more importantly with our own scores from last week, last month, and years gone by.

In addition we measure our fitness in each of the 10 skills of general physical preparation as originally defined by Jim Crawley and adopted by CrossFitters everywhere:

  • Cardiovascular/Respiratory Endurance
  • Stamina
  • Strength
  • Flexibility
  • Power
  • Speed
  • Coordination
  • Agility
  • Balance
  • Accuracy

You are only as fit as your weakest link.

These definitions also require a level of fitness that is not purely physical. It is also psychological and communal. Our program requires and builds dedication, confidence, and perseverance. These qualities emerge (hence our name) and tend to influence all areas of our athlete’s lives. Finally our fitness is communal because hard work loves company. We share each other’s successes and failures as we build richer lives and communities.

This is only a taste of how we measure and describe fitness. You will hear much more from us on this topic when you visit the gym. We also point you to CrossFit.com’s “What is CrossFit?” for more information. The free CrossFit Journal articles “What is Fitness?” and “CrossFit’s Foundations” are well worth your time.