When you think of fitness, what is the first picture you think of? Is it a cover of a magazine with a person strong beyond reason? Or maybe an athlete of your favorite sport? Either way fitness has been drilled in many as the idea of perfectly trained and maintained bodies capable of doing the extraordinary. In fact if you were to look up fitness in any book store or try typing the same word in any search engine, the amount of information you would be bombarded with is astronomical. However, what does it all really boil down to? Do you have to be front page athlete to be fit? Let’s take a closer look at the answer to these questions, and you can be sure it’s a lot simpler.
To begin, fitness is not just about pumping iron, lifting weights, and taking supplements. Fitness includes far more. From the food you eat, to every aspect of what is included in a healthy lifestyle. So when it comes to nutrition and physical activity, what is to be kept in mind? Let’s look at 3 main principles and apply them to these2 habits of fitness.
The first principle to consider is balance. Applying balance in your diet is vital for good health and fitness. Eating too little can leave the body simply flush, and lacking proper vitamins, nutrients, and minerals necessary for proper bodily function, development, and maintenance. On the other side of the coin, eating too much can give your body excess weight and can lead to many other health problems related to overeating.
In the realm of physical activity balance will be necessary as well. While you may want to continually workout, rest is essential for allowing your body to recuperate and heal. In fact countless studies have shown that rest can be almost as equally as essential as the workout itself.
The second principle is variety. It is common knowledge that our bodies require quite an assortment of nutrients vitamins and proteins. However, there is no one food nor food group that supplies everything necessary. So you can see variety is key to any diet as well.
You may wonder: that may be true, but what does variety have to do with physical activity? Well what would happen if you were to workout only one or a few parts of your body frequently? Your body can easily fall into physical fatigue, and you would probably have some issues in proportion. Whereas working out a variety of muscle groups can ensure an overall fit lifestyle.
The final principle is fun. If you enjoy what you are doing, is it really work? On the contrary, it is fun. You will be more motivated to continue, and will have the desire to maintain your fitness levels. So all in all, it does not matter which type of diet you undergo, nor does it matter which form of physical activity you choose, as long as you include variety, balance and fun.