#Run With an Idea 5 - Fitness - Just A Trend?

Welcome to Post 5 of the Run With An Idea debate 

Fitness - Just A Trend? 

Whilst thinking about this post I did look up the definition of fitness :-

 *A set of attributes (qualities) relating to people's ability to perform physical activity.

*A state of well-being with low risk of premature health problems and energy to participate in a variety of physical activities.

*The ability to meet the ordinary as well as the unusual demands of daily life safely and effectively without being overly fatigued and still have energy left for leisure and recreational activities. 

Experts agree that physical fitness has many dimensions and levels. It has been further broken down into two categories of components that, collectively, help define it:

*Health-related: cardiorespiratory (aerobic), muscular strength and endurance, muscular flexibility, and body composition.
*Skill-related: agility, balance, coordination, power, reaction time, and speed.

Any definition of fitness may include health-related and/or performance-related components, and they are not mutually exclusive--they overlap. You cannot develop power without training for speed and strength. Agility is comprised of speed, strength, power, flexibility, reaction time, balance, and coordination (skill), so sports training to improve one component also improves others. 

I really did not know where to start with this week's debate post so taking it from a personal perspective - I don't think fitness per say is a trend, although within the fitness industry there may be some.   We've seen some ideas of fitness come and go, and we've seen some evolve.

Personally I've always been into "fitness" - as a teenager I was a keen hockey player and was lucky enough to play for a season with a local 2nd XI - I wasn't that good but I was as keen as mustard!  At 19 I did an induction at a local gym - that didn't last long but I'd also found the mass exercise class popular in the mid-80's.  A chance to dress in lycra leotard, leggings and a pair of legwarmers!   The classes in those days seemed populated by young women of my own age.   Go to a mass exercise class these days and you'll find all ages - maybe those ladies are the ones I was working out with all those years ago.   The women of the 80's have maybe passed on their love for fitness to the younger generations - I have certainly been known to attend a Zumba class with my own 17 year old daughter, and we have taken part in Race for Life together and recently the Color Run.  I'm a firm believer in setting a good example to kids - if they see loved ones exercising or taking part in a sport they enjoy they may be motivated to do so themselves!  My participation in sport/fitness has certainly changed over the years.  From those early days jumping around in an aerobics class I've done Legs, Bums & Tums, Step, joined a gym and used free weights.  I've been running for 6 or 7 years and lately, due to injury, I've taken up swimming.  As soon as I'm able I'll be getting on the bike to try my hand at cycling, again, and once the shinsplints are sorted I'll be back on the road running! I've also been known to wear sportswear when I'm not taking part in fitness!  Does that make me trendy?

Yoga in the good old days seemed to me to be a bit hippy but nowadays just about everybody is doing it, not only for its own sake but as a complement to other sports, including running.  One example of an activity evolving over the years.

The wealth of sport available to the "ordinary" people is staggering - from Archery to Zumba, there are no limits - apart from your own bank balance!    My daughter is a keen karate ka - not the cheapest sport in the world with it's competition entries, travelling costs and working through the belts and levels.

With the growth of the worldwide web the fitness industry has found ways to involve people from all walks of life.   There's advice about healthy eating, online weightloss sites and places to buy accessories.   I'm not sure that people see fitness as trendy - although some of the clothing available from the top sports company can make people look "sporty" without them actually taking part in any sport or fitness regime.  Sportswear has become trendy as "everyday" wear.

Of course there are always going to be those "who don't", as runners we've all had those conversations with non-runners and people who think fitness is walking to the shops to buy a pair of trackies, and fitness trends are often vilified in the press.  Maybe we are just trendsetters!

 So, what do you think.   Do you think fitness is trendy?

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