Welcome all!
Whether you are fit or not, or just thinking about getting fit (or not!), my hope is that this area of SOLOHQ will be both informative and entertaining. This area of SOLOHQ is dedicated to the idea of physical fitness. Just as Ayn Rand has developed an empowering system for "mental fitness" or, as I would say, a system for "thinking straight"--a related task would be to make effort in complementing "fit thoughts" with a "fit body" (or, as some may say, a fit "temple" or "vessel"--through which the mind achieves its soaring aspirations).
With the above in mind, 2 key questions immediately present themselves: What is Fitness?—AND—How does it "fit" in with a life-affirming philosophy?
Taking the second question first [How does fitness "fit" in with a life-affirming philosophy?],--the1999 blockbuster movie, "The Matrix," drew quite an illuminating perspective. In this movie, the character "Morpheus" (played by Laurence Fishbourne) proclaims that: The body cannot live without the mind. The other side of this coin, however, would be that the mind cannot live without the body--ie. we need [at least somewhat] healthy bodies in order to exercise our minds to their capacity. Healthy bodies housing healthy minds--it doesn't get much better than that!
The first question, "What is Fitness?" is probably answered most succinctly by a quote from a webpage located at:
http://www.teachpe.com/cloze/health_related_fitness.htm ...
... fitness is "the ability of the body to meet the demands of the environment".
So fitness is something that allows us to meet the physical demands of life on earth--that sounds great! Now fitness can be health-related (generalized to everyone) or fitness can be performance-related (primarily an athletic conception). As health-related fitness has the broader scope, it deserves more of an introduction. An expansion of the concept of fitness, one which captures this "health relation" is found at a webpage located at:
http://medicalreporter.health.org/hp/hphrf.html ...
health-related fitness: to perform daily activities with vigor and have a low risk of premature development of diseases due to physical activity.
So health involves high vigor and low risk--that sounds great, too! If you are still wondering what it is that health-related fitness consists of, then let me provide you with 6 key components. The first 5 components are taken from a list on a webpage located at:
http://www.jhbmc.jhu.edu/cardiology/REHAB/CVBenefitsExercise/tsld018.htm ...
1) Cardio-respiratory endurance
2) Muscle strength
3) Muscle endurance
4) Flexibility
5) Body composition
These are the 5 main components of health-related fitness, but there are really 6 key components. The sixth (unlisted) component would be your vital signs--ie. resting heart rate, blood pressure, and electrocardiographic readings (EKG). That said, we ought to now have a rudimentary understanding of the main concepts of fitness--so that we can now have more productive and directed discussions. Please feel free to post ANY questions or comments!
Ed
