It is generally understood that ‘fitness’ can be broken down into a variety of physical attributes (strength, endurance, power, flexibility etc) and that 'health' has more to do with the state of the body and how well it's systems are functioning. These two areas are deeply intertwined and changes to one will effect the other.

When it comes to training and exercise we want to determine what elements are going to contribute to the development of your health and fitness the most and focus on developing those first. But we also want to find out (or know before hand) at what point does the pursuit of one of/or all of these skills begin to compromise your health and general wellbeing rather than build it. Understanding this concept will help us attempt to prioritise the order in which we obtain these ‘skills’ and define where each of these skills diverge from being healthful to being unhealthy.

For most people, the answer is most likely the ever ambiguous and vague “it depends”. Factors that may determine how far someone can pursue each of these skills will include age, previous injuries, recovery strategies, diet, stress, sleep and genetic potential (your natural limitations to different physical attributes). Some people are going to be able to develop amazing levels of strength before they start to see issues develop where as others will be much more limited in the level of strength they can achieve. The idea remains however that there is still going to be a point where the development of fitness comes at the expense of ones health.

Lets use running as an example of this idea. For someone who has never done any running/cardiovascular training, they will most definitely see improvements in various measurements of health after they take up running. As they continue to develop their running fitness they will see similar progress in their health status. These may include better heart and lung health, better blood markers, improved sleep, weight loss and many others potential benefits. However, if they pursue running to the point where it begins to lead to injuries, poor sleep, decreased immune function etc then what was making them both fitter and healthier is now making them unhealthy. This model can be applied to almost any exercise, movement or aspect of fitness.

Although this may seem obvious, I think its distinction is important as it has implications beyond a simple definition of terms. First of all, I think that it is important for active people to define what it is they are training for. If they are training for health then their training should look quite different from someone who is training for optimal fitness or for a high-level sports specific goal. I have no problem whatsoever with people wanting to pursue high-level fitness goals (marathon running, competitive weightlifting/power lifting etc). Television sports channels would be very boring if every person was solely interested in being healthy as opposed to being the most elite sports-person! Issues arise when people pursue goals of high level fitness without acknowledging that they may have to sacrifice some of their health in order to obtain that goal and when trainers assume that someones goals are loftier than the client/athlete wants and their training leads them towards avoidable pain and injury.

So take a step back and consider what it is that you are training for and what your health goals are. Are you are willing to sacrifice some health markers in the pursuit of amazing physical feats of strength and performance? Or are you more health focused and your goals are to simply feel good, move well and reduce your risk of injury? If your training doesn't align with those goals then now is the perfect time to re-calibrate your training and set you on the path that you want to be on!

Stay well! Have fun and train smart!

Carey