Fitness
and health. Two terms supposedly synonymous with each other but in today's
world often poles apart. Let us examine the definition of these two words
commonly used in our everyday vocabulary. According to the Pocket Oxford Dictionary,
the following applies:
Fit:
adjective: in good health or condition.
Health:
noun: soundness of body; condition of body.
It
is perhaps interesting to note that the definition of “fit” includes the term
“health” in its description. But all too often, health is largely disregarded
in the quest for peak fitness and this is particularly evident in amateur
endurance sports.
Consider
the following all too familiar scenario:
A
busy individual in his/her mid-thirties decides to enter a late summer sprint
distance triathlon on the urging of a co-worker. Already fairly fit and with a
background in swimming at university, he/she prepares casually for the first
event, fitting in the odd weekday session in between family and work
commitments, devoting a Sunday morning to a longer duration workout. His or her
preparation is a totally enjoyable experience with little or no structure.
Race
day dawns and the athlete performs beyond their wildest expectations, winning
their age-group and placing in the top twenty overall. After a few more similar
performances in ensuing events the bug has bitten; he/she decides to devote the
coming winter months to prepare for the following triathlon season, which will
include Ironman 70.3 in January culminating in Ironman South Africa in April.
He/she
seeks out a specialist coach for a structured training plan. Curtailed sleep
and regular 4:30am bike rides before work suddenly become the norm. Weekend
social activities and relaxation make way for long bike rides and runs. The
improvement curve is on the upward spiral eventually stagnating after a few
months. Those fun sprint triathlons a year earlier are now “training” races,
and don't seem as fun as they were. All part of the bigger plan though, as the
training log fills up with the mandatory weekly hour totals.
Our
athlete sees out the season with a below par performance in Port Elizabeth,
after a total of three weeks in February and March interrupted with a nagging
cold. The downward spiral had already
begun in February after 70.3 East London, coming back to full training-mode too
soon after a grueling half-ironman distance event. The warning signs of
decreased enthusiasm and energy levels were largely ignored in the compulsive
quest to rack up those weekly mileage totals. All part of the bigger plan
though; training through these events and lulls “just like the pros do.” Heroes
are born out of suffering rings true.
Three
months after crossing the Ironman finishing line and with the R30 000 Cervelo
gathering cobwebs in the garden shed, he/she decides to start jogging with
their dog after an extended lay off from all sport. Nothing serious, but three
or four times a week just to start feeling “fit” again. Normal sleeping
patterns have resumed and a diet devoid of the countless energy supplements
consumed only months earlier has put the vitality and spark back into our case
study. Content with his/her lifestyle being back to a normal balance, our
athlete decides to enter a half-marathon for the hell of it. Not expecting much
because of his/her seemingly unstructured jogging, an all-time personal best
time is achieved with a seemingly effortless performance.
The
monastic existence of earlier that year is but a distant memory. Secure and
content with this simpler and more casual approach, our athlete has got his/her
life back. Exercise is fun again. So what if it rains on a Saturday; “only the pros
have to ride in the rain” becomes their new reasoning.
While
the above example is a somewhat broad simplification, it is certainly a
description befitting many an aspiring sports person in today's society. We
need to remember that vigorous physical exercise is actually just another form
of bodily stress with the accompanying side-effects. Sacrificing a proper night’s
sleep for consistent “crack-of-dawn” training does eventually catch up with
you. While I am certainly not discouraging people from aspiring to complete the
many extreme endurance contests on offer these days, I wish to create an
awareness of the dangers involved of over committing to a rigid training
approach at the expense of one's health.
Similarly,
substituting proper nutrition for extensive supplementation in the pursuit of
performance and/or recovery is not only toxic to the body, but encourages a
flawed reliance on these products to perform to desired capabilities.
Health
and fitness are co-dependent and balancing the two should depend on factors
such as energy levels, mood and intuition. An intuitive and holistic athlete
will always outperform one who adheres to a rigid structure ignoring that
“little voice in your head.”
Don't
worry about being deemed lazy if you overslept when you were supposed to meet
your fellow cyclists for that 5am training ride. You were probably tired.
C'est
La Vie.
