Fitness Importance

The importance of fitness is pushed onto children at a young age, and rightfully so. Most people have a general understanding of the significance of fitness. Working out keeps your body healthy and having a good diet protects you from possible illness. Though like anything, “fitness” is a large category that affects the majority of people. I say this because there is a stigma that fitness doesn’t really matter in your youth. While it is true that being young usually means you’re already healthy, that doesn’t excuse not engaging in fitness.

To preface, each individual will be at a different stage in “fitness” and overall health. Your body is your body and therefore what works for you may not work for another person. Fitness is an individualized subject. For example, while we all should have a basic understanding of math, that doesn’t mean you have to become a mathematician, or pursue a math-heavy field. Relatively, for fitness, we all should engage in healthy choices but that doesn’t mean you have to engage as heavily in it as another person does. Here’s an example: an average person should work out for at least 30 minutes a day, versus an athlete who should work out for a longer time period. (Or in the case that someone is disabled, “fitness” is going to mean something else.) I want to stress that fitness is individualized because there is a stigma around the way our bodies should and should not look. “Fitness” means having a healthy body, and a healthy body is specific to you. Regardless of this, we all should still engage in activities that promote healthiness.

However, for a majority of people fitness goes back to the first point made. The idea that since we are young, we are automatically healthy and therefore do not need to engage in fitness is wrong. To put it simply, think of a hurricane warning. Once the warning of a hurricane is put out, people begin to prepare for the incoming hit. You don’t prepare for the hurricane after it hits, you prepare beforehand. So, when it comes to health, we have always been warned about the dangers of not staying healthy. Unhealthiness can result in an increased chance of heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, etc. If you would prepare for a hurricane before it hits, you should equally prepare your body before a potential disease hits. Even though you may be young, that doesn’t change the fact that you can still get sick at some point in your life. According to the CDC, heart disease is the number one leading cause of death for American citizens. About one in four people die of heart disease. What is the best way to prevent it? One easy answer: make healthy habits.

While it seems repetitive and unimportant, choosing to not take part in fitness is choosing to not prepare for a hurricane. The hurricane might not hit for a week or two, and heart disease (or any other illness) might not hit for a year or ten, but it can still hit you eventually. That is why it is important to keep up with fitness. Maybe you’ll be okay for right now, but you don’t know if you’re going to be okay in a few years–physically speaking. The reason why fitness is pushed onto us in school is to not only protect our bodies right now, but to help our bodies in the future. Working out, keeping a healthy diet, and avoiding harmful substances are the top three ways to avoid the chances of disease and illness.

Being healthy takes a lot of time and energy; however, again, fitness is individualized. Working out for even 20-30 minutes is great. You don’t need to hold yourself to other people’s standards of what’s “right.” As long as you’re working toward being fit for your body, then you’re in the right place. Though people often think a gym is needed to work out, or that you need to spend a ton of money on a healthy diet, this is not the case. You can do 100 sit-ups in your bedroom, or 20 push-ups before bed. You can do your best to avoid fast food, which is keeping a healthy diet. A healthy diet doesn’t have to mean three full meals solely containing nutrients. Sometimes it can simply mean not eating a lot of unhealthy foods. You don’t need weights to build strength. There are many other ways you can gain muscle. You could save up and build your own workout materials if that is of interest, or simply go on a jog everyday. If you can’t get running shoes, you can find a cardio workout you can do from home. There are endless ways you can find a way to work out.

Being fit and healthy does not mean going to the gym for an hour or two everyday and eating three nutrient-based meals while drinking a protein shake. It might mean that for some people, but not for everyone. Sometimes it’s avoiding junk food or doing 30 push ups. Regardless of what fitness means to you, it’s still important to ensure you’re actively engaging in healthy choices. The choices you make right now might not seem to affect you in this moment, but they can definitely affect you later in life. Just like the hurricane example, make sure you prepare for it before it hits. Not after. Make sure you keep your body healthy to avoid disease. Don’t wait until after you have something negative to begin making healthy choices. Healthy choices are an everyday act. So choose wisely.

Name: Seika Brown

Editor: Claire Ottenstein

Graphic Designer: Tiffany Tran

Photographer: India Jones