HEALTH VS FITNESS - IS IT THE SAME THING?

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Most people believe being healthy and being fit are one and the same. In reality, they can be separate states of physical being. You can be really fit, and not very healthy, and you can be very healthy and not very fit. The best benefits are found with trying to get a balance out of both sides, this requires us to identify the difference between fitness and health.

So first, let’s define the differences. According to WHO (World Health Organization), health is defined as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. It includes aging well, longevity, quality of life, freedom from pain etc.

Fitness, on the other hand, is defined as a set of attributes that people have or achieve that relates to the ability to perform physical activity. It is made up of components such as endurance, strength, flexibility, power, mobility, agility etc.
Fitness involves activity of some sort that stimulates various systems of the body and maintains a certain condition within the body. Health, on the other hand, involves every system of the body and is only achieved through a lifestyle that supports health.

For example, if a person has a poor diet and adopts an unhealthy lifestyle, no exercise or training in the world will be able to correct the damage. Like the saying goes, “you can’t out train a bad diet”.

In general, both fitness as well as health include a large range of exercises and movements. The best way to achieve a lifelong state of great fitness and health is by not pushing your limits to the extreme and also by following a proper diet and fitness regime, which will ensure an overall state of wellness.