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As with anything, when we talk about fitness it is important to know what we are actually referring to.

You probably have your own ideas and definitions. Perhaps for you, it’s always conjured up images of athletes, displaying their superhuman abilities. Maybe it’s been about the fitness models you see on the cover of glossy magazines.

But here’s my definition:

Fitness is your ability to cope with and recover from stress.

Simple, right?

So if we divide fitness into physical and mental:

Physical fitness is your ability to cope with and recover from physical stress.

and

Mental fitness is your ability to cope with and recover from mental stress.

Physical stress could be something unusual like running a marathon, or something everyday such as climbing a flight of stairs. It can be anything which puts your body under some kind of strain, and for each of us that will look very different. How we cope with and recover from that stress is down to our physical fitness.

This...

Check out the podcast version of this week's topic!

There are many things I dislike about the fitness industry.

One thing I do love, however, is that the overall philosophy is one of prevention rather than cure. Yes, there are people doing injury rehab and other remedial work, but the vast majority of this industry is (despite its flaws) focused on preventing poor health rather than fixing it.

I strongly believe that, where possible, prevention is better than cure. If we can avoid becoming unwell in the first place, or perhaps just less unwell, then surely that’s got to be better than clawing our way back after the fact?

I don’t believe for one second that medical intervention doesn’t have a place. I don’t believe that lifestyle can fix EVERYTHING. That would be naive at best. I don’t believe that smallpox would have disappeared if we had just eaten more fermented foods. I don’t believe that we can cure cancer with apple cider vinegar.

I also don’t believe that medical intervention is the...