With an estimated global value of 3.7 trillion and double-digit annual growth since 2010, the health and fitness industry is one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing industries today.
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But what is meant by health and fitness? Who defines it? Well that depends on what it means to us, the individual. What I’ve learned through practice is not all working in the space of health and fitness are concerned about health. Just as not all working in the health and fitness space are concerned about fitness.
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It’s time for a separation of these two categories into more defined categories so people can be better served.
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Health and Wellness
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Fitness and Aesthetics
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I cast no shame on either of them, but in order to authentically represent and communicate what we are talking about we need to use the right language.
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If you advocate for health and wellness then the priority is health and feeling good. This means the priority is to improve health markers like blood pressure, heart rate, mobility, energy, quality of life, skin, hair, menstrual cycle, mood, longevity skeletal health, muscle and joint function and anything else that improves the body’s physical being in a positive way moving away from disease and toward health.
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If you advocate for fitness and aesthetics than improving your level of physical capability while attaining a desired look is the focus. With an emphasis on aesthetics as a priority this does not implicate that every practice to achieve desired aesthetic will lead to a healthy outcome. Health is not the priority in this category looking good and performing well is.
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The distinction is very necessary because many people follow the advice of fitness and aesthetics for desired health outcomes and vice versa. This gives a false sense of what healthy is and can create expectations that do not exist if health is your priority over aesthetics.
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Someone teaching fitness and aesthetics may recommend
Steroids
Plastic surgery
Hormone pellets
Fad diets that eliminate food groups
Intense exercise regiments
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Someone teaching health and wellness may recommend
Changes in diet
Implementing daily movement
Omitting toxic chemicals from product use
Managing stress techniques
Changes in sleep practices
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There is no shame in wanting to look a specific way but we should know attaining a specific look may not always be healthy for us. Likewise being healthy and feeling good may not bring us the exact aesthetic we want. We have to be willing to take an objective look at what we are trying to achieve when it comes to our bodies.
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Is it health and wellness you’re looking for or is it fitness and aesthetics?