<h2><strong>Health V's Fitness</strong></h2>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Previously I have written about the book; ‘Body by Science’ written by Doug McGuff &amp; John Little, for its research and their approach to the point they were making.</span>

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More recently I read another book and was reminded of a point they make about health and fitness being quite different goals.

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">‘Intervention’ by Dan John, is, in my opinion, an investment for any strength training fan. In this book his methods based on 3 decades of experience as a Strength &amp; Conditioning Coach and he comes across as very honest about his failings, which also enhanced his coaching. This is something I am familiar with, as I am sure you are!</span>

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<b>When you get it wrong, you learn!</b>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">John explains, with his reasoning, the differences between health and fitness and that many clients do not realise which of these their goal is. This then interferes with the PT’s programming since the client asks for what they THINK their goal is, as opposed to what they’re really trying to achieve.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">John’s view is that </span><em><b>health</b><span style="font-weight: 400;"> is the homeostasis of an organism and </span><b>fitness</b></em><span style="font-weight: 400;"><em> is simply the ability to perform a task</em>.</span>

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<h3><b>McGuff’s definitions:</b></h3>
<em><b>HEALTH</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: Is a physiological state in which there is an absence of disease or pathology and that maintains the necessary biological balance between the catabolic and anabolic states.</span></em>

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<em><b>FITNESS</b><span style="font-weight: 400;">: The bodily state of being physiologically capable of handling challenges that exist above the resting threshold.</span></em>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">So the common theme here suggests that your </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">health </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">and your </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">fitness </span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">are not the same thing. But what is more important to understand, is how they can (and often do) impact upon each other, in both a positive way but also negatively.</span>

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<h3><b>The Problem</b></h3>
<b>Example one;</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Training for a marathon demands hours and hours of repetitious high impact activity on hard surfaces for long periods of time. Some would say this is not necessarily the best thing for our joints. Yet many people really enjoy that challenge and feel great for achieving the distance/time they set out to do. So here, their ‘fitness’ goal outweighed the </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">health</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;"> implication of wear and tear on their joints.</span>

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<b>Example two;</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Preparing for a weightlifting competition requires heavy lifting and loading joints beyond what they may have done previously. Again, this is likely to put additional stress on the joints which some would deem a high risk for the body; yet it would bring the individual so much joy should they get to the desired weight they wished to snatch. Therefore the training goal is ‘fit’ for the task rather than the safest for the joints. Your health takes the step back.</span>

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<b>Example three;</b>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Weight loss generally put, means eating less calories than the body is used to, in order for your body to use it’s own energy supplies to keep your energy going throughout the day. So for many people, losing weight could be a ‘health’ related goal, for example to reduce the risk of diabetes. However, if they also started running to increase calorie expenditure this could start to tip their journey into a ‘fitness’ goal, for example if they decided to enter a race. At this point we would then need to consider the implications of the added calorie expenditure which actually requires MORE food and therefore a higher food intake, just to keep you moving throughout the day, even with weight loss as the goal.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Finding a balance of homeostasis, while maintain optimal health is now necessarily that easy when you think about it..</span>

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<b>The body is a MASTER OF COMPENSATION. </b>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Once the body has adapted, something will change either for better or worse. How you gauge better or worse is an interesting thought when you consider the goal. </span>

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<em><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I completed my first marathon!….. but my knees are shot and it hurts to walk upstairs.”</span></em>

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<em><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I lost 2 stone!….. but I feel shattered ALL the time.”</span></em>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Also, simply being ‘healthy’ may not have the same excitement of a race or competition and therefore it might bring less of a sense of ‘achievement’ as you may never reach a point of satisfaction or completion to the goal set. </span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Now I am not suggesting it is impossible, but as PT’s, exercise and 'fitness' professionals, it is essential that we have the skills to help our clients </span><i><span style="font-weight: 400;">realistically</span></i><span style="font-weight: 400;">, while keeping their goal in mind. Part of that may be keeping them on track and educating them on the implications of changing their goal as they progress, which is highly likely in many cases. Gaining an understanding of their behaviours which they wish to change and using motivational interviewing and a person centred approach with your clients.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We should have the skills to best prepare our clients for movement, be able to suggest general advice on eating well, ensure our clients exercise efficiently, wisely and safely in order to obtain success in reaching their desired goal but the emotional drivers MUST come from within the client.</span>

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<h3><b>Could We Go As Far As To Say 'Exercise' Is Bad For You?</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Well that depends on the alternative!?</span>

Also 'exercise' is just one type of <strong>movement </strong>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sedentary is </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">not good.</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">But ultimately movement in general is good, if its consistent, daily and regular</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">As is consuming the right food, of course</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">I think you understand where I am coming from, right?</span>

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<h3><b>So What Do We Do?</b></h3>
<span style="font-weight: 400;">Let’s clarify the true desire of the client from the beginning by asking questions that will give more clarity on what their start point and end goal REALLY are, to avoid any assumptions we may make. We should use our soft skills to learn the core of their emotional drivers by asking open questions, ensuring we affirm and reflect the positive language they use to avoid them sabotaging their own success and always summarising back what you understand their goal/s to be.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">We can also educate the client on risks, or possible outcomes of how they can achieve their goal, and the differences between health and fitness so they recognise the importance of moderation and appropriate adaption.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Most importantly, and one of the things Dan John also discusses over and over again, is the importance of assessment and repetition of them REGULARLY! Every 6 weeks at least.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;"><em>“If you ain’t assessing, you’re guessing”,</em> John states.</span>

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<h3><b>What Kind Of Assessment/s Do You Do Now?</b></h3>
ParQ?

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Weight/Height?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Waist/Height?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Sit &amp; Reach?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Body Fat?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">1 rep max?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">VO2 max test?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Lifestyle Q&amp;A?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Food diary?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Functional movement screens?</span>

<span style="font-weight: 400;">Video analysis?</span>

Biomechanics assessment?

Psychometric testing?

Roland Morris's pain questionnaire?

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">How valid do you feel each of these test are, in relation to your clients start point and end goal? Are they easily replicable?</span>

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Do you feel you are adequately equipped to assess your clients start point?

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Can you regularly and easily re-assess and monitor their progress objectively? critically?

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Assessment and reassessment is vital in demonstrating of both progression and regression to allow you and the client to adapt what is being done whether it be diet, preparation for movement, exercise, number of hrs sleep, routine, recovery, lifestyle factors, psychology and so on.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;"><img class="size-medium wp-image-29666 aligncenter" src="https://biomechanicseducation.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Screenshot-2021-09-28-at-07.31.40-1-300x236.png" alt="" width="300" height="236" /></span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">Without a clear training goal, which is likely to be either a health OR a fitness goal, and without the ability to assess and monitor we lose 'specificity' in our planning. We need to be able to celebrate achievement by demonstrating progress throughout with appropriate assessment tools!</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">And remember - One size does not fit all, its always case by case. What may work for 1 client could be completely different to a new client, with every client bringing new goals and challenges.</span>

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<span style="font-weight: 400;">How exciting it is that we are all so different - don’t you think?</span>

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Move Freely,

Rachel.

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<h1 style="text-align: center;"><b>Would You Like To Be Able To Assess Your Clients Biomechanics? </b><b><a href="https://www.biomechanicseducation.com/workshop/pelvic-biomechanics-2/">CLICK HERE</a> To Find Out How.</b></h1>
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