Physical Health vs Physical Fitness
Generally as a society we look at someone who is toned, a regular gym goer, strong and athletic as Physically healthy and fit. However, Did you know most athletes train to the point of developing “overtraining syndrome”, named due to the high training intensity and a highly processed diet being a driver towards this syndrome.
So let us look at the difference between being in physical health and being physically fit. Physical health is your overall state of wellbeing, how your body is physically functioning, and how your mental and social state is. Being physically fit is generally looked at as fitness capabilities such as, performance in physical tasks and your stamina, endurance and strength in exercise and sport.
An individual may look “fit” but they may over work themselves to a point where they are putting their body’s systems under an intense amount of stress. This tends to happen a lot with athletes in competitive sports, which is why physical injuries tend to occur. Overworking the body in such a way can also cause stress to the bodies systems. This is what is called “overtraining syndrome”, where the body becomes fatigued causing inflammation within the body, mood swings, and underperforming, even with rest. For example, some women athletes may not have a period due to the stress their bodies are under.
Overtraining syndrome can affect a person’s physical, biochemical and mental/emotional state. Some signs and symptoms are, muscle soreness/fatigue, persistent fatigue, more inclined to viral, bacterial and other infection, eating disorders, depression, anxiety and more. Hence why, a person may look as though they are “physically fit”, but are quite unwell on the inside.
This is not to say that being physically fit is not healthy, in fact being fit has its own major benefits. These include toning up, improving one’s appearance, improving one’s flexibility and endurance. But to be in the most optimal health for the body, it is a lot about looking after the inner health too. Physical Health relies a lot on nutrition, what you fuel your body will be the deciding factor on how well your body will function. For example, your body needs its own appropriate micronutrients to avoid deficiencies and cause illness.
Fitness improves health and health improves fitness, both correlate with one another, and help to lose weight, improve strength and cardio. Becoming healthy and fit is about looking after your inner and outer health, each aspect of your health relates to another in some way. Remember becoming fit is only one aspect of health.
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