Fitness is one of those things that you are better off having
than not having. But fitness is also something I love to ridicule and that is
because some people—gay men among them—take it to absurd extremes.
Fitness can be hard to define and has many meanings. One
man’s fitness can be another man’s piece of cake. The cake of course has to be
organic and with a carrot thrown in so it’s healthy. I find if you put enough
cream cheese in the frosting, however, you can overcome any health benefit from
the carrot. Health and fitness don’t necessarily go together. I was never so
fit as when years ago I used to dance all night after doing the right drugs,
the kind that make you dance all night. I had a waist so small, I could hardly
even measure it. But health wise—I don’t recommend it.
For me, true fitness is an elusive optimal state of health. Right
now, in mid-summer, I see myself as being in peak condition. I have for over a
month now been bicycling 50 miles each week and have reached a kind of plateau
in strength and endurance. My diet has shifted as well to a summer feast of
fresh fruits and vegetables, many of which I pick in my own backyard—basil, kale,
summer squashes, tomatoes. My summer weight is ten pounds less than my winter
weight. Summer means fitness.
Balance of course is key. So, I balance the fresh stuff with
a cold beer before dinner and ice cream after. I wouldn’t touch a health shake
or a protein bar unless I was starving. Fitness is one thing; health nut is
another and I am not a health nut. Optimal means somewhere between energetic
and relaxed. I’ll never be accused of overdoing it.
I know some guys who are into what is called cross-fit
training. Cross-fit is to fitness what sack cloth and self-flagellation are to
religion—a chance to be mean to yourself and feel self-righteous and brag about
it. It isn’t fitness or health, it is punishment. Cross fit is ruthless with its
extremes of running, jumping, doing push ups and pull ups, lifting weights, and
forcing your body to do things it doesn’t want to do and probably shouldn’t.
You might ask: What is all this fitness for? So, you can type
faster on your computer? So, you can look prettier on your computer? So you can
measure up to the high standards of Grindr. Since muscles have no intrinsic
health value, why all this body building? The desire for muscles seems to be in
inverse proportion to the need. Having no practical value, I guess that those built
up bodies must be for display purposes only.
Physical fitness is good for you but I think we should pay
more attention to mental fitness and on that scale our society is pretty
flabby. We don’t exercise our minds and feed it constant junk food. Showing
intelligence is regarded as just showing off. No wonder some Americans want to
get rid of access to health care. And others can’t figure out that that’s a bad
idea. Instead of intelligence—or mental fitness—we get the mental equivalent of
cross fit training—lots of training to navigate complicated computer programs,
for example. But no smarts.
Fitness is for those who have a lifestyle and I gave up a
lifestyle ages ago. Nevertheless, I try to stay fit.
© 30 Jul 2017
About the Author
Nicholas grew up in Cleveland,
then grew up in San Francisco, and is now growing up in Denver. He retired from
work with non-profits in 2009 and now bicycles, gardens, cooks, does yoga,
writes stories, and loves to go out for coffee.
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