Do you know how to differentiate fitness from wellness?

Today being comfortable with oneself has become essential. Taking care of your body and its health is more important than ever, and that is why great routines such as sports at all ages or the gym have settled in society, thus avoiding bad habits and routines. However, there is a slight difference between having optimal physical preparation and achieving total well-being , both physically and emotionally. That is why today we explain the differences between fitness that we know so well and wellness , a philosophy of life that goes beyond physical exercise.

What do we understand by fitness?

As a general rule, when we adopt Anglicism as our own, many of us believe that we know its purest meaning, and yet it is difficult to define afterwards. Would you know how to define exactly what fitness is? If not, we help you, don't worry.

Mujer haciendo yoga

When talking about fitness we can define it as a mental state in which you decide to start a series of physical activities to take care of your body . With an emphasis on endurance, coordination, agility, reflexes, strength or flexibility , we decided to make an extra effort on a daily basis to feel good.

Finding yourself well and at ease on a physical level will generally affect your emotional state as well, finding you handsome and healthy. In fact, what years ago was simply exercise, is now accompanied by a broader lifestyle . I not only want to have a defined six-pack, but I will take care of the clothes I wear so that my effort is noticed or I will monitor the nutrition of my face to complement that much worked abdominal.

However, does a body ten always guarantee happiness? Not at all.

Pareja con un café y su perro

What do we understand by wellness?

In this tirade to assess whether an optimal physical state guarantees happiness, the wellness phenomenon appears. Going to the definition as above, we could understand it as a state in which physical activity is the means to achieve complete emotional well-being . Using sport as an excuse, you will try to reach a higher point that will be the balance between body and mind .

In this way, we can think that roughly relaxation and emotional well-being without stress will be the absolute goal of these practices, which in such an accelerated life find physical exercise as the perfect ally to escape routine.

What type are you?

Once both philosophies are presented, there are a series of questions that you could ask yourself before evaluating whether you are more about fitness or wellness. Here you have them:

  • Does physical exertion until failure prevent wellness ?: If the main goal of wellness is happiness and limiting stress, perhaps a training routine can overwhelm and not reach that zen state. To what extent can you go according to this philosophy?
  • Do you manage to escape with sports ?: In this case, decide to be more about fitness or wellness, if there is something clear is that physical exercise has all the ingredients to get everything off your mind. If you get overwhelmed when doing your workouts, you are doing something wrong.
  • Does a defined body give happiness ?: This is a question that has been settled in society throughout history. The truth is that it says that of 'mens sana in corpore sana' , and we believe that here is the key. Whether the goal is muscle definition or relaxation, make your main beneficiary be your mind.
  • Think of a scale : In summary, we must think that as if it were a scale, the physical level you have will help the mental level, and the path to a high physical level will allow you to relax and escape, thus stimulating the mental level. Be that as it may, the role of sport as an escape route is undoubted.