Originally published Sept 1996
A well known truism states that there is nothing more precious than your health. Often it’s only in it’s absence that one becomes fully aware of it’s importance.
Make no mistakes, health is the basis upon which fitness depends. It requires as much, if not greater attention and priority than is devoted to fitness. Modern pressures to look good and perform well in all areas of our lives lead many to seek immediate solutions. The supportive mechanism to it all is our health, so often ignored. The quick fix is like trying to run before you can walk, bound to result in frustration and failure.
Health requires more than merely the absence of disease and needs to be developed from an early age. It commands an appreciation of the basic qualities of life, and incorporates both physical and mental aspects. Living in a highly paced society requires coping strategies for the demands imposed on us each day. The human body is a complex, interdependent system and as such depends on the components of the system being in balance. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs places food, air and water as the basis upon which all other needs depend. These are necessary prerequisites for good general health, as too are rest, shelter and clothing. Without them, life cannot be sustained for any significant period of time.
Whilst most Australians have access to abundant supplies of food, air and water perhaps we could reassess the qualities of each. Is clean air preferable to polluted air? Are some foods more necessary or beneficial than others? How important are the methods of preparation and storage to food’s qualities? Of what quality is the water we drink? Choice and information proliferate. Variation in food preparation and presentation abound, with methods such as dynamic, biodynamic, organic, processed, reconstituted, frozen, freeze dried, dried, fresh and vacuum sealed, amongst others. What do they mean and how do they impact on our health? We need to actively seek information on health, nutrition, exercise, stress management, and the achievement of balance.
Those who are supposedly concerned with their health and fitness have been known to jeopardise it by training whilst injured or ill. Prolonged diets of fast food, high levels of stress, and late nights can be sustained for a period of time, but will eventually result in failure of the system. Often this is the result of misguided enthusiasm, subservience to a routine, lack of knowledge or the age old “it won’t happen to me” syndrome. One’s health is easily taken for granted.
Often individuals initiate an exercise program as a panacea for all ills, without consideration as to the state of their general health. This is an attempt to instigate a course of action without the basics being in place, and analogous to attempting to build a major structure on weak or unstable foundations. It begs the question, should we get healthy to exercise, or exercise to get healthy? Clearly the former should take priority.
Ensure you are as structurally sound as possible. Common postural and structural deviances may not be painful, yet still be present. Assessment and corrective measures as implemented by a relevant health care professional will help prevent these conditions from being exacerbated, resulting in injury. Appropriate amounts of rest and recovery, attention to diet, appropriate clothing which provides either ventilation or warmth and a sensible progressive program of exercise should enhance well being and health, not detract from it.
Obtain the advice of a health care professional and use the application of some common sense before initiating any major changes. Before starting an exercise program obtain a medical clearance and obtain some professional guidance as to the most appropriate forms of exercise for you.
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Regards Kym
