Fitspiration is a relatively new word in our modern 21st century vocabulary. It means being inspired to improve one’s physical fitness and health. It’s not uncommon to be inspired to become more physically fit by an individual, or several individuals, more commonly celebrities, close friends or family, an acquaintance, or a random person we just heard about or saw on Instagram or Facebook Reels who does ten-minute planking after a strenuous set of burpees on a bad day.

But being physically fit doesn’t necessarily equate to being healthy. Being physically fit means being functional without the vanity of bulging pecs, biceps and washboard abs. Being physically fit means having a reasonable and above-average heart and lung health, and a dependable muscular system – in an ideal body weight. Being physically fit means being stronger, faster, more flexible, and more energetic than your average Joe walking his dog at the park on a Sunday morning.
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Being healthy, however, is basically having a strong immune system that keeps one from getting sick with various diseases. Based on these viewpoints it’s only logical to say that without physical fitness absolute good health can be hard to attain, and without basic good health physical fitness would be compromised. Having both essentially means being in a state of physical wellness. It’s about being in your best or better physical shape and health for an improved quality of life. Aside from being in good shape, physical wellness involves anything you can do to maintain or improve your health: like getting enough daily sunlight, sleep, doing relaxation techniques, avoiding stress, and having and following proper nutrition and hygiene.

It’s common knowledge that to function at our best we should possess a reasonable level of
physical wellness; with physical fitness being a major component of this healthy body
philosophy. It’s no wonder that armed forces and law enforcement people are required to be physically fit to be able to do their job of defending their country and protecting their citizens from invaders and all sorts of criminals and criminal elements at their physical best. You can’t expect Mr. Bean to play the tough guy hero who saves the day and lights a cigar before or after dishing out a one-liner. It’s also no wonder that the gym culture and business has been around for more than two hundred years. In fact, it started as early as the time of ancient Greece when athletes exercised and trained to compete in public games like the Olympics.

Fitspiration can go a long way to help anyone experience success simply because it’s always a positive thing to invest in your health and fitness and thus do things with more lasting energy and productivity – whether at work, in school, in business, or in family and relationships. Back in the day - in my much younger days – when the physicality of bodybuilding and fitness took a serious amount of my time and energy to possibly make something out of my life, I took inspiration from Arnold Schwarzenegger, the man who is perhaps the greatest muscleman in this lifetime. Yet in the context of a more realistic and achievable physique I also got impressed by action star Jean-Claude Van Damme’s great muscle shape and development. Like Arnold, Van Damme was also a former competitive bodybuilder. If anything, it’s about looking good in a tight shirt – a la JCVD. Or profoundly, a dream to become a physique champion. Subconsciously, though, it might just be those musclebound comic book superheroes that I got exposed to at a young age that unknowingly urged me to take up weight-resistance training (for bodybuilding purposes) so that I would look at least half as good as some of my most favorites like Superman, Captain America, Thor, and Wonder Man (not Wonder Woman, in case you’re among the uninitiated who think it’s a typo – insert laughing Emoji).

But beyond that maybe it’s just simply about trying to increase my quality of life and that the essence of fitspiration is the repeated cycle of inspiring people after being inspired yourself. This process of fitspiration becomes crucial and important for a better and more productive society. Everyone of us desires to be at our best in body, mind and soul – as much as possible and as much as we can – if we’re willing to make sacrifices and pay a little price. Having a fitspiration and embracing physical wellness is a choice one can always make to get a step closer to achieving better success in any life pursuit. So, what are you waiting for? Give me twenty push ups! And might as well go to bed early.