With the rise of electronics and social media, the picture or definition of fitness has seemed to shift toward professional and elite athletes. One can’t help but notice their posts and their picture of professional fitness. And it seems that most of them have some sort of fitness plan for sale. That’s great for all the professionals out there, but what about the rest of us? What about the normal humans out there? Should we try to obtain professional fitness only to fail before we even begin? Instead of trying to obtain the impossible, we can work hard and obtain normal human fitness.
What is a Normal Human?
First of all, most normal humans have a full-time job. This job is forty hours plus, with a commute lasting anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes or even more. And that’s just one-way. Many of us work odd or unpredictable hours meaning we don’t even know what time we will be home. This job requires us to deal with stress, and uses a lot of our physical and mental energy.
Next, the normal human usually has a family, with a spouse and kids relying on them for their time, attention, and other limited resources. Getting the kids to and from school and to and from extra curricular activities is a major responsibility. The normal human must also help the kids with homework, projects, and remind them to complete chores and take care of themselves in general.
Having a family, or even living alone, the normal human has a commitment to care for their home, their vehicles, and other domestic responsibilities. Food needs to be prepared, laundry and dishes washed and put away. The carpet needs vacuumed and groceries bought, brought home, and put away. The vehicle needs gas, oil changes, air in the tires, and cracked windshields replaced.
The Normal Human Lifestyle
It is obvious that the normal human has a huge time commitment in just being normal. But everyone is afforded the same twenty four hours in the day. Whether we are normal humans, the Queen of England, or the President of the United States, we all get the same amount of time to work with. We have to be smart in how we manage our time and really concentrate on our priorities so we can schedule the things we need to get done.
Feeding ourselves, taking care of the kids, and going to work are high priority items. Meal prepping, working out, and sleeping eight hours should also be high on the priorities list. Helping the kids with homework, personal development, and building a side business are also things that we need to set aside time for. Watching television and browsing social media should be saved for when all the higher priority items have been taken care of.
The normal human lifestyle is not easy and requires discipline. It requires living with purpose and intent. Planning the day and executing the plan. It requires knowing what you want, what you want to accomplish that day, and sticking with the plan no matter how tired, worn out, or discouraged we may be. If you’re tired, you know you are doing something right. Life wants us to be comfortable, addicted to pleasure and instant gratification. But the normal human can choose tokeep the end in mind; to take the path less traveled or even create our own.
Normal Human Fitness
The importance of normal human fitness puts it in a category by itself. Fitness gives us strength, energy, confidence, ability, and most importantly, health and longevity. The key to achieving and improving fitness is consistency. In order for something to be consistent, it must be a part of our lifestyle; part of our daily routine. The normal human can join a traditional gym, or workout at home. We should have a diversified fitness plan. This plan should include cardiovascular training which includes walking, running, biking, swimming, rowing, or jumping rope. It should also include resistance training with multi-joint exercises such as squatting, bench pressing, dead lifting, and shoulder pressing. This should be done with a mix of barbell and dumbbell exercises. And a mix of low and high repetitions. One or two rest days, or low intensity days, should be programmed into the plan. But a walking and stretching plan should be maintained on a daily basis.
The normal human also sets fitness related goals. Goals such as signing up and training for a 5K run/walk or mud run. Other goals can be losing inches off your waist, or increasing your bench press weight. Regardless of what it is, a fitness goal will give you something positive to strive for. Something you can measure, track, and experience results from. This will help you to find a deeper appreciation for your fitness journey and healthy lifestyle.
At the End of the Day
At the end of the day, we are normal humans with many responsibilities. The way we prioritize and plan for these responsibilities can set us up for success or failure. We must choose to either be uncomfortable, beginning with the end in mind, or comfortable pleasure seekers taking the easy road that always leads to defeat. It is a simple process of deciding what we want, placing that in our heart, and adopting the mindset of achieving it. Whatever it takes.
Normal Human Fitness 