Train for Looks or Train for Health?
🧠 What Is the Health–Wellness–Fitness Continuum?
Greg Glassman, the founder of CrossFit, introduced the Sickness–Wellness–Fitness Continuum as a way to look at health as a spectrum – not a fixed state.
Imagine a line with three points:
Sickness ← Wellness → Fitness
Most people think you're either “sick” or “healthy,” but Glassman believed there’s a deeper continuum, and that fitness is not just about performance – it’s a buffer against illness.
🩺 What Does It Actually Mean?
Let’s say we measure a few health markers:
Blood pressure
Blood sugar
Body fat
Muscle mass
Cholesterol
Bone density
Mental outlook
Mobility & energy
Each of these can be placed somewhere on that spectrum:
Glassman’s idea:
If you are “fit,” you don’t just look good or lift weights – you have resilience. If you get sick or injured, you’re more likely to return to wellness – not plunge into sickness.
💡 His Goal:
Glassman’s real mission with this model was to redefine health. He believed:
Medicine treats sickness, but it doesn't necessarily build health.
Fitness (done right) IS health – it’s proactive, not reactive.
The further you are toward fitness, the more protected you are from chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and heart disease.
Health isn’t just “not being sick” – it’s having real capacity: strength, endurance, energy, and mental clarity.
💬 In Plain English:
“Being just okay isn’t enough. Let’s build a body and lifestyle so strong that if something bad happens – illness, injury, stress – you bounce back instead of break down.”
Start today!