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!

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