If you are like me, you are still dealing with a global pandemic. COVID-19 has changed your life either directly or indirectly. One thing is for sure; we can learn a lot from this. What we do know is that people with more comorbidities fare worse than people with none. This reminded me of something that I came across a few years ago.
The Sickness - Wellness - Fitness Continuum. They go by the theory that when something happens you move forward or backward on the continuum. You don't want to be towards the sickness side when something happens or you will move closer to it. If you are on the fitness side of the continuum then you can more easily handle negative health issues.
The Sickness - Wellness - Fitness Continuum
In the CrossFit Level 1 Training Guide it states:
"Our assumption is that if everything we can measure about health will conform to this continuum then it seems that sickness, wellness, and fitness are different measures of a single quantity: health."
Your area of this continuum can be based on many factors, or each factor individually:
Blood Pressure
Body Fat
Bone Density
Triglycerides
HDL Cholesterol
Muscle Mass
Etc.
There are many areas of health that can fit into this continuum. In order to explain how one factor can move along the continuum, let's take a look at blood pressure:
"Average" blood pressure is considered to be about 120/80 so let's mark that on the "Wellness" dot. If you exercise and eat right, you can drop your blood pressure and move towards the "Fitness" dot/side. When you do things that raise your blood pressure, you move towards the sickness side.
Moving Along the Continuum
In order to move one direction or the other on the continuum you must make changes.
Starting a fitness program will move you to the right (no matter where you currently are). Eating only cookies will move you to the left.
The further to one side you are, the harder you have to work to move to the other side.
It just so happens that for each category that relates to your health, similar things will move you along the continuum. A regular workout routine will move your blood pressure to the right on the continuum. Intake of whole foods and decreased processed foods will have the same positive effect.
COVID and the Continuum
Data has shown that the United States as a whole is unhealthy. Not all of you are, but we are worse off as a country than we were 50 years ago. We are having epidemics of Type II diabetes, obesity, and heart issues. These things move you to the "Sickness" side of the continuum.
The research regarding COVID-19 shows that people that are towards the "Sickness" side of this continuum are having worse outcomes if they get infected with the Coronavirus.
The farther to the right on the continuum you are, the less effect COVID has. That is not to say it isn't dangerous. You can still spread it to someone else.
Lessons for the Next Time
The scientists are telling us that this type of issue may happen more often, where viruses mutate and transfer from animals to humans. In the last 40 years there have been at least 5 times this has happened (HIV, SARS, MERS, Swine Flu, COVID-19).
What you can take from the current situation is to move towards the "Fitness" side of the continuum. You can take your health into your own hands. You can learn from this and be better.
Reach out if you want to move to the right on this continuum.
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