“Are you fit?”
“Did you say that you workout?”
These were the questions our tour guide was shouting to me as I struggled to keep up with him and my husband biking through the hills of Austria. We had booked a bike tour in hopes of seeing more of the beautiful Austria countryside and getting some leisurely exercise in during our vacation there, but I wasn’t so prepared to be huffing and puffing with my heart rate at a sky-high level.
Austria’s Hohenwerfen Castle
Our guide was a little man in his 60s, originally from somewhere in Asia, who seemed to be in good shape for his age and told us he exercised daily. While I already knew that my husband was stronger and faster on a bike than I was from our bike date workouts through the hills of California, I wasn’t really expecting our guide to be as hardcore of a cyclist as he turned out to be.
Our tour guide
I grew increasingly annoyed at both him questioning me about my level of fitness, and his refusal to slow down a bit for one of two people on his bike tour. It’s something my hubby and I jokingly say to each other nowadays, saying, “Well are you fit?” if one of us is panting during a hike or complaining about post-workout muscle soreness.
The day of the discussed bike excursion in Austria
Looking back on that day – which was a great experience despite my bike pace apparently slowing the group down – I later realized the reason why our tour guide was aggravating me. He was questioning if I was in good shape. He was making me feel inferior, and touching on a subject that feels very personal to me.
The mountains we were biking….just kidding! But this was our beautiful scenery during part of the biking excursion.
I typically workout 5 or 6 days a week. I do many types of exercise – from yoga, barre, and hiking to boxing, tennis and interval training. I love how it makes me feel, and I love pushing through and feeling accomplished when I get through a hard workout. I pride myself in being healthy and strong. Fitness transcends to all other areas of our lives, and I set the tone for my life by challenging myself and getting out of my comfort zone in my workouts all the time.
On the trail to the world’s largest ice cave, in Austria
I consider myself athletic, but I don’t necessarily think that I’m a natural athlete. I’ve always had to work to be in shape. While I consider myself strong and flexible, I’m not always the strongest in HIIT class, the bendiest in yoga, or the fastest… in anything really.
And I’ll be honest, though I enjoy mountain biking, I’m no pro. My legs, which I consider strong and muscular, don’t get me up hills with as much power as I’d like them to. I struggle, I push, and I huff and puff as I try to propel myself up mountains. But not being an awesomely fast cyclist doesn’t mean that I’m out of shape.
So to answer my tour guide’s question, yes I am fit.
I’m fit because I make moving daily a priority – in whatever shape and form I feel like it. Sometimes that means a relaxing yoga and foam rolling session; other days it means maxing my heart rate out hitting a punching bag.
I’m fit because I continuously make healthy food choices – not at every single meal, but the vast majority of the time.
I’m fit mentally and emotionally because I make practicing gratitude, positivity, and self-love a daily occurrence.
Being strong and healthy is something that I’ve earned. I take pride in that. It’s a big part of who I am, and in the two years since that bike excursion, I think I’ve grown more confident in that. So if a similar scenario ever takes place again and someone asks me if I’m fit, I plan to smile and say, “Yes, I’m very fit….now can you please slow the hell down so that I can catch up ya jerk?”
Because I determine what fit means for me.
Tell me, has anyone ever questioned if you’re in shape? What makes you a fit man/woman?
I would have been SO annoyed! That’s a tough ride – anything at that elevation is harder too. I think you have to define for yourself what fitness looks like for your body and your lifestyle. We try too hard to fit into what we think we should be vs. what’s realistic and healthy.
Definitely! And that’s what I’ve learned: That I define what fits means for me.
Wow, I don’t blame you for being mad. You look great and seem to live such a healthy lifestyle. As long as you feel good about yourself, that’s all that matters. Screw that guy questioning you!!
Thank you, Ali!! Yeah, we can’t control the things that people say; we can only control our reactions to them.
That would totally annoy me too. And I find especially with endurance activities like running or biking you have to do it all.the.time to be really excellent at it even if you do other types of workouts. I am totally with you that making daily living a priority is pretty much the definition of fit. And there can be varying levels of fit. For example, you could only do low-impact workouts and be super fit but have a hard time with cardio workouts or you could do a ton of yoga and be super flexible and strong but not able to lift heavy weights for example.
All very good points, Britt! It’s amazing how fast our bodies adapt to different types of workouts, and how hard workouts seem that we rarely do.
Dude, this is my biggest pet peeve! There’s nothing more frustrating than someone doubting your fitness or strength just because you don’t show proficiency or expertise in a given sport. I tell my clients and students that Training for performance is totally different than training for overall health or strength, but it’s not inferior by any means. Hope you still enjoyed your bike tour! Next time challenge him to a push-up contest or something haha!
I totally should have – I think I could have beat him in a push-up contest! Haha.