What is Athleticism?
Why athleticism should be everyone's training goal and why it matters for longevity, aging and overall health.
Years ago, at a gym one morning, doing rounds of circuits I created for myself—a trainer approaches me to ask: “why are you working so hard? Are you training for something?” (This was also well before I pivoted to join the industry myself too).
What I was most excited about when I became a member at that gym was not the shiny new machines, the extensive weight options, the barbell racks, the spacious bathrooms, or even the 360 views of the city—I was most intrigued by their generous AstroTurf and mini track areas—as these spaces allowed me to do the kind of training that challenged my athleticism.
Exposed to sports training from a young age, it never occurred to me that the exercises I was doing was anything out of the ordinary from a typical gym goer. To me, I was simply repeating what I had been taught as a student athlete in school: ladder agility training, box jumps, multidirectional medicine ball work, 100m sprints etc.
Nearly spending nearly a decade in the fitness industry and training hundreds of clients along the way, I was made aware that the type of training methods I’ve adopted since my youth are not common knowledge for many adults.
I am grateful for the knowledge my coaches and physical education teachers passed on to me. I was also lucky to have had a natural love for sports and movement from a young age. The extent of my knowledge, ignited from my days as a school athlete, was a wealth of information that surprised me—even today.
Though I am no longer training clients, my passion for fitness and health remains. Then and now, my goal has remained: to maintain my athleticism. Of course, I can’t pretend that the aesthetic gains aren’t a great bonus, but athletic capacity is what I am most interested in.
Unlike specific weight loss targets or heavy lift goals—mostly numerical aims— the benefits of athleticism, are more about a feeling. A state of ease and execution of movement that can only be won through time, dedication, and perseverance. Coincidentally, training for athleticism is also what I believe to be the best approach for aging and longevity too. The results of which are unparalleled.
What is Athleticism?
Athleticism is a comprehensive multi layered concept that’s composed of a range of physical and mental attributes that contribute to a person’s overall athletic performance.
In a sports and exercise context, athleticism refers to the combination of abilities that enable a person to excel in physical activities and sports. In a day-to-day context, athleticism is the key to aging and longevity.
In a bout of high intensity exercise, I am more concerned about how my lungs feel and the quality of my movements versus the concern for my waist line. I want to reach that point of breathlessness—sensing every drop of sweat and earned thump of heart beat— because that’s when I know my anaerobic and aerobic capacities are challenged.
I am much more interested in exploring the range of flexibility in my hips and hamstrings, than I am worried about the thigh gap that many clients used to ask me about. I want to be able to sustain a level of high performance, with good form, execution, and power output, sustained for maybe an hour; without fatiguing or significant diminished exertion. Although I admit, a personal best in chin ups or on a barbell deadlift is an accomplishment worth celebrating too, yet athleticism is the comprehensive strategy I care for most.
Athleticism is about a feeling. It can be measured, but the numeric targets are not the main purpose. I am seeking a physical and mental sensation. While most other fitness objectives are skewed towards arbitrary numerical targets—like time, distance, weight goal, etc.— athleticism is about how I feel in my body and how I feel when I move it.
