Listen to what people talk about when they talk about fitness. When you begin, you may only hear the familiar vernacular: losing some weight, gettin’ back at it, back in shape, back to looking good and feeling a little better. But listen a little closer, ask a few more questions, dig a little deeper and you’ll begin to hear other reasons for coming to the gym, for moving around, for doing all of these things in an effort to become more fit.

You may hear something about conquering a fear. There was someone I heard about who completed her first Group Active class–start to finish, every second and every movement. I heard about the pride she felt. That little voice, that nagging untruthfulness, once told this woman, “No, you cannot.” Now, for this woman, she has more freedom away from that voice. She is looking for what’s next while celebrating what she has just done.

You may hear about a shifting attitude. For some, exercise was always for someone else, for the next person, the person who seemed to enjoy pain and discomfort and found satisfaction in self-inflicted misery. For some, in order to rethink their stance on exercise, they had to remember what it was like to be a kid when there was no such thing as exercise and movement was never a chore. Movement was called playing. I’ve seen people push themselves, hit The Wall, fly past it, smiling as they go. They are free to find joy in movement.

You might run across a mother or father talking about their kids and what it feels like to have energy. For some, the time in Group or in Spartan or with a trainer is their time and they take that feeling of self-love and give it as love to their friends and families. They are free to be as happy as they want and make those around them more happy.

And you might hear about something difficult being accomplished. The training was hard and the goal was big. The day came and they got it done. And the day was hard and the event was hard and the feeling of pride was big. The scope of what was possible grew wider and grander and more beautiful.

Fitness is freedom. Freedom to daily live life on our own terms. To live well. To tell stories of new adventures. To discover what we are capable of.