THE FIT FOR PURPOSE WEEKLY
Thursday 13th August, 2026
WHAT IS YOUR FITNESS ACTUALLY FOR?
Being fitter only matters if it serves something that matters to you.
This edition asks whether the actions we take in pursuit of health and fitness are always aligned with our real goals.
Before choosing the method, we need to understand what we want it to make possible.
THE BIG IDEA
Fit For Purpose begins with a very simple question:
Fit for what?
Most fitness advice begins with the method.
How many times should you train? Which exercises should you do? How far should you run? What should you eat?
But none of those questions can be answered properly until you understand what you need your health and fitness to help you achieve.
Perhaps you want to run your first 10K, compete seriously, remain physically capable as you age or feel more confident in your body.
Perhaps you want enough energy for your family, enough resilience for a demanding career or the physical freedom to say yes to experiences that would currently feel beyond you.
Those are very different purposes. They should produce very different plans.
The trouble begins when the method becomes the purpose.
Training harder, becoming leaner or running further can all be worthwhile. But if maintaining your fitness requires you to neglect your work, relationships, recovery or the experiences you wanted it to make possible, the plan has lost sight of its job.
Your health and fitness should be a resource for your life - not another master demanding control of it.
That does not mean avoiding difficult training. It means ensuring the difficulty is serving a purpose you have consciously chosen.
TRY THIS WEEK
Complete this sentence three times:
“I want my health and fitness to make it possible for me to...”
Then look at your current routine and ask:
- Does my training genuinely support those answers?
- Am I doing anything primarily through guilt, habit or comparison?
- What is one change that would make my plan better suited to the life I actually want?
You may not need a more demanding plan.
You may need a more purposeful one.
WORTH YOUR TIME
I RODE MY MOTORBIKE TO FRANCE. WAS IT WORTH IT?
In this essay, I use the journey to explore whether everything worthwhile must be sensible, efficient, profitable or even particularly enjoyable - and what it means to finally do something you have repeatedly said you would do.
PROOF IN PRACTICE
Linda began unable to run between two lampposts. Despite work pressures, injuries and health problems, she progressed to completing parkruns and eventually running ten miles.
The achievement mattered, but so did the confidence and capability she developed through pursuing it.
WHAT DO YOU NEED RUNNING TO DO FOR YOU?
Running With Purpose does not begin with a generic training schedule.
It begins by understanding why you want to run, what value it could add to your life, what has previously prevented you from progressing and how running needs to fit alongside everything else.
From there, I create a personalised 12-week programme around your goals, circumstances, experience, available time and injury history - with structured support to help you adapt and continue progressing.
If that sounds like the approach you need, you can see how the complete package works below.
SEE HOW RUNNING WITH PURPOSE WORKS
A FINAL QUESTION
What do you need your health and fitness to make possible?
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The Fit For Purpose Weekly delivers one practical idea every Thursday to help you build health and fitness around a life that matters.
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