Athletes will spend months and months training in preparation for ultra-endurance races such as the Squamish 50,  a race so popular that it sells out in minutes. Athletes from Canada and across the world run either 50 km or 50 miles (some even do both, known as the 50:50) through the trails surrounding the beautiful town of Squamish in British Columbia. The races can take between 5 and 12 hours for the 50 km and 8 and 17 hours for the 50 miles. Runners will spend hours and hours each week training to physically prepare their bodies and minds for the race. Each athlete will have their own training nutrition plan which may consist of a specific food or drink they prefer, but the bottom line is that the energy from carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism is required to fuel their body for training, recovering and repairing so they can continue to perform at high levels.

Becoming and staying physically fit is an essential part of achieving optimal health. A well-rounded exercise program is crucial to becoming and remaining healthy. Physical activity improves your health in several ways. It promotes weight loss, strengthens muscles and bones, keeps the heart and lungs strong, and helps to protect against chronic disease. There are four essential elements of physical fitness: cardiorespiratory, musculoskeletal (strength and endurance), flexibility, and maintaining a healthful body composition. Some enthusiasts might argue the relative importance of each, but optimal health requires some degree of balance between all four.

Some forms of exercise confer multiple benefits, which can help you balance the different elements of physical fitness. For example, riding a bicycle for thirty minutes or more not only builds cardiorespiratory endurance, but improves muscle strength and muscle endurance as well. Some forms of yoga can also build muscle strength and endurance, along with flexibility. However, addressing fitness standards in all four categories generally requires incorporating a range of activities into your daily routine. If you exercise regularly, your body will begin to change and you will notice that you can sustain exercise for a longer period of time. This is due to the overload principle that our bodies will adapt to with continuous repetition. For example, if you run a mile every day for a week, you will be able to run further and likely faster in a few weeks.