I'm a big fan of fitness. No really, I really am.

And we all know that there are many benefits of exercise. So, it really is a no-brainer; fitness is good for everyone, and everyone should do it.

But, what is fitness?

Hello, Fitness

After a chat with Merriam, Webster, and friends, fitness can be defined as:

The state of well-being consisting of optimum levels of strength, flexibility, weight control, cardiovascular capacity, and positive physical and mental health behaviors that prepare a person to participate fully in life, to be free from controllable health risk factors, and to achieve physical objectives consistent with her potential.

Notice it doesn't say anything about how one has to obtain a level of fitness. It doesn't say "three sets of ten." It doesn't say "run three miles a day." It doesn't even say it has to take place in a gym!

Fitness is broad; there really aren't any rules. Some people like the structure and routine of lifting weights, while others hate it. Some people could spend hours on the Stairmaster. Personally, I'd rather stick pins in my eye!

What works for one person often won't work for another. The main reason for that's because a person won't be consistent in doing something they don't enjoy. It's that simple! People's likes and dislikes are different. Therefore, you'd have to expect that their workouts will be different.

Lucky for us, there's no one way to be fit! The biggest reason people drop out of a healthy lifestyle, or fail on their program, is because they limit fitness to what everyone else is doing, what they think they should be doing, or what that specific program tells them they should be doing.

And that just doesn't fit who they are.

Are You More Anal or Adventurous?

Between working hands-on with people for the last eight plus years and doing a little research, I've found that there are mainly two different types of personalities when it comes to fitness and how people relate to it.

One group I classify as the "anal" type, and the other as the "adventurous" type.

Now, before I get hate mail for using the negative sounding word "anal" as a fitness personality type, let me first tell you that this is my fitness personality type! I'm guilty of being anal, I'll admit it. So, that term isn't meant to be an insult, because I wouldn't insult myself like that. No way, I'm too anal for that. (Okay, I'm joking.)

So, which type are you? Let's find out!

1) Your idea of a vacation is:
A. On a beach, relaxing
B. Skiing, hiking, or scuba diving

2) You're considered more of a:
A. Leader
B. Follower

3) You're better at:
A. Making your own rules
B. Following rules set for you

4) You're more apt to exercise because:
A. You know you should and you want to look good
B. It's fun, you want to look good, and see your friends

5) When you exercise, you prefer to:
A. Be alone and go at your own pace
B. Be with friends, preferably outside

6) When Figure Athlete puts up a new workout program and diet, you:
A. Print it out and stick to it like glue
B. Start off strong and determined, but don't last three days

7) In a gym, you tend to:
A. Get in, workout, and get out
B. Go when your friends are there

8) If your workout partner cancels on you, you:
A. Go by yourself
B. Go back to the couch

9) When it comes to diet, you:
A. Are okay eating pretty much the same thing every day
B. Bore easily and are always looking for something new to try

10) When it comes to fitness as a whole, you:
A. Just do it
B. Want it to be fun!

11) As a whole, you're:
A. Consistent and predictable
B. Sporadic and spontaneous

12) When it comes to fitness activities, you:
A. Have a routine and go at your own pace
B. Thrive off competition with others

13) On the whole, you tend to be:
A. Logical, goal-oriented, and driven
B. Impulsive and fun-loving

14) If you had a cardio machine at home, you'd:
A. Use it almost every day if it helped you reach your goal
B. Hardly use it, except to hang clothes on; find it way too boring

15) If a friend asked you to try belly-dancing as a form of exercise, you'd:
A. Rather endure a root canal
B. Ask who else is going and what you should wear

16) When it comes to the scale, you:
A. Get on it every day for motivation and accountability
B. The batteries died... good!

17) The last time you tried a new form of exercise was:
A. A few years ago
B. A few weeks ago

18) When a new gadget or fad comes out, you usually:
A. Laugh at how stupid the people look in the infomercials
B. Try it

If you answered mostly A's, you're more of the "anal" type. If you answered mostly B's, you're more of the "adventurous" type. Most people have a mix of answers. If you answered all A's, you're high up on the anal scale (ha, that sounds funny). And if you answered all B's, then you're extremely adventurous, and therefore, aren't one to sit at home and read this article!

Okay, let's get down to business. Now that you have a better idea as to what your fitness personality is, let's take a look at each.

The Anal Type

Here are some typical characteristics about the "anal" fitness types:

• You're a scheduled, reliable, and routine person.

• You often get frustrated with curve balls that get you off track.

• You're considered a realistic person, one with attainable goals.

• You're more of a loner and a homebody than a social butterfly.

• You prefer to work out alone, at your own pace and time.

• You light up like a Christmas tree when Figure Athlete publishes a new workout or diet, and you start the next day!

Since you like structure, you're very routine with fitness. You like to go at your own pace, and tend to be goal-oriented, often mapping out steps to accomplish your goals. Therefore, standard lifting and cardio protocols are fairly easy for you to stick with.

You're definitely more of a leader than a follower. You're also disciplined and self-motivated, so you tend to prefer to workout alone, not needing a workout partner, a group activity, or a personal trainer to keep you accountable and supported. Because of these traits, you're consistent with exercise and don't have a problem committing to a regular exercise program.

However, we don't call you anal for nothing! You have a tendency towards perfectionism, which often leaves you close-minded when it comes to trying new activities and forms of exercise. Your love of routine and habit could easily lead to body boredom and a lack of continued progress. So, be careful not to fall into a rut!

Your Best Forms of Fitness

Whether it's cycling, running, martial arts, lifting, etc., once you find something you like and are good at, you stick to it. You enjoy activities where you're in control and can go at your own pace.

The more "anal" you are (the more you answered A), the more you prefer traditional gym activities — lifting, cardio machine training, etc. are right up your alley because they offer opportunities to improve. You can go faster, increase your distance, beat your own records, etc.

Weight lifting definitely tends to appeal to this type more than the average person. Why? Well, for one, lifting weights is a solo activity. Second, it's very logical and regimented, with set and rep schemes, a detailed plan, as well as a specific list of exercises for each muscle group.

You also tend to enjoy creating your own workout program and keeping track of your progress in your nerdy workout notebook. Hey, we don't call you anal for nothing! (And yes, I have one too.)

The Adventurous Type

Here are some typical characteristics about the "adventurous" fitness types:

• You're a spontaneous, fun, and exciting person.

• You often find it difficult to follow a precise program for an extended amount of time.

• You're a social butterfly.

• You find positive energy around other people.

• Gyms would bore you if it weren't for your friends.

• You need stimulation to workout, either visual, gossip, or loud music.

• Your exercise schedule is very inconsistent.

You tend to enjoy a broad spectrum of activities and can always find some type of fitness activity to do. You're very open-minded when it comes to fitness, and you try all the latest fads and fitness gadgetry.

The downside is that the standard lifting and cardio protocols you see prescribed in magazines, even if they're fun and different, quickly become boring to you. You often find it tough to stick to an exercises plan that isn't fun, exciting, and new all the time.

You strongly dislike exercise schedules and routines, and often exercise for a week or two, but then, if the weather is bad for a few days, or work gets busy, you may not do anything active for several days, weeks, or even months!

Your Best Forms of Fitness

Since your biggest obstacle tends to be exercising consistently, having an appointment — either with a workout buddy, a personal trainer, or a fitness class — and finding activities you really enjoy can help you stay on track.

Here are a few ideas for you, Miss Adventurous:

• Keep your cardio activities fun and outside the gym if possible. Go for a jog in the park, ride a bike, or learn to rollerblade. You may also consider joining a sports team that plays or practices once or twice a week.

• Consider getting a dog to increase your daily activity level.

• When it comes to standard cardio machines, do intervals, and mix up the equipment often, or even in the same session. For example, do ten minutes on the treadmill, ten minutes on the cross-trainer, and ten minutes on the bike.

• Keep your cardio time low. Twenty to thirty minutes is plenty. It's better to do a little a day and not over-bore your mind, than overdo one day and take three days off to mentally recover!

• Plan to go to the gym and do your cardio when your favorite TV show is on so you can watch it. That'll make the time go by faster.

• When lifting weights, be more general. For instance, if you find a program on Figure Athlete, commit yourself to two weeks. You can always go longer when the two weeks are up, but that'll be a challenge!

• Try whole body splits, three times a week.

• If the structure of lifting really makes you dread it (and therefore, you usually skip it), try having a broader rep range. For example, shoot for four to eight reps for the month of October. Then when November comes around, drop your load a little bit and shoot for 10 to 15 reps. This gives you some variety, but also caters to your fitness personality.

• Another option is to try lifting to the clock. What I mean is, time yourself, say 40 minutes, and just keep banging out sets, taking a breather when you need it, until your time is up. So, instead of being so anal and counting everything, just lift by the clock. When the time's up, you're done.

• Another method I find useful is to have specified body parts to work, but with no specific exercises or order. For example, if you go to the gym Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, your workout week could look like this: chest and quad-dominant legs on Monday; shoulders, arms, abs, and calves on Wednesday; and back and hamstring-dominant legs on Friday.

Then, instead of having precise exercises, sets, and reps laid out for you, you'd just train that body part with whatever exercises you feel like. I often train this way myself. It's a well balanced program, yet provides a lot of variety.

• Since you're easily bored with routine exercises, you may find low-rep explosive exercises more "fun" as opposed to the traditional three sets of ten, machine work, or standard isolation exercises. Some of my favorites for you adventurous ones are: plyometrics, jumping rope, sprints, bleachers, jump squats, power cleans and jerks, negative chin-ups, kettlebell work, and decline crunches with a medicine ball toss.

• All in all, make sure it's fun! You're more apt to stick to a healthy lifestyle if you're actually having fun.

Personality Diet

No, this isn't a joke. I really do believe, and have seen, differences in eating patterns between different types of people. The anal type tends to be much more tolerable of eating pretty much the same things every day. Whereas the adventurous types bug me for some new way to cook up chicken at least once a week!

We all know how to eat right for a lean physique. That obviously doesn't change depending on your personality. That's not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that if eating the same "boring" meals several times a day doesn't appeal to you, you're not going to do it for very long. And nothing works if you don't do it.

If you're more of a structured person, you probably have a few options for every meal, and that's enough to entertain you. If you're more free-spirited, that meal plan will probably make you want to scream. And you know what, that's fine!

Simple things like changing up your veggie selection, switching salad dressings, experimenting with protein shakes, or trying a new type of fish can really spice things up for you. There are also online websites that have low-fat, low-carb recipes, and there are countless cookbooks out there full of healthy options.

If you like variety, don't try to follow a prescribed meal plan. Allow yourself some freedom. It doesn't have to be chicken, broccoli, and sweet potatoes all the time!

Find Your Fitness Nirvana

We all know that cardiovascular activity is healthy for us. So, find something you like and do it!

We all know that lifting weights is good for us. So, find a way to add resistance to your muscles, and do it!

Some people seem to be better at "fitness" and seeing the results they want because the standard three sets of ten and basic cardio machines just happen to fit their "more tolerable of structure" personality. While others are often left feeling like they've failed simply because they couldn't stick to it.

Remember the definition I gave for fitness?

Don't limit it! Whether you're more anal or adventurous, find something you like and go be fit.