How do you define fit?

Preparation, Preparedness & Prevention Fitness and Nutrition
1

I started this year at 5’9" 208lbs and I haven’t grown but I am down to 174 as of this morning with 1 lbs left to go for my annual goal.

I got through the first 25lbs with diet modification alone. If you are interested I will post my theory about in in Rob_S’s diet thread. I’m am pretty ADD so I needed something pretty simple.

Almost a month ago I decided to get serious about not failing on my goal and added a goal to run 3 miles every other day. I have logged 45 miles since then. The first “run” took about 40 minutes and 2 bottles of water, tonights took 29:15, and my goal for the next one 28:35.

In 2011 I plan to set a 500 mile target and to set a fitness goal each month. January’s is 40 push-ups each day. Feb’s will be pull-up’s et cetera.

I am trying to take small but consistent steps towards “fitness” and stay within my limitations, so I don’t get out of the habit due to injury. Unfortunately my long term goals are simple and not well defined. I want to be able to keep up with my son at least until he is in HS (he’s 5) and feel good with my shirt off. I would like to work towards a more quantifiable goal.

What metrics do you think define fit? 5K in 21mins? Ability to do 10 wide grip pull-ups? 20? 30 push-ups in a minute? 60 in a set? 10 reps of 225? Max of twice your body weight? I don’t know.

2

Very personal question. How fit do you want to be? Back in my military days I could run 4 miles in 26 minutes, no problem. Now I’d be happy with 35 minutes.

If you could go out today and subject yourself to a different workout routine…circuit training, wind sprints, hill running…something out of your norm and not be sore the next day then you are ‘fit’.

A technique I use to get my pushups up is to pick a 3 hour block and do 10 pushups every 10 minutes. It’s easy do start off with and after 3 hours you would have done 180 pushups. It wont feel like much but you wont get too sore so you can keep this up daily. Increase it to 25 pushups every 10 minutes and that should get you to a good standard.

Some basic times I’ve seen in the past:

1 mile run: 6-7 min is good
50-60 pushups in a minute
80+ pushups, strict non stop, no time limit
50-60 situps in a minute
3 mile run in under 22 is very good for casual fitness

10km run in 50 minutes is respectable endurance.

Start getting some windsprints in your routine, they help in fast twitch muscle fitness and in recovery times. Get some hill work in as well and if that is not possible do a lot of real stairs, stay away from machines they are too easy compared to real road runs with wind resistance and real stairs and hills.

Hope this helps, I’m also trying to get back to my glory days of fitness, he he.

3

A good way to determine if you are fit is your rested heart beats per minute. You do not have to look like an Olympian or run a 4 min. mile to be fit.

4

How I would define it would depend on what you want to get “fit” for.

General fitness, I think of a balanced blend of;

1.) Strength (body-weight reps / core strength etc)
2.) Cardio (aerobic and anaerobic)
3.) Power (Multi-joint movements; Deads, squats, cleans, bench etc)
4.) Flexibility

I think fitness, particularly general fitness, must comprise a well rounded blend of “functional” ability.

I often check my general fitness by testing myself against military/police/fireman fitness measurements and evaluations.

I agree with the basics mentioned in the above post;

a fit man ought to be able to run a mile in 7 min. do 50+ pushups in a minute, 50 situps, run 3 miles, but should also be flexible (sit and reach) good range of motion, and have some power, for example, bench his weight, etc.

But then there is “fit” for a particular sport, that may require an emphasis on certain body systems or types of strength . As an Example, I am 6’2". Last year I weighed 195 lbs. I was lean, and strong, and had a lot of power resulting in heavy and explosive lifts. To maintain that weight, my long runs and cardio suffered a little, but I was trying fight in a particular weight class, so I made it work. I was “fit” relative to what I was trying to accomplish.

Right now, I have been spending a lot more time in the mountains, climbing etc, and I weigh 170lbs. with a focus on being able to hike and climb all day, and lift my body weight repetitively in climbs. This requires the only muscle I have be strong enough to pull my self up on a crimper, not bench 315lb… I don’t want extra weight.

5

My resting heart rate has been about 54 the last 3 times I have checked it. In HS it was in the mid 40’s.

I think that is pretty good and on my runs I get it into the mid 180’s at the end. I typically accelerate through the run and if I have anything left at the end I add incline.

It should be noted that all of my runs are on a treadmill as by knees are such that I can’t run down hill, the pounding is too much. Up hill is much easier on them.

6

FIT is a very subjective notion. For example, I’m 47, 5’5" 175. I’m in the gym 4 days a week and martial arts, Taekwondo and Krav Maga, 3 nights a week. I have arthritis on both of my knees so I can’t run anymore without being in major pain the next day. However, I still bench 300lbs, squat 400lbs and deadlift close to 450. Not much different than when I was in the Army and in my early 20’s. The main difference between now and then is that I used to do my 2 mile run between 11 - 12 minutes. Now I take a spin class during 2 of my gym days and I’ve gained almost 30lbs but thankfully it’s mostly muscle. Still wear the same size waist. So for being 47 I will call myself fit.

7

I remember when George Bush 2 was President. One of the questions about his fitness regimine they bombarded him with was what was his heartbeats per min. count. It was always 48 to 52 and everyone was amazed. I don’t know of a President that took care of himself the way GB2 did.

8

This is a very stimulating topic for me.

I turn 47 in a couple weeks, am 5’9" 165 pounds, used to be 240ish. RHR is 38-42 and I look fit.

I define fit by two things: First, I look at my capabilities. I am not as strong or as fast as I was at 24, but I have better endurance. I also have fine tuned my workout to where my recovery is better, despite my age.

I also define “fit” by my appearance. While one aspect of that is how I look in the mirror, the second is how others appear to look at/react to me. I’ve noticed, since becoming “fit” the demographic of person who will approach and interact with me has been slanting heavily toward younger, fitter, more attractive people. I am attributing this to people self-selecting people they identify with.

Plus, my wife gives me lots of positive feedback about my appearance. That is huge for me.

9

No doubt! I am not ashamed to say that I want my wife to still be able to get a “visual stimulation” from an almost 50 year old man. Your mirror will tell you a lot about how fit you are.

10

There is something else…

My wife tells me that my waist size and ahem “reach” are inversely proportional…

11

One can be ‘fit’ but not healthy, apologies if this appears to put a damper on the OP, no disrespect intended. Two personal examples,
a former associate, a ‘fit’ 44yo marathon runner, martial arts guy,died last year of colon ca. Close friend, 46, daily workout 1-2 hrs, jogger,cyclist, extremely fit, passed away 2yrsago, astrocytoma, a rare type of brain cancer. I can give more examples, however, point being, just because you are ‘young and fit’, please don’t forget to get a regular check up every year or two or three for that matter. Stay healthy…and fit too!

12

Said by someone wiser than myself,

Combat Fitness is being able to outrun the guy you cant beat up, and beat up the guy you cant outrun.

13

I had stage IV Burkitt’s Lymphoma when I was 19. I was 155lbs, 3% body fat, resting heat rate in the mid 40’s, worked out 3+ hours a day, and ate about 6000 calories a day.

You can’t control if you are going to have cancer et cetera. You can reduce your risks against other heath problems though and being in shape can make them all more survivable too.

14

In complete agreement !

15

Genetics for better or worse plays a very big role in good health and longevity. Sometimes no amount of working out can prevent heart disease or cancer . Triathletes have died of clogged arteries while chain smokers have lived to 100+ . Someday we’ll be able to download “patches” for the flaws in our DNA to fix the genetic glitches like we do for our computers…

16

Very true. My dad is the first male in the family since since 1846, to make it to age 73 (he’ll turn 75 this coming June). He can still fit in the Coast Guard uniform he retired out of 35 years ago, but his heart is FULL of stints & bypasses; he has ulcers, and high blood pressure too. He’s FIT, but he’s NOT healthy. Invariably, the Big Three (heart attack, stroke, cancer) take all the men in our family, with cancer being the most prominent one - he’s had some skin cancers removed, too.

Someday we’ll be able to download “patches” for the flaws in our DNA to fix the genetic glitches like we do for our computers…

Doubtful. Physical fitness is good and important, and diet, medicine, and science have done much to improve longevity, but Original Sin can NOT be, ‘outrun.’

Or, as George Carlin put it - in his “Book-of-the-Month-Club” routine on 1982’s A Place for my Stuff - MY favorite book title of his was, “Eat, Run, Stay Fit & Die Anyway!”

17

One idea, good numbers on your blood work. Healthy heart rate and organs. Normal bodily functions.

Second idea, max the army physical fitness test for a 17 year old. Id haved to look for the specific numbers.

18

One thing I wanted to throw in - too often people equate skinny with fit, and that just ain’t so.

Many times skinny is weak, skinny is sickly, skinny has no endurance. I have known numerous guys with moderate guts who were very strong and had great endurance.

2% body fat does not necessarily equal fit, not by a long shot.

:secret:

19

Here’s a topical column from yesterday’s NYT which discusses how “fitness” (once a baseline has been established) can be maintained during periods of substantially reduced exercise.

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/29/phys-ed-if-you-are-fit-you-can-take-it-easy/?ref=health

The trick is establishing that baseline! :laugh:

20

Yeah, well, whatever. If your average fatass weighed less, he’d be more “fit” and/or capable.

Skinny that doesn’t work out, yeah. Skinny that does a large variety of fitness exercise kicks fatasses 10 for 10.

I’ve been both of those guys, and let me tell you, I was lying to myself when I thought I had a gut, was strong and had great endurance.