What do you consider to be fit?

[HeyCooper]

What do you consider to be fit? Do you consider yourself or others fit? If so, what was involved in obtaining a good fitness level?

I’m 54. I consider myself reasonably fit. I can walk for hours and can still run 5k in 30 mins. Don’t do much exercise as such but am active in my daily life and run every now and then( most recently last week) and play tennis in the summer.

I run approx 3 times per week up to 10k and walk hills on holiday but also spend an awful lot of time doing nothing. I don’t consider myself to be fit.
I am not sure when I will.

You both sound fit!

My conviction that I’m not fit comes from only starting to do anything in my early fifties. I did no exercise before then. Since starting I have really struggled to be consistent with it. I am having a good spell at the moment and trying to keep it going but I easily slip back to doing not much of anything.

I don't have a car so I cycle or walk everywhere, including to do my food shopping. I do yoga most mornings. I am slim and I eat a very wholesome diet and don't drink or smoke. Despite this I don't consider myself to be 'fit'. My plan is to start doing weight training and swimming a couple of times a week, I think once I'm doing those things along with yoga then I will feel much more fit.

I feel fit, in that I can do everything I need to do in my daily life without hurting myself or getting out of breath.

My blood pressure is normal. I don’t have aches and pains, or make noises getting out of a chair.

I’m flexible and have good balance thanks to daily yoga, I’m strong thanks to weight and resistance training, and I have good cardio health thanks to running, my exercise bike, and regular long walks. I also have tons of energy.

I go dancing for hours at a time, enjoy wild swimming in the summer, and can run for a bus without regretting it.

That’s fit enough for me at 51. I don’t need to run marathons to prove anything (I’d like to one day, though!)

I don’t consider myself fit. I go to the gym between 3-7 times a week and can lift heavy weights and most days do 5-8km on the cross trainer with ease (apart from the inane boredom of staring at the machine/ceiling so people don’t think I’m starting at them. I am more active than most people I know and have a work app that compares me to my colleagues and am in the top 5 of a very large company.

I don’t consider myself fit because
I’m overweight by about 20kg (was 30 last year)
my vo2 max is listed as low
I sweat like a pig when exercising still. I think this is because my body is still shocked by it rather than me being a sweaty person but if I am a sweaty person it’s because I’m overweight.
I can’t run for the 5-8k (10k is more than doable but not with such ease) because I’m too fat and my knees and chins can’t take the weight
I feel I get out of breath easier than most and I get pains if I sleep or move slightly in the wrong bloody position.

I will think I’m fit when I’m at my goal weight or there about and I don’t sound like a dying whale when I exercise and when I can run 5k in 30ish mins (5 mins a km. on the cross trainer I’m 7-8mins a km)

I do no exercise apart from a bit of walking due to a disability. But my VO2 max is that of an ‘excellent’ 30 year old (in my 50s), my BP is low and my resting pulse is 47.

Medics tell me that I’m extremely fit, but I’m absolutely not!

We should swap vo2. My watch tells me I am low for a person in their 50s despite being very late 30s. I’ve improved it but still awful.

I go to the gym and do weights 2 to 3 times a week and walk with the dog a lot. I’m 56 and I’m OK fit wise, but I know I need to do more and also that gym fit isn’t enough. I’ve been much fitter!

This is going to be the fitness version of those competitive healthy eating threads isn’t it? The I eat half a Mars bar once a year so I don’t eat healthily type threads.

I don’t consider myself fit because I smoke too much, but that’s due to a stressful situation I’m going through at the moment. The rest of the time I can run 10k in about an hour and am happy with that.

I do weights at least five times a week and don’t drive so walk everywhere. I’m about five kilos ‘overweight’ but have visible muscle. I think I’m happy with my fitness levels!

Oh dear. I absolutely hope I haven’t come across that way. It wasn’t my intention. I’m not healthy or fit because I’m fat. I eat mars bars a hell of a lot more often than that 🤣

I know I am fit, run 3 times a week, swim 3 times and do 2 body pump classes. Good diet too. Very rarely ill.
But this is quite a way up the end of a scale. You don’t have to do this much to be fit - I do as I want to/I compete.

Well based on my run this morning Vs the Elite women's marathon runner this morning not very!

Her first 10K was 31 minutes, my first 5K out of 15K total was almost 38 minutes. Took me slightly under 2 hours to cover a bit under 10 miles, I don't know what time she did the marathon in but I bet it didn't take her much longer to do her 26 miles than it did me to do 10!

However if I compare myself to the average person then I'm pretty fit. I can run a half marathon with training, lift heavy weights. I walk loads on a day to day basis too.

It's all a lot of effort though, if I don't run for a week or lift heavy for a week then I'm practically back at square one. Last week I could even run 2 miles because I hadn't run for a few days despite running a half marathon 2 weeks prior. It's also time consuming, I had to change my hours so I lose money so that I can walk the kids to school, the gym takes up 3 hours a week and running even more.

I'm not sure I feel any better for it either despite knowing that I'm fitter than I ever have been and I'm still carrying more weight than I want to (although my diet has it's ups and downs which doesn't help!)

If you're not fit then god knows what I am😅 poor diet, heavy smoker, no exercise and I'll get a taxi rather than do a long walk. You're nowhere near unfit😂

Fit has different meanings to different people. To me it means I am physically able to walk a few miles no problem, can carry out all my daily tasks without issue and have no strain or breathlessness My blood pressure is normal and I have a healthy weight/ bmi.

I feel that I’m fairly fit. I run 15-20 miles a week. I can run 5k in 25 mins. I also walk and go to the gym in between.

I work full time and can easily do an 8 mile run when I finish work. I can still do a cartwheel. I’m 40 in a few months.

I think I'm pretty fit, even though I'm crap at running and never lift heavy .
I usually walk 7-10k steps day, do pilates twice a week, weight training three times and moderate intensity cardio five times. No alcohol or smoking, healthy diet majority of the time .

TBH though I'm basing my conclusion on the NHS guidelines!😃

Sweating when exercising is a sign of being healthy. I am fit and I sweat like a pig when I run, bright red face, sweat dripping, the lot!

I’m 58
I run 5k 1-3 times a week and walk 5k a couple of times a week.
I do a strength class once a week and am one of the strongest there - but they’re all ladies of my age.
I think I’m REASONABLY fit but do think I should be more consistent with running. 3x a week every week would be great It’s often only once.

I run five miles five times a week, spin for an hour three times a week and 45 minutes the other two days, do three half hour Pilates classes a week, work a physical job three days a week and walk the dog in between.

I still sometimes get out of breath running up the stairs. But I'm 64 so I cut myself a break. I'm fit enough for what I want to do. Knackered, but fit.

im active but need to be better and be more choosy with the foods i eat

Really? I look like an angry tomato when I leave. I’m glad there’s two of us but I’m the only one I see/know and I just assumed it was my body going “fuck sake, I can’t handle this”. I’m chuffed if it’s true. Thanks.

There was a thread not long ago, a op was embarrassed by this red face when exercising and loads replied that they get the same tomato face. Mine lasts ages after I've finished too. Weirdly my husband who is also fit goes deathly pale when he exercises, he looks ill 🤣