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’d call myself active heading slowly towards fit. I’m healthy, run 8-10km once a week, do body pump and a circuit most weeks. Fit for me would be running more than once a week, a 10km in under an hour as standard, being able to lift heavier weights, say 25-30kg squatting for body pump and a much higher max, and a half marathon being achievable. There are lots of other sports goals I have that are less achievable, but I’d be happy to self describe as fit if I could do that.

Well being fit means many different things, if you’re 80 it could mean being able to walk a mile without aches and pains etc.

I’m fairly fit for my age (late 30’s), but I used to be a professional athelete, so exercise has been a daily part of my life since I was about 12. I’ve fairly recently started doing hyrox which I’m really enjoying.

I exercise 17 times a week, do a triathlon every weekend but I won't consider myself fit until I get called up for the Olympics.

Actually I run 3 X a week, do yoga and pilates 2-3 times and regularly walk up mountains. I consider myself well fit.

I go to the gym, but I do steep incline walking and the stair master, plus weights and swimming. I can't run for shit, I quit couch to 5k many times and wasted 2 previous gym memberships trying to run on a treadmill, I've never got past 1km.

I got fit when I stopped trying to run 😆 and started doing everything else instead.

I am in my late 20s, I don't feel fit at all, especially as I was a squad swimmer during my teenage years and played county hockey. After years of sports injuries and then a baby my cardiovascular is fitness is rock bottom. If my life depended on it I could probably swim a 1km but the injuries mean I would struggle to run more than 100m unless on a hockey pitch.

Was never overweight prior to the baby though (I have a pretty good diet), now currently I am trying to lose the baby weight through online fitness programs, and hopefully my fitness level will increase.

I’m in my early 70s and very fit. I ski, ice skate, hike, play tennis, swim… But this level of fitness requires serious investment, especially as one gets older. I work out about an hour, sometimes more, most days: weight training, HIIT, yoga-type stretches - plus walking 10-20k a day. It’s totally worth it and I enjoy challenging myself.

Im 66. No health conditions or medication. I do 3 spin classes a week, weights, pilates. Can easily walk 8 to 10 miles on a hike as long as the terrain is stable.
I can't run though. I'm probably in better shape now than my 50s.

I run 3 xs a week, around 30km total. I also walk min 13000 steps a day as have a dog and consider myself ‘ok’ re fitness. I don’t think I’m as fit as I could be but neither am I unfit. I would say I’m middle of the road. Next year I want to improve my fitness and strength. I am 52.

Very inspired by @Enrichetta, I aspire to be like that and not slumped in front of quiz shows like my family members!

I’m 50, I exercise 5 days a week (boxing/bootcamp style) and get and average of 12k steps a day. I don’t enjoy running and don’t believe it’s the best workout for my body shape, but every spring I get the urge and have no problems running about 3km without stopping.

I think fitness is a spectrum!

I am fitter than many people my age in that I am pretty strong and can hike ten miles+ /climb a mountain, but I couldn’t run far because I’m not a runner. I’m sure there’s plenty of people who can run but couldn’t lift a heavy weight.

What have you found to be the best injury prevention exercises? Especially ankles - you do a lot of sports that require strong ankles.

I'm 42 and very happy with my fitness (15-18km runs twice a week, resistance work at home, tennis at least once a week) but also had an ankle injury this year that made me very aware that when an injury takes you out of action for months at a time, that's how your fitness comes crashing down...

A few months ago I injured my wrist and then developed tennis elbow, followed by biceps tendinitis… I put off seeing a physio, which was really stupid as my recovery took a lot longer. Once I started on the recommended exercises, the inflammation subsided and I’m getting my strength back. While I was injured I still continued with my HIIT (Growingannanas) and stretches (mostly Livinleggings).

Ankle injuries may be trickier as you can’t really rest them. What does your physio advise? Once your injury is healed you may consider ankle weights, but definitely check with your physiotherapist.

I also find Dr Jo (YouTube) very useful for physiotherapy advice.

I’m not sure I’ve ever considered a definition, but I’ve lost a lot of weight, over 6 stone, and have been doing the gym 5-6 times a week throughout, I’ve been in maintenance several months and it does surprise me most weeks that I can run effortlessly without getting out of breath. You can also see my muscle definition. I’m not sure I’d consider myself fit, I’d consider myself relatively fit. As being fit I think covers a huge spectrum,

Just thinking I don't use this word. If I did use it, I would use it to mean sexy.
It's not specific hence OP asking for definitions.

My physio gave me a bunch of exercises that I've done religiously, and aside from that advised the usual rest, ice, compression etc. The trouble is when all the resting means no running, tennis etc and you can feel all the fitness you've built up start to ebb away! My first run after it healed was a shocker, even though I'd been trying to keep up my cardio on an exercise bike.

I’m fitter than I’ve ever been, but can’t yet lift heavy weights. I’m 50 and love reading about older women on here who are very fit and find it incredibly inspiring, so thank you! I’ve always walked a lot and been active but was never sporty, so I’m thoroughly enjoying getting fitter.

I'm not sure. I'm fairly fit but some classes at my gym make me doubt it! I can keep up no problem usually with bodypump (medium weights), dance classes, HIT classes but I do barre fitness and I have to keep stopping! It's different to any other class I've been to. Maybe I'm just not so 'strong'.

For anyone who wants to get fit(ter) but doesn’t like running or the gym, here are my favourite YouTube trainers:

• Lucy Wyndham Read, for beginners, older and/or unfit
• Heather Robertson, for solid all-round Pilates-based training, with and without dumbbells
• Growingannanas, for HIIT, with/without dumbbells - her Tabata workouts are particularly useful if you can’t face a full workout
• the Bowflex 3-minute plank, for a strong core
• Caroline Girvan, for the very best weight training - potentially life changing.

Also, using weights while walking is a great way to improve strength (and lose weight) with minimal effort: ankle and wrist weights, weighted vests.

One way to gauge your fitness is on how quick your heart rate drops after an intense burst of exercise.

An average level of fitness would be for it to drop 18bpm in one minute. The higher the drop in one minute the fitter you are.