To think that being “skinny” doesn’t make you fit

[hannah1992]

So I’ve just read a thread about 2 policeman being “overweight” and chasing a “skinny” guy and it got me thinking.

I’m slim but I’m really unfit. More so than I thought before lockdown.

My friend is overweight by about 2 stone but she’s a lot fitter than me. As in she can go jogging for an hour, I would feel like I’m having a heart attack after 10 mins.

I understand that carrying extra weight can make you get tired quicker but Aibu to think that just because you’re carrying extra weight doesn’t mean you’re unfit? And just because you’re skinny or slim doesn’t mean you’re fit and healthy either.

People’s perceptions of the way people look is mind blowing

@Gin it’s still a commitment though, isn’t it.

I’m 30, several of my friends are fitness instructors or PTs, my husband plays sport at a high amateur level and runs marathons. None of us are effortlessly doing it. I think you’re right- some people walk a lot at work etc, and that is a kind of fitness- but to be fit whilst having a sedentary office job, you need to put a decent amount of effort in. I think that most of us have a lifestyle which predisposes a lack of activity, unfortunately.

I do agree with you though- it’s probably more likely to be slim and fit, than overweight and fit, statistically speaking.

“Skinny”, no not necessarily.

My gran was naturally slim but not exactly fit. She used to constantly jibe at my uncle for being overweight (not her son). He turned round one day and said ‘I’ve run 5 marathons, have you ever run 26 miles without stopping?’ He had been severely obsess and an alcoholic, him and my dad were naturally big in build as well. When he ditched the drink he started running (away from his demons he used to say) to keep him occupied. He retrained and turned his life around. He was overweight but he was fit.

@Northernsoullover

I'm exactly the same..i used to do spin, body attack, pump, combat, hiit..I can swim and walk for hours. But I literally can't run for more than a minute

I think everybody associates slim here with a beanpole who doesn’t consume enough calories, lives a sedentary lifestyle therefore unable to run for more than 5 minutes. Most slim people I know are not like that. They tend to be fitter than the overweight ones. They are the gym-goers with muscle-tone.
Last year a friend of mine had a heart attack. He was overweight and told me that all the others on the ward with a heart attack were overweight too. First advice they got from the doctor was to lose weight.

Am I fitter because I can do 5k while carrying the extra weight compared to putting a 40kg rucksack on a slim person and asking them to keep up?

No, because that would be a ridiculous way to measure fitness.

Honestly and I say this as someone who is obese myself (although on the cusp of getting back to overweight).

I am slim. I am definitely not fit and don't manage much regular exercise, although I have a fairly active job so I'm not sitting at a desk all day. I eat healthily though so that impacts on my general health.

There have also been studies showing that people in the overweight (not obese) category live longer than those in the normal or underweight category.

That'a mainly because there are a lot of people who are only at a normal BMI because they are smokers, and smoking is of course very dangerous.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obesity_paradox

Yes. This isn’t helped by the fitness industry. Many moons ago I joined the gym and had my induction. As I was in the middle of the healthy weight bracket I wanted to get fit, not lose weight. The personal trainer helping my work out my goals couldn’t get his head round it and said ‘but women always want to lose weight’. Argh!

Totally agree, all of my close friends are significantly heavier than me and all of them swim, run, cycle etc I do absolutely no exercise and definitely fall into the skinny but unfit category

My Fitbit gives me an estimate of my cardiovascular fitness/VO2max. Every time I go for a run that's at least 10 minutes it looks at how fast I ran and how hard my heart had to pump. It also takes my resting heart rate into account. I'm sure you could get more accurate measures in a lab but it's pretty decent for what it is.

Interestingly, it suggests that I can increase my current score by about 10% if I exercise more than I am already doing. It tells me that this would be average fitness for my age and sex. On the other hand, if I drop my BMI from it's current 30 down to 20, my score will go up by 20% so that it is very good for my age/sex. I am just carrying too much weight at the moment to get very fit. I can run a few miles but it's hard work and I can't wait until I have less bulk to carry around!

So I don't think being slim automatically means you are fit, but I think it's easier to get fit if you are slim and there are limits to how fit overweight/obese people can be whilst maintaining that heavy weight.

formerbabe I've never been fast either. I did cross-country club in the juniors and invariably came in at the end (the only time my ticket was in double figures was when there were only 92 people in the race). I was slim and had the stamina (it was a matter of pride to me that I didn't slow to a walk all the way round) but simply couldn't go faster.

In our karate class I'm often held up as an example of good form, but I can never get as fast as everyone else. I think my fast-move muscles (can't remember what they're called but it is a thing) just aren't very good...

@GinDaddyRedux completely correct. Unfortunately people still seem to be in denial about the dangers of obesity and use all sorts of unusual excuses to deny there is a problem. It’s like saying I smoke 40 a day but can still run 5k (very average fitness level) so I’m healthy

YANBU. Being unfit and being significantly overweight are separate things which are independently both bad for you - they often go together, but not always.

I'm fat and reasonably fit ,regularly run 10K. I was slim until mid 20s and was a runner very sporty too.So my body is almost ready for it although that body is carrying some seriously extra weight.
Fitness makes me feel better,I would like to loose weight as it is better for my health. However ,I dont want to loose weight through the usual self flagellation route and then gain it all back and more.Im tired of punishing my body.
So I'm trying to be body positive,fit and kind to myself. Remarkably their dont seem to be many 'diets' that promote this.

So I would refute the theory being propagated on here that if you're active and overweight, you're better off than someone skinny but unfit.

True, but the problem with this is that it can put people off bothering to exercise. "What's the point in carrying on doing exercise if I'm not losing weight (because I'm not managing to control my diet enough)?" But exercise obviously has physical and mental health benefits besides helping with weight loss.

I'm skinny and fairly fit, I can run for 5 hours albeit slowly. 54 years old, but weedy. I used to do pump etc when gym open but lost that motivation now sadly. I struggle to keep weight on, just a different problem I guess

I agree - skinny doesn’t equal fit and overweight doesn’t equal unfit. But better to be a healthy weight and fit.

Someone was asking about running vs other exercise. I think it’s the difference between running being very aerobic and continuous vs things like Spin being more anaerobic?

My athletic background is sprinting and hurdles. Into adulthood I can do spin no problem, and anything primarily anaerobic. I had never trained my body to function aerobically - I had to train it, over time and over distance. It’s a different type of fitness. Ideally I want to be holistically and functionally fit.

I am slim, and have a sedentary job and drive everywhere- I am completely unfit! I am strong (I could plank for example) but I couldn't run for a bus
It's far from ideal, but I don't have time in or out of lockdown.
My DS is very skinny (he was seriously underweight at Feb half term after being very ill, but is back within healthy BMI now, though right at the lower end). He has no stamina whatsoever, he can run for a bit, but would rather not! He's also very strong (classic wiry build).
It would be far better to be like DD whose BMI is greater than ours (but still in healthy range) but far, far fitter as she walks lots every day, and under normal circumstances does sport at least four times a week.
DH too, is way fitter- he usually walks to and from his office, about 40 mins each way, even though to look at him, he's the thickest set of all of us, and has a tummy.

It all depends upon your definition/measurement of the terms.

Are we talking fitness measured by running 400m at speed or a marathon time or running up a mountain carrying a heavy rucksack? Or are we talking circuits of burprees, press ups, squats etc?

Are we measuring body fat percentage or BMI or some other measurement?

One of the fittest people I know with a very low body fat (although obese BMI) was told he needed to lose weight to run a marathon at his target speed. He didn't want to as it would affect his ability to perform in other sports so he had to work harder, eat huge amounts and accept a slower time and higher risk of injury.

It is comparing apples and oranges.

Who was fitter at the height of their career, Mo Farrah or Matthew Pinsent? Both endurance athletes at the pinacle of their sport with very different body types.

I am much healthier and fitter at 40 than I was at 20 even though I am currently 2.5 stone heavier. My lifestyle when I was thin was unhealthy (missing meals/drinking/smoking/no exercise)

Now I exercise for an hour plus most days (pilates/strength workouts with some cardio) and eat a healthy vegatarian diet. I feel much better and stronger even though by all accounts I look heavier!

@Northernsoullover I just cant run either - I can plank for 2 minutes, cycle for miles. Give me a mountain and I would love to climb up it. I just dont like running

Some skinny people exist on a diet of coffee, cigarettes and cocaine!

Some skinny people exist on a diet of coffee, cigarettes and cocaine!

and some of us don't 🤷

Yes @handfulofflowers and some skinny - or slim if we want to use a less inflammatory word - people eat well, exercise and have a very healthy lifestyle.

Same with overweight people - different lifestyles.

The primary difference between the two groups is in fact calorie deficit.