So tell me what it's like to be ^really^ fit......

[amigababy]

Because I'm in my 40's and think I'm never going to find out now. Maybe not Jess Ennis fit, but a level where you can feel like you have mastered whatever sport or exercise you prefer, your body is as you want it and lets you be able to take part in your sport confidently, and it's just a complete and integral part of your life.

For someone who is pootling around hopelessly in the foothills of fitness, what is the view like from the summit?

Amiga, I cant tick all those boxes, exercise is an integral part of my life and I'm happy with my body but as for mastering anything, no chance!
I like running but I am laughably slow (my excuse is that running faster sparks off my sciatica)

what is it thats hopeless about your 'pootling' :) ?

Lack of consistency - a bit of yoga for a while, a couple of walks a week, I tried weights but stopped. They're all fads with me, very short attention span so I get bored with a lack of results and give up.

The fittest I've been was in my early 20's. I swam once a week, walked lively dogs twice a day and did a load of 80's-style aerobics, even had ideas of training as an aerobics teacher.

Nothing resonates with me now and I feel I'm at a turning point heading to my 50th as a not-very-active person. Just wanted to try and get a different viewpoint on what it's like when fitness is sustained and enjoyed.

I guess it would be easy to loose interest if you are motivated by wanting to loose weight because it can take a while to build up a good level of fitness and make any significant change to body composition (?)

I'm motivated largely by the 'feel good' effects, especially running which I find produces a long lasting mild sense of euphoria.

I've practised yoga for nearly 30 years and weight trained for about 25 years, used to swim a fair bit which was also quite euphoria inducing, running seems to be best for staying lean..even at my slow pace

I used to be quite fit. I used to go for a long run and then go climbing for hours. I had a really low resting heart rate, a 6 pack etc.

but the thing is, you're never as fit as you could be. for example, I always found yoga really difficult!

I stopped being fit because I had four stress fractures. I miss the feeling of running and running. It was great for my sanity. I would catch lots of colds but shake them off in a few days.

It doesn't take that long to get fit, it's all about building it until routine. I used to cycle everywhere, grab runs to or from work or at lunchtime. half my holidays were spent walking.

I really really get frustrated by no longer being fit!

I remeber it from my 20's OP, but I don't know if it's possible to get it back in my mid 30's.

Kickboxing, Judo, running, serious weight training. I used to wonder what was wrong with older people when they said they couldn't do things because of dodgy knees, old injurys etc. Now I understand what they were talking about!

All the people I know who have done martial arts training for a long time end up with joint problems and injuries.

I got too busy to keep it all up and DS stopped going to Judo recently, so I stopped too, I had an injury from it anyway...These days I'm hoping that Jillian Michaels can help me get fit again, but I don't think I'll ever be back to the way I was.

Sometimes when I see middle-aged retired footballers I wonder how they "lost" their fitness from being in their prime, but if even they can, there's no wonder it's not easy for us non-sportspeople.

I won't say I'm superfit but since I started exercising regularly (running, swimming, weights 5 times a week) this year (age 42) I feel on top of the world - have much more energy to run after the bus, up and down the stairs, walking for hours in town, gardening, keeping up with 4 yo DD and her friends, sex (!). I love how powerful my body feel and how streamlined I look in clothes (and naked!). I can't imagine not being fit now. It's been life transforming.

amiga don't despair. Sounds like you haven't yet found your exercise of choice, but keep looking. Your age is no barrier, especially for e.g. endurance events. I'm in my 40s and at my fittest. So is my other half - he's training for an ironman event.

For me, exercise makes me feel better, stronger (mentally too) and generally more productive. It's also a great outlet and chance to think about things and come up with random thoughts/solutions to issues. There are times when I find it almost spiritual - running at night underneath a starry sky; on a summer's evening when the sun's setting; in winter in fresh snow...(ok, I'll stop now).

fascicle that kind of description of running perfectly convinces me of the positives of continuing to run.

''Because I'm in my 40's and think I'm never going to find out now.''

That is SO untrue!

I am nearly 42, no athletic background, never did any sports, running occasionally but even when I ran a lot I didn't feel fit and healthy.
I found CrossFit last year and it changed my life, learning how to train with variety across different fitness domains (strength, speed, endurance, flexibility, stamina... etc) and across different time domains at high intensity - this is what makes our bodies healthier, fitter, stronger, not specialising in one movement for ages. I did my first CrossFit competition four weeks ago, and competed again yesterday in a team of 4 athletes. In the competition there were athletes way over 50 who were absolutely killing it!

One year on, I have a 55kg clean & jerk, I can squat clean 60kg, and do 10 unbroken kipping pull-ups. I have lost a dress size, but I don't want to be thin, I just want to be able to lift more, run 100m faster, and get my first muscle-up on the rings.

Google CrossFit, you don't have to be fit, or thin, or young to start, you just have to start. The team spirit and camaraderie is amazing. You'll walk in terrified and walk out accomplished. And when you get a sub 5 minute Fran send me a PM!

I am in my 40s too and currently recuperating after an op. Usually though, I would say I am pretty fit. Six pack. Can do 50 press ups in one go etc. My fitness is v much for me. I work 4 days a week with a long commute and a DH in the military who is away a lot, up to 6 months at a time. I can't commit to regular sporting clubs or competitions as a result. Instead I do circuit training at home to a range of ever harder DVDs and use internet chat forums to gauge how well I am doing and what others think of the workouts. I do like friends commenting on me being toned etc. I also like setting my daughter an example. I am able to eat pretty much what I want, although I don't eat piles of rubbish because that isn't what I like to eat- but the occasional bit of cake or few glasses of wine are there to be enjoyed.

I am 39 and do this:

vimeo.com/66864650

I have never been so fit in my life and I love it.

You are never too old, but it is hard work, you have to put constant effort into it. But if you find something you love then it won't feel like work.

Sorry, link vimeo.com/66864650

Amiga I'm like you and until very recently was heading towards 50 very unfit and chubby. Because, like you, I get bored very easily, I decided to do lots of different types of exercise each week - dance, boot camp, running, power yoga plus a couple of activities with DC like long bike rides, hikes or climbs.

That way if I get bored of one activity, the others keep me going. And fitness quite quickly becomes addictive if you do it almost every day. My favourite activity is always the one I most recently started, but I've decided as soon as I drop one, I'll start another, so the fickleness doesn't prevent fitness but becomes part of the exploration of all the different types of sport out there.

Drowning´s drunk the Kool Aid - do you have long socks and booty shorts too? Nice numbers and good for you on competing. Fab :)

Unexpected - that´s totally like my boot camp. By the sea and in the woods. Gorgeous (even when the sea´s frozen...). I would die if I had to work out in a gym all the time.

I´m not sure you ever feel "really" fit. Surely then you just lift more, go faster, go further....?

no I dont think I've ever felt 'really' fit, mostly I am hovering on the egde of doing too much.
I'm often wondering if I can add a few extra running miles a week without putting too much stress on my immune system and getting a cold.
I plan days with no exercise and then I end up going for a run, or I plan to only do a strength training session and end up adding in a short run, which turns into a slightly longer run

ha ha shanghaismog no long socks here! My box is a barn, tyre flips mean you go home covered in mud and a bit of cow shit.... PRd my snatch last night in pissing rain, this is how we train in Devon

I like notyummy's 50 unbroken press-ups! I am rubbish at them!

variety is the key, routine is the route to boredom. You know you always feel better after exercise.

Sounds fun!

Notyummy, I missed that. Nice one. I keep having that as a goal in the back of my mind... Am on about 37/38 at the moment. Must try harder...