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Should Aerobic Fitness Be Considered a Vital Sign?
Replies
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lemurcat12 wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Not sure about the calculator...it says I have fitness of a 23yr old! (I'm 43) I even did all the extra questions so the calculator knew I have asthma. I'm not sure I believe it as I know my health is poor by my standards. I'm nowhere near where I was just a few years ago.
Your standards are a lot higher than most. Somebody my girlfriend works with was talking about visiting Iceland on a cruise. She'd like to soak in a hot spring, but it's a mile from the road. She explained that it's ok, because they have helicopters (to carry her that mile).
What?! You're joking! A helicopter to go a mile? I'm guessing it wasn't straight up a mile high cliff either.
I'd assume this was a joke.
I know lots of people who don't really exercise at all (although I also know lots of people who are very active), but absolutely no one who is not quite old or disabled who would find walking a mile anything other than common and normal daily activity.
I'm hoping it was a joke. But I knew people who drove next door, took a golf cart to the end of their drive ( 300ft) to get the mail, complained about all the walking at Disney when we walked one third of one mile....there are people who think a mile is a crazy long distance to walk.0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »Not sure about the calculator...it says I have fitness of a 23yr old! (I'm 43) I even did all the extra questions so the calculator knew I have asthma. I'm not sure I believe it as I know my health is poor by my standards. I'm nowhere near where I was just a few years ago.
Your standards are a lot higher than most. Somebody my girlfriend works with was talking about visiting Iceland on a cruise. She'd like to soak in a hot spring, but it's a mile from the road. She explained that it's ok, because they have helicopters (to carry her that mile).
What?! You're joking! A helicopter to go a mile? I'm guessing it wasn't straight up a mile high cliff either.
Well, I've never been to Iceland so I can't say from personal experience, but it sounds like the problem is that it's a mile, not what kind of mile it is. "Aggressively sedentary" would be a fair description; the lady rolled her ankle years ago and refused to walk more than strictly necessary anymore.1 -
robinhelmstreit wrote: »No. It should be a measure of fitness but it's not a vital sign.
As a nurse who provides emergency care, I will tell you that fitness is not a vital sign.It's a bit disturbing viewing this as a medical scientist.
Well, I'm asking because the American Heart Association thinks it's a good idea, and I thought it would be interesting thing to talk about here. They've made a pretty good argument for it.0 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Not sure about the calculator...it says I have fitness of a 23yr old! (I'm 43) I even did all the extra questions so the calculator knew I have asthma. I'm not sure I believe it as I know my health is poor by my standards. I'm nowhere near where I was just a few years ago.
Your standards are a lot higher than most. Somebody my girlfriend works with was talking about visiting Iceland on a cruise. She'd like to soak in a hot spring, but it's a mile from the road. She explained that it's ok, because they have helicopters (to carry her that mile).
What?! You're joking! A helicopter to go a mile? I'm guessing it wasn't straight up a mile high cliff either.
I'd assume this was a joke.
I know lots of people who don't really exercise at all (although I also know lots of people who are very active), but absolutely no one who is not quite old or disabled who would find walking a mile anything other than common and normal daily activity.
Snort!
I hang out part of the time with an arts and crafts group. I've heard members get in a somewhat good natured bicker-fest when one of them (call her A), returning from lunch, took a parking space that B had had before lunch that was 2 slots closer to the building door. We stopped meeting at one place partly because they sometimes gave us a meeting room up one flight of stairs. I've seen people get red-faced and panting from walking down a level 75-foot hall pulling a small rolling case. They thought I was truly nuts and risking injury or something when I said I'd walked 4.5 miles to pick up my car after a repair, even though they know I'm an athlete. When I go to crafts conferences/events, people like them are all over the place. Even when I was obese, I'd be one of the thinner and certainly more mobile people present.
Some of these people I see regularly are "disabled", sadly - have handicap parking permits - for reasons mainly to do with being severely obese and avoiding vigorous activity for decades. They're around my age, 60s - maybe that counts as old to you, but it doesn't to me, especially given that I row (on water) regularly with 70-year old women who also lift weights, bike, swim, etc.
Lots of people would consider walking a mile to be a huge undertaking, IME.1 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »NorthCascades wrote: »Not sure about the calculator...it says I have fitness of a 23yr old! (I'm 43) I even did all the extra questions so the calculator knew I have asthma. I'm not sure I believe it as I know my health is poor by my standards. I'm nowhere near where I was just a few years ago.
Your standards are a lot higher than most. Somebody my girlfriend works with was talking about visiting Iceland on a cruise. She'd like to soak in a hot spring, but it's a mile from the road. She explained that it's ok, because they have helicopters (to carry her that mile).
What?! You're joking! A helicopter to go a mile? I'm guessing it wasn't straight up a mile high cliff either.
I'd assume this was a joke.
I know lots of people who don't really exercise at all (although I also know lots of people who are very active), but absolutely no one who is not quite old or disabled who would find walking a mile anything other than common and normal daily activity.
Snort!
I hang out part of the time with an arts and crafts group. I've heard members get in a somewhat good natured bicker-fest when one of them (call her A), returning from lunch, took a parking space that B had had before lunch that was 2 slots closer to the building door. We stopped meeting at one place partly because they sometimes gave us a meeting room up one flight of stairs. I've seen people get red-faced and panting from walking down a level 75-foot hall pulling a small rolling case. They thought I was truly nuts and risking injury or something when I said I'd walked 4.5 miles to pick up my car after a repair, even though they know I'm an athlete. When I go to crafts conferences/events, people like them are all over the place. Even when I was obese, I'd be one of the thinner and certainly more mobile people present.
Some of these people I see regularly are "disabled", sadly - have handicap parking permits - for reasons mainly to do with being severely obese and avoiding vigorous activity for decades. They're around my age, 60s - maybe that counts as old to you, but it doesn't to me, especially given that I row (on water) regularly with 70-year old women who also lift weights, bike, swim, etc.
Lots of people would consider walking a mile to be a huge undertaking, IME.
I think being in a city skews my view. I regularly walk a mile to the grocery store (and so do people around me, I'm no special case and did this when I was fat and didn't exercise, too). I live in a 4th floor walk up. I walk a half mile (bit more, really) every day on one end to the L, and know people who walk more than that to the train station. I had a meeting this morning at the other end of the Loop (I'm reasonably central), so walked about .75 mile there (and of course back when it was done). This is all super routine.
On a weekend I'd walk much farther just to do things. I have a car, but parking is either a hassle or expensive, so I think lots of people are likely to walk, again even if they aren't active people.0 -
Lots of people would consider walking a mile to be a huge undertaking, IME.
A few years ago, I hiked from Cascade Pass to Stehekin, a tiny little town of about 80 people in Central Washington. The only ways to get in or out of town are hiking, by boat, or by float plane. It's near the PCT so many of the people you'll encounter in town are hikers on their way to Canada. My route was more modest, about 35 miles, with 2 nights on the trail.
When I got to town, a lady (not at all overweight) asked me if I knew where the famed bakery was. I pointed and told her to follow the wagon road two miles that way, you can't get lost. She looked at me like I said I was from Mars. She asked me if there was another way. I told her there's a place that rents bikes. She announced that she wasn't going to the bakery after all.2 -
Having worked as a volunteer EMT, I have more of an emergency medicine view of vital signs. I am interested in bleeding, breathing, and pulse. Aerobic fitness is important, you are not going to die in the next 10 minutes if you are not aerobically fit. You will die if your heart stops, your not breathing, or you bleed out.6
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No. Why? Because the methods used to measure this by any medical establishment involves running or jumping, joint impact.
I can swim 4 to 6 miles easy. I can go into a spin class after swimming 4 miles. But I can't run or do any impact aerobics due to arthritis in my feet.1
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