What's more important: Weight or Physique?

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Replies

  • LilRedRooster
    LilRedRooster Posts: 1,421 Member
    I can weigh less by standing on a scale in an elevator as it goes down. Or taking a trip to the moon. Bam.
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    for me, it's weight. i need to be as light as possible to be a fast runner. i dont really care if i look like a bag of bones as long as i'm light enough to be a successful runner. runners almost have to be UNDERWEIGHT to be really really good.

    Totally disagree. I wouldn't say a single runner in the Olympics appears to be underweight, and they're pretty much as good as it gets in the running world. Even the top elite distance runners don't look to be underweight, but they DO look very fit and lean.
  • SpydrMnky27
    SpydrMnky27 Posts: 381 Member
    physique matters more to me.
  • amyindm
    amyindm Posts: 93 Member
    Physique - especially after seeing so many pictures on here of people at different points in their fitness journey. They might weigh even more but look leaner. It's amazing!
  • runnercheryl
    runnercheryl Posts: 1,314 Member
    I'm certainly in no rush to get to my goal, and for me it's better to focus on one thing at once. It's important to me to know that I'm down to a healthy weight, before I start any form of weight training.
    Just a thought. Wouldn't it make more sense to get to a "healthy weight" and actually "be healthy" at the same time? If you reach the weight without being physically fit, then how healthy is the weight?


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    I wouldn't say muscles are the only measure of health.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,430 MFP Moderator
    I'm certainly in no rush to get to my goal, and for me it's better to focus on one thing at once. It's important to me to know that I'm down to a healthy weight, before I start any form of weight training.
    Just a thought. Wouldn't it make more sense to get to a "healthy weight" and actually "be healthy" at the same time? If you reach the weight without being physically fit, then how healthy is the weight?


    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group FitnessTrainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

    I wouldn't say muscles are the only measure of health.

    This is true but lean muscle mass controls almost everything in your body and if you concentrate on cutting fat, you will automatically lose the weight but the bigger thing is, you will lose inches faster at a moderate deficit and ST then just cutting weight.
  • TKHappy
    TKHappy Posts: 659 Member
    Physique for SURE. I know what I want my body to LOOK like, but I have no idea what the # on the scale would be to reflect that. And once I'm within a healthy weight range for my height, I'll probably stop weighing myself altogether in favor of measurements/pictures.

    This 100% :)
  • neverstray
    neverstray Posts: 3,845 Member
    It's both.
  • gazz777au
    gazz777au Posts: 157 Member
    .... and that all comes back to the inner person .... mindsets and our own will.

    VERY WELL PUT !

    In my case, the numbers are there to encourage those who still need to lose weight / fat ! A motivational tool !
  • PercivalHackworth
    PercivalHackworth Posts: 1,437 Member
    Great post as usual, Physique :-)
  • taso42
    taso42 Posts: 8,980 Member
    The only time weight would have any significance is if one were entering a competition, and wanted to get into a certain class.
  • UponThisRock
    UponThisRock Posts: 4,519 Member
    The scale is one of several progress-measuring tools, nothing more.
  • IronmanPanda
    IronmanPanda Posts: 2,083 Member
    For me? Overall fitness. I don't want to be that guy that looks ripped but can't run a mile.

    <-- I can go for 70.3 miles and look damn good while doing it.
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Physique. I look better now at 158lbs than I did 3 years ago at 145lbs.
  • Elizabeth_C34
    Elizabeth_C34 Posts: 6,376 Member
    I just want to feel amazing. I want to be strong and beautiful. I'm working on building my confidence back after years of it in the tank.

    I really don't terribly care what the number on the scale is.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,010 Member
    Weight definitely. When I grow up I want to be a trapeze artist in the circus and apparently there is a pretty low weight limit.
  • CoryIda
    CoryIda Posts: 7,870 Member
    Health.


    Other than that, physique.
  • jessradtke
    jessradtke Posts: 418 Member
    If I had to choose between only those two, I'd say physique, but neither one of those are how I gauge my personal progress. After I had several injuries in one year and had to work to gain back the mobility, flexibility, and stamina that I once took for granted, how my body feels and how well it functions became most important.
  • scott091501
    scott091501 Posts: 1,260 Member
    Weight for me. As a triathlete, and moreover a long course triathlete, lighter is faster for the most part. That said I don't want to have the typical skinny fat appearance many do so I still lift.
  • Jeff92se
    Jeff92se Posts: 3,369 Member
    Both.

    I'd like to operate at a ligher weight for my activities. I'm noitcably quicker at lighter weights. But I lift at a deficit in order to try to hold as much muscle as possible.

    It's easier to try to get rid of 5-10lbs to help you quickness/vertical than it is to try to improve it by training. (although I do both)
  • MyFeistyEvolution
    MyFeistyEvolution Posts: 1,014 Member
    Physique. Hands down. Scale is nothing but a number.
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
    Weight: Since I have a tattoo of my weight on my forehead (I change it for all fluctuations, including the water weight after a great training session), I get really embarrassed when I have a bigger number than the people that are bigger than me.
  • tomomatic
    tomomatic Posts: 1,794 Member
    Overall health, and then physique.

    You can have a great physique... but if you don't have a good handle on your sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, etc... it doesn't matter.

    I guess it comes back to my fitness goal: To be healthy and be around for my kids.

    My weight comes in a distant 3rd.
  • LovelyLifter
    LovelyLifter Posts: 560 Member
    I used to think weight until i started lifting

    Now its all physique....I measure and attempt to ignore the scale

    Im starting to be happy with my body
  • jensterx3
    jensterx3 Posts: 21
    neither, it's about health!
  • hanahlai
    hanahlai Posts: 281 Member
    Physique! I weighed 135 lbs about 4 years ago in a size 6. I am 137 lbs now in a size 2/4.
  • docktorfokse
    docktorfokse Posts: 473 Member
    Physique, of course. My "goal weight" is 160 pounds, but I'd like to be 160 pounds and circa 18% bodyfat.
  • odusgolp
    odusgolp Posts: 10,477 Member
    I am striving to change my physique and health. Technically, and visually, I am fine. 153lbs, 5'9". But, my BF% is very high at about 30%. I can only bench 40, and can't even leg press with my right leg b/c my knees are in such bad shape. I feel like having a heart attack after a 4mph walk... I look fine, but my body is absurdly weak.
  • Spanaval
    Spanaval Posts: 1,200 Member
    Health, fitness, physique, weight in that order.
  • mustgetmuscles1
    mustgetmuscles1 Posts: 3,346 Member
    Physique and body composition. Dont care what the scales says just want to get the body fat lower. I had to pick a goal weight where I think the BF and weight loss will match up though.
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