What does fitness mean to you???

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walldancer
walldancer Posts: 910
in Fitness and Exercise
Seems it's something different to everyone. I have a friend who is a professional bodybuilder. High level, been featured in magazines etc.. He couldnt job a mile to save his life, his balance is terrible, and he has no flexibility. He looks ripped, and can life a lot of weight.

I have another friend who runs marathons. She often sets the record for her age group when she races and travels all over the world to run, does ultra marathons too. Shes pain fully skinny with very little muscle mass. People often accuse her of being anorexic. She can barely lift a sandwich..yet her endurance is world class

My best friend. She's a yoga girl. Flexible, great core, good balance. Again, very little muscle mass and poor cardio endurance.

So what makes someone "fit"? I personally think to be truly fit you need to work on strength, endurance, explosive power, flexibility and balance. To me that is all around "fitness".

Discuss!

Replies

  • chivalryder
    chivalryder Posts: 4,391 Member
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    So what makes someone "fit"? I personally think to be truly fit you need to work on strength, endurance, explosive power, flexibility and balance. To me that is all around "fitness".

    Everyone you mentioned in the OP had different people focusing on different things. That's the unfortunate thing when it comes to fitness (and most everything in the world) is there is always a comprimise. If you wanted to be THE BEST at something, you will end up being the worst at something else. Take the body builder. If he tried to work on hi balance, endurance, or flexibility, he wouldn't be at the top of the body building world and probably wouldn't make it into the magazines.

    Your runner: any endurance athlete has to be skin and bones if they truely want to compete and be at the top of their game. Muscle adds weight. Weight requires more energy to move. the more energy you need to use to move adistance, the sooner you wil run out of energy. Not to mention climbing hills. Bradley Wiggins, a recent Tour de France winner, had/has a BMI of 16, last time I checked. He's also over 6' tall. If these endurance athletes had any decent amount of muscle, by regular MFP terms, they would never win any races.

    The opposite goes for sprinters - like the fastest people in the world who run 100m in less than 9 seconds. They NEED muscle, so they can put the maximum amount of power down in the sortest amount of time. Ask them to run an extra 50 or 100m and they will probably explode.

    Everything in the world of fitness and athletics is a comprimise. For 99% of us - those of us who don't compete - we can get a good balance and we'd be happy with our lives. However, if you do compete, and you try to make a good balance of strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility, you will never be at the top of the rankings. That's just the way it is.
  • katya_be
    katya_be Posts: 227 Member
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    So what makes someone "fit"? I personally think to be truly fit you need to work on strength, endurance, explosive power, flexibility and balance. To me that is all around "fitness".

    Everyone you mentioned in the OP had different people focusing on different things. That's the unfortunate thing when it comes to fitness (and most everything in the world) is there is always a comprimise. If you wanted to be THE BEST at something, you will end up being the worst at something else. Take the body builder. If he tried to work on hi balance, endurance, or flexibility, he wouldn't be at the top of the body building world and probably wouldn't make it into the magazines.

    Your runner: any endurance athlete has to be skin and bones if they truely want to compete and be at the top of their game. Muscle adds weight. Weight requires more energy to move. the more energy you need to use to move adistance, the sooner you wil run out of energy. Not to mention climbing hills. Bradley Wiggins, a recent Tour de France winner, had/has a BMI of 16, last time I checked. He's also over 6' tall. If these endurance athletes had any decent amount of muscle, by regular MFP terms, they would never win any races.

    The opposite goes for sprinters - like the fastest people in the world who run 100m in less than 9 seconds. They NEED muscle, so they can put the maximum amount of power down in the sortest amount of time. Ask them to run an extra 50 or 100m and they will probably explode.

    Everything in the world of fitness and athletics is a comprimise. For 99% of us - those of us who don't compete - we can get a good balance and we'd be happy with our lives. However, if you do compete, and you try to make a good balance of strength, endurance, balance, and flexibility, you will never be at the top of the rankings. That's just the way it is.

    I agree with this! And I also agree that a mix of it all is the best... maybe being average isn't so bad after all!
  • SonicDeathMonkey80
    SonicDeathMonkey80 Posts: 4,489 Member
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    Seems it's something different to everyone. I have a friend who is a professional bodybuilder. High level, been featured in magazines etc.. He couldnt job a mile to save his life, his balance is terrible, and he has no flexibility. He looks ripped, and can life a lot of weight.

    I have another friend who runs marathons. She often sets the record for her age group when she races and travels all over the world to run, does ultra marathons too. Shes pain fully skinny with very little muscle mass. People often accuse her of being anorexic. She can barely lift a sandwich..yet her endurance is world class

    My best friend. She's a yoga girl. Flexible, great core, good balance. Again, very little muscle mass and poor cardio endurance.

    So what makes someone "fit"? I personally think to be truly fit you need to work on strength, endurance, explosive power, flexibility and balance. To me that is all around "fitness".

    Discuss!

    A lot of your assessments are conclusions you alone have drawn (and you're probably dead wrong)... are you looking for people to blindly pile-on of your "unbalanced" friends and their interests?

    Anyway, fitness to me is being able to enjoy the things you enjoy to the fullest extent without limitations. There are many areas of fitness - mental, physical, spiritual, social, etc.
  • Momakanga
    Momakanga Posts: 122 Member
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    Fitness for me, at this point in my life, is going to my doctor and having her tell me all of my numbers are good. It is being able to keep up with my kids while hiking. Fitness is being able to look at vacation pictures and feel comfortable with how I look. Fitness to me is knowing I am doing everything I can to beat the heart disease and diabetes that runs in my family.
  • kisstheheavens
    kisstheheavens Posts: 23 Member
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    Fitness is different to everyone. we are all built differently and enjoy different things. but fitness in my eyes is when your body quickly adapts to the task and performs.
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I would agree that strength, endurance, felxibility and balance are all part of being fit. I would also add in a balanced diet and stress management. Caring for the inside of our bodies is as much a part of fitness as the outside, IMO.
  • jimmmer
    jimmmer Posts: 3,515 Member
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    Being fit means different things depending on what you're training for.

    If you take it to mean apt for a task, then you won't go far wrong.

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