Welcome to Debate Club! Please be aware that this is a space for respectful debate, and that your ideas will be challenged here. Please remember to critique the argument, not the author.
Why fit = slim?
Options
Replies
-
mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Body weight or being skinny or whatever has nothing to do with being fit...as in able to perform at a high athletic level...that's what being fit is...to do what they do every Sunday, they have to be very physically fit.
There are a lot of elite level marathon and ultra marathon runners who ultimately develop heart issues due to scarring of the heart, etc...but you can't tell me that an ultra marathon runner isn't physically fit.
I think you don't understand the definition of "fit."
8 -
mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.3 -
beatricegasti wrote: »Why everywhere I go, healthy and fit must equal skinny? I don't have a weight problem, I don't need to lose weight, but every app and website tries to starve me in order to give me a "healthier" diet. Setting myfitnesspal to "gain / maintain" weight does little to nothing, the app still marks in red the calories that would help me gain weight and in green when I'd lose weight, and the blog posts are still adressed to people who want to be skinnier instead of, say, become stronger, or get more muscle mass. What can I do to get healthier without going dangerously underweight and put my health in peril?
Not sure I understand your complaint. You basically punch in some details and your goal (e.g. gain a 1lb a week). MFP then calculates the calories it thinks you need to eat to maintain that goal. If you eat more than those calories you will gain faster than your intended goal isn't this is correct behaviour???0 -
Medically speaking, fit correlates to you fat percentage. So in many people's eyes, with all they see, read, and are told, and sign of fat is "unhealthy", which we know is not the case. The next issue is BMI, which doens't do well either to demonstrate fit. By BMI I am considered overweight but I am an athlete who plays a pretty high level of tennis anywhere from 2-4 hours 3 times a week, plus workouts. Overweight my butt...but that doesn't mean I am skinny. Not by a long shot.0
-
It seems to me that there are many measures of fitness, a large fraction of which are not tightly linked to low body fat: Strength, endurance, resting heart rate, etc. - even speed in some cases, certainly power.
Fitness, BF% and health are interrelated, but not the same thing. If low BF% equaled fitness, starving people would be athletic marvels. And I wouldn't place any bets on their life expectancy.
As an obese person, I was quite a bit fitter than many thin women my age. It'd be harder to argue that I was healthier than a similar number.
1 -
for_ever_young66 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.
He's one. Look at the vast majority of offensive linemen with their guts hanging out. How would they do on routine fitness tests? Think they can run a few miles?
If you are twice as likely to die before you turn 50 I don't see how that meets anyone's definition of "fit". If you're dead you're not fit.
Are fat NFL linemen more fit than the fat fan sitting on the couch? Sure. That's not a very high bar.1 -
mburgess458 wrote: »for_ever_young66 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.
He's one. Look at the vast majority of offensive linemen with their guts hanging out. How would they do on routine fitness tests? Think they can run a few miles?
If you are twice as likely to die before you turn 50 I don't see how that meets anyone's definition of "fit". If you're dead you're not fit.
Are fat NFL linemen more fit than the fat fan sitting on the couch? Sure. That's not a very high bar.
JJ Watt is also a defensive end (and a good one) which requires him to be much faster and more agile than say, an offensive lineman.2 -
If you do research, BMI is highly unreliable and was not designed initially to measure what it is used to measure today. It is only somewhat accurate when measure white men of a specific height range, and even then fails to do it's job much of the time. I would recommend killer fat by Natalie Boero it goes over a lot of this.0
-
mburgess458 wrote: »for_ever_young66 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.
He's one. Look at the vast majority of offensive linemen with their guts hanging out. How would they do on routine fitness tests? Think they can run a few miles?
If you are twice as likely to die before you turn 50 I don't see how that meets anyone's definition of "fit". If you're dead you're not fit.
Are fat NFL linemen more fit than the fat fan sitting on the couch? Sure. That's not a very high bar.
I'd be willing to bet most of them can run more than "a few miles" with few being defined as 3-5.
Mostly because that's one of the things they have to do during training camp and weekly practices.0 -
I have always found chocks with more sold buolds to be far more attractive. That waif fad like kate moss did nothibg for me.0
-
stanmann571 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »for_ever_young66 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.
He's one. Look at the vast majority of offensive linemen with their guts hanging out. How would they do on routine fitness tests? Think they can run a few miles?
If you are twice as likely to die before you turn 50 I don't see how that meets anyone's definition of "fit". If you're dead you're not fit.
Are fat NFL linemen more fit than the fat fan sitting on the couch? Sure. That's not a very high bar.
I'd be willing to bet most of them can run more than "a few miles" with few being defined as 3-5.
Mostly because that's one of the things they have to do during training camp and weekly practices.
I'd take that bet.
Ever watch a lineman catch the football unexpectantly and try to head for the end zone? It's comical. These guys do not train to run. They train to throw their weight around.1 -
My father was tall and slim and died from a heart attack at age 371
-
mburgess458 wrote: »for_ever_young66 wrote: »mburgess458 wrote: »Lots of NFL linemen are pretty fit and aren't skinny. The issue is that media and Hollywood have set this dumb standard for what is perceived as "fit" while being skinny.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
I'm not sure which linemen you think are pretty fit. None of them are skinny. As a group they are highly overweight and tend to die very young. I don't see how that fits anyone's definition of "fit". You can be good at some sports despite being fat but that doesn't make you "fit" or healthy.
http://www.espn.com/nfl/news/story?id=2313476
Mmmm. how about JJ Watt. 6'6" 285 lbs with 7% body fat. Probably in better shape than 99% of folks who are within that "BMI healthy" range.
He's one. Look at the vast majority of offensive linemen with their guts hanging out. How would they do on routine fitness tests? Think they can run a few miles?
If you are twice as likely to die before you turn 50 I don't see how that meets anyone's definition of "fit". If you're dead you're not fit.
Are fat NFL linemen more fit than the fat fan sitting on the couch? Sure. That's not a very high bar.
When I was in the military, I had a friend who was an avid runner...he did multiple marathons annually...he was lean and fit and then he had a heart attack and died...so was he not fit?
I don't think NFL lineman are particularly healthy, but they have a solid base of physical fitness which is what being "fit" is. Maybe not all around fitness, but that's a whole different matter. I'm hard pressed to say that a professional athlete isn't pretty fit. And yes...they have to pass physical fitness tests in training camp.3 -
In my eyes, a male walrus has a much simpler life. Get as fat as you can, kill the other alpha, become a pimp
Dang, had so much more written, but on my phone, and apparently this forum doesn't like smiley face emojis. I am not retyping it.4 -
Swap the two words in that statement: slim = fit? Not necessarily. There are slim people out there who despise exercise, eat poorly, smoke, drink, you name it. So does fat automatically equal unhealthy? That's a lofty statement, considering there are different ways of being fit. Physically fit, mentally fit, emotionally fit. I've done two triathlons and a half marathon, all while being at least 50 lbs. overweight. Was I in peak physical condition? Not in my opinion. Was I fit, though? Fit enough to run over 13 miles, and that's no small feat! There is not an ultimate "fit". It's range of wellness.1
Categories
- All Categories
- 1.4M Health, Wellness and Goals
- 391.9K Introduce Yourself
- 43.5K Getting Started
- 259.8K Health and Weight Loss
- 175.7K Food and Nutrition
- 47.3K Recipes
- 232.3K Fitness and Exercise
- 398 Sleep, Mindfulness and Overall Wellness
- 6.4K Goal: Maintaining Weight
- 8.5K Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
- 152.8K Motivation and Support
- 7.9K Challenges
- 1.3K Debate Club
- 96.3K Chit-Chat
- 2.5K Fun and Games
- 3.3K MyFitnessPal Information
- 23 News and Announcements
- 975 Feature Suggestions and Ideas
- 2.3K MyFitnessPal Tech Support Questions