So, just how "fit" are you?

[BayView]

My brother is a personal trainer. Has been for over 10 years. Has his own studio. He's a very impressive specimen and so is his wife - they both run the business.

He keeps saying; "when are ya gunna come and do a workout with me you fat old b@stard?"

I am 47 and he is 36, and I have been in relatively good shape my whole life. Lacking a bit of motivation these days in this friggin cr@p Melb weather. Don't talk about NZ as the land of the long white cloud.

So, I consider myself to be not too bad fitness wise - could go out and do a 5k run no probs right now, or do 100 pushups (not all in one set) and so on. I ride up the Arthur's Seat road every other week; takes me about 25 mins to get up the top and it's hard work.

So anyway, yesterday I had nothing to do, so I give the brother a call and tee-up a workout at 12.00pm.

Well, it was a 75 min program of nothing but uphill sprints, different load-bearing exercises using body weight and the odd medicine ball drill, a few step ups and so on.

I thought it looked a bit of a lame program to be honest. HA, HA - idiot.

By the 65th minute I was at the point of nausea, and my brother was cruising along. He admitted he was puffing a bit not having done much over the last week and giving the fermentations a nudge, but he was leaving me for dead.

I never felt so unfit in my life. A real wake-up call for anyone who thinks they are fit. Today I feel like a car accident victim.

At least I can kick his @rse at golf.

 

[want2bewealthy]

At least youre rich I guess?. .

Im not the fittest of specimens these days either, I still work out once a week but weights, not cardio, and I smoke, was running every 2 days a few months ago but thats when I was on the hunt for women, now its over Ive just let it go again,
I really should get out and excercise more. 'should'

 

[BoatBoy]

I can drink beer

Dave

 

[turk]

HiYa BayView

Loss of fitness can creep up on you pretty quickly, but don't get suckered into
spints by younger guys, go for the longer slower workouts, generally better for fitness.

I'm into the 2nd of 3 weeks of recovery after a triathlon using the following program
and also feeling unfit.

Week 1

Walking 30mins x 2-3
Swimming 30min 1-2
Riding 30-60min x 1


Week 2

Walking 30mins 1-2
Easy Jog 20-30min x 1-2
Swim 30-60mins 1-2
Ride 60-90mins 1-2


Week 3

Walking 30mins 1-2
Easy Jog 30-60min x 1-2
Swim 30-60mins 1-2
Ride 90-120mins 1-3

Cheers

Peter

 

[tiger]

I can run for around 3.5 minutes without collapsing with exhaustion. I am pretty fit these days....
What is fitness anyway? I've always been good at sport, had no trouble playing 2+ hour tennis matches, can go pretty hard at resistance training but I can't run to save my life.

 

[DavidMc]

I really should get out and excercise more. 'should'

I can't say I'll try, but I'll try to try.

I do 20mins of cardio @ 75% maximum heart rate plus a little bit of bench 4-5 times per week. Not that much, but then again, it doesn't really take much.

 

[lizzie]

i can walk briskly for hours on end, but can't run up to the street corner. although after being laid up for 4 weeks with knee surgery the thighs are - er - looking rather orange-peelish and wobbly ...

it's hard to adjust your eating when suddenly one is no longer exercising.

 

[Mooze]

Hey turk - which tri?

I used to be ironman fit - did two of the things, now do more adventure racing. Perpetually feel unfit though due to the people I hang around (sub 3 hr marathoners, intl level adventure racers). Even after a severe lack of training lately I can still knock out a decent 10k up Mt Taylor and back, or do a nice 4 hour hit out on the mtb down the snowy's. I do PT for a couple of people, coach a few triathletes and adventure racers - can do what most of them can do just a lot slower (low training age).

It all comes down to who you hang around with.

Tiger - sounds like you've got good anaerobic capacity just lacking in aerobic capacity (good explosive/sprint, crap long distance)

 

[BayView]

HiYa BayView

Loss of fitness can creep up on you pretty quickly, but don't get suckered into
spints by younger guys, go for the longer slower workouts, generally better for fitness.

Sprints were just one exercise.

One of the sequences was two exercises, alternating with no rests.

First exercise was starting from a squat position holding an 8lb medicine ball between your palms. You then had to stand and raise the ball above your head, back down to chest and down to squat. Starting set was 20, then 18, then 16, and so on to 12 on last set.

Second exercise was slamming a 10lb ball into the floor from above the head and bouncing it off the wall, catch it as it came off the wall. Starting set was 24, then 20, then 16 and so on.

The brother had to wait for me for at least 30 secs with every set.

 

[vbplease]

but I can't run to save my life.

Tiger, I'm the same as you.. can surf for hours, walk for km's, have the endurance for rock climbing etc etc. but running for more than 50m has me gasping for air.. pretty sure its not asthma can any medics diagnose this problem??

 

[turk]

Shoulda slammed the ball onto your brothers toe.

 

[Hoffy]

At least I can kick his @rse at golf.

I'd rather win Golf.

 

[tiger]

Tiger, I'm the same as you.. can surf for hours, walk for km's, have the endurance for rock climbing etc etc. but running for more than 50m has me gasping for air.. pretty sure its not asthma can any medics diagnose this problem??

Yes its strange. I dont have asthma but when i run for a minute i feel like i cant get enough air in. I've never smoked and am in good health. Must be some sort of lung deformity

Mooze - I cant sprint either. Im as slow as a snail when it comes to running, always have been. School athletics carnivals were always embarassing. My legs are like lead for some reason. Yet i weigh 50kgs

I put it all down to evolution.
There is a reason why Africans are great runners. It's a very interesting topic when you read into it. Their body shape and functions are superior for running.

I read a very good piece on this subject some time ago but cant find it. These other articles touch on it:

http://www.jonentine.com/reviews/AAAS_peeringUnderTheHood.htm
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article2189194.ece

 

[Perp]

Has anybody else caught any of the "Commando" series on BBC Knowledge? It follows a bunch of recruits training for Afghanistan with the Royal Marines. Gees, I feel like I'm going to throw up from exhaustion just watching these guys train.

It hurts so much to watch I must be getting some benefit from it...

 

[sparky23]

I walk from the house to the car, car to the office and back again 5 times a week!

 

[pendo]

Evolutionary Fitness

Interesting that you should mention evolution tiger, as its something I have been studying in relation to fitness for the last three months.

A bit of background first.

I read an article in the SMH Good Weekend about Nicholas Nassim Taleb (The Black Swan guy). Anyway he mentions in the interview that he had found fantastic results in losing weight and elevated fitness, by following advice put together by a fellow economist and scientist by the name of Art De Vany. De Vany is a 70 year old retired professor, who still rides his KTM dirt bike, and is way fitter than any 70 year old I know of. De Vany has studied how human genes have not altered in 10,000 years and investigated how paleolithic man would have lived in relation to diet and their physical activity. What he has done is to replicate with modern technology how to live like our ancestors in a highly beneficial way.

Being the curious type and always interested in what above average people do and how they live their lives, I looked this De Vany up,and have been following his advice for all of those three months. I have lost 10kgs, my strength, has increased dramatically. and best of all, I look better than ever, feel younger, and get lots of positive comments from friends and associates who have not seen me regularly.

There are so many interesting aspects to what is called 'Evolutionary Fitness', and of course it is a highly controversial topic amongst vested interests in Health, Fitness, Govt and Agriculture. The most controversial assertion being the damaging role of processed carbohydrates (simple and complex), that are actually killing us quicker.

Most will say that this is the Zone or Atkins or Rosedale, but it has a much more vigorous scientific aspect involved.

For those interested I have De Vany's link below. Make up your own mind, but the best thing about this is I never feel hungry, there is no mind numbing routine exercise involved, in fact its playful with short bursts of intensity and emphasis on lots of rest periods between activity.

http://www.arthurdevany.com/?page_id=2

Talebs interview with Bryan Appleyard
http://www.bryanappleyard.com/article.php?article_id=139

 

[peteb]

I do a bit of cycling, 60km monday to friday then about 100km saturday and sunday.

up at 5am mon to fri so it gets the hert started , then up at 6am ish on the weekends....

 

[urban cowboy]

phwoaaaaaaarrrr....

i got tired just reading this thread.

but after three months off with pneumonia, influenza and bronchitis - i guess i have a lot of catching up to do!!

must get fit and stop this hops induced growth on my stomach from getting any bigger! hehe

 

[Y33]

I'm fit enough to go to the fridge and get some chocolate to eat or walk 100 metres to the shops to buy some chocolate.

 

[Monty Burns]

there was also 9 years difference in age between you both
that has to account for t least 30 sec

me i am to busy racing to meet deadlines, jumping through hoops and climbing the corporate ladder