Fitness Levels?

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1

I'd personally consider myself to be quite fit, maybe a little fitter than average, but I was just wondering, what's the average fitness level of the average user of hits forum?

I mean if you look at stereotypes, then the majority would be quite unfit, again, that's stereotype based statement.

I just wondered if the stereotype nerd/geek/techy/whatever you wanna call it is actually fit or unfit?

I'd say I'm slightly more fit than the average as I've recently decided I may try to get into the army reserves, it's a good thing to get into, great way to develop fitness, and it's an extra bit of cash on the side, so I thought why not? It's also something I've always secretly wanted to do, but IT has always been my main priority. - But anyway, enough about me, I wanna know how fit the average user on this forum is?

  • Jabba The Hutt
  • Very Unfit
  • Unfit
  • Kinda Unfit
  • A Little Lazy
  • Average
  • A Little Better Than Average
  • Kinda Fit
  • Fit
  • Very Fit
  • Fittness God

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I'm also curious what activities you do?

  • Nothing
  • Rock Climbing
  • Cycling
  • Rowing
  • Weight Training
  • Circuit Training
  • Calisthenics/Gymnastics
  • Running
  • Boxing
  • Rugby
  • American Football
  • Baseball
  • Basketball
  • Yoga
  • Dancing
  • BMX/Mountain Biking/Skateboarding
  • Swimming
  • Martial Arts
  • Hiking/Mountaineering
  • Other

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I decided to make both of these totally anonymous encase some people feel a little ashamed or embarrassed by their honest answer(s). Personally I don't think there's anything to be ashamed about, but that's just me, so yeah, if you could just give your honest answers, that would be great, and I would also like to know, if you select other on the second poll, could you specify below? - Provided you don't feel embarrassed about your activity/activities.

I was also wondering, if you're anything like me, what tech do you use to help you monitor your fitness (and/or) diet? - I personally like going simple here, unlike a lot of people that use a fitbit, I just install an app on my phone for my diet, and I just push myself as much as possible ( without injuring myeslf ) when it comes to my workout(s).

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I just have a clock to time pauses between each exercise and to have a rough idea on how fast my heart is going because I have a small issue with my mitral valve and a low blood pressure.
I'm not following any diet because I'm not going for "getting as big as I can" because I know it would take all the fun out of my weight training and make it a chore. Also I don't need any diet in the sense of lose weight (to be honest I struggle to gain weight my usual diet).
So I just go to the gym, have fun and do my exercises as good as I possibly can.

3

I'm really skinny but I don't really do a whole lot. I'm no stranger to manual labor or exercise but I don't do it all that often. I prefer either running or hiking to other "sports" since I'm a really really non-competitive person. I also prefer manual labor to weightlifting or gym training - having a practical purpose in mind is a much better driver for me than exercising at a gym.

I did an absolute buttload of cycling when I lived in Japan. Bikes take you everywhere there, and that kept me pretty darn fit, I'd say. Cycling where I live now isn't really practical other than leisure because the nearest store is at least a few miles away and my workplace is 10 miles away.

4

Just MFP on my phone to track macros. I have a program that I printed out. Easy to follow. Been making great progress.,

Also helps that I cut out a lot of Alcohol from my diet.

5

I'm not too shabby at cycling (road bike), can do about 10 miles (little to no elevation change) and not be completely gassed. Not sure how my endurance on the mountain bike has held up. Haven't gone mountain biking in a while.

I'm trying to get back into a bit better shape. Just recently I've mostly been doing cardio and core workouts. Pushups, sit-ups, lunges, squats, biking, etc. I've put on 20 pounds in about a year and a half, mostly due to poor diet and lack of any exercise.

I've always been used to eating literally anything and not gaining a single pound. But my metabolism is slowing a bit, so I need to adjust. Cooking at home more often, and working out on a regular basis should help.

6

Probably where most of my weight came from after I turned 21, haha.

7

I was in great shape as of the end of last summer but when I could not push myself to do stomach exercises I gave up. When I felt that the shape I was in was not optimum to work with the horses which my aunt need help with I gave up. I had nobody to go to the YMCA with on a regular basis and I could not get myself to do the needed exercises alone at home in order to get rid of the stomach fat. As of now the only exercise I get is from walking and extremely minimal exercise I do sometimes before showering and when I say minimal it is hardly anything.

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8

I've gotta kinda fat; as no exercise for 3 years will do that to you.

As a month ago I started getting into biking to get back in shape.

Currently recovering from an injury I incurred from crashing my bike; in the meantime I have been doing long walks.

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9

I do a lot of physical labor for work which has helped me actually lose some weight but it doesn't build strength which I need.

I'll occasionally do some exercise but I never stick with it.

As far as tech, I downloaded an interval timer which didn't play too nice withy music.

10

I've really been dedicated to hitting the gym this past year. I dont have the strength or endurance that I had while I was in my late teens/early 20's and in the military, but I have to say that now, as far as physical appearance goes, I'd say im at my best that i've ever been. Finally got those 10-pack abs son!

I dont use anything to keep track of progress except for my bathroom mirror and my metabolism is retarded so no diet necessary unless I want to get into the single digits of body fat, and seeing as I dont compete and those guys look gross IMO, theres no need/want for that.

11

i have never been any state of fit.
however i have been very strong in my youth, i did a couple of strongman comps, but lacked the endurance to finish. i was as strong or stronger than most of the competitors, but i never did any endurance/stamina training so was weeded out early.

12

You gotta push past being uncomfortable man. Its hurts like a b*tch but its just something you have to get used to. Its a lot better to be uncomfortable now while you're still young, than to not be able to be comfortable AT ALL in your older years.

I have plenty of relatives that have been over-weight their entire lives that are now realizing this. As much as it might make me seem like a heartless bastard, I've told them that was the case and now have absolutely NO SYMPATHY for them....

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Sit ups are like headbutts, they should be banned! I have untreated spine issues and repeatedly crunching myself like that or getting in weird positions crunched down for long times will kill my back. I found an old lawnmower wheel with a pipe through it and some handles. I don't use it often, but that simple 'ab roller' completely destroys my stomach muscles in just a few reps without any back problems.

Also, just because your body stores fat in one place doesn't mean you have to exercise that one place to lose weight. A body is a system, using the largest muscles will burn the most calories and reduce overall fat. If most is stored in one spot then you will see the greatest results there. And the whole food thing and regular exercise blah, blah, you get it.

I would say I'm average except I'm in Florida. The US in general, and the south in particular, is bursting at the seams quite literally. In that comparison I would be kinda fit. I ride my bike and go on long walks in random spurts. Same with weights and basic exercises. Working outside and doing things with my hands helps. Going to my property every other week and kicking my own butt is probably the best thing for me that I do currently.

For someone who remembers all kinds of numbers and tries to quantify everything, the notion of attempting to count every single calorie I eat and burn is rage inducing! If I gain a few pounds then I just make some slight changes and they are gone. Everything in moderation. Going towards any extreme anywhere in life probably isn't a healthy thing to do, physically or mentally. I've been within a 10-12 pound range (excluding illness) for over ten years, so at least I'm consistent. Considering all of my health problems, broken bones with lots of down time, cooking for insanely fat people, and numerous other things working against me, I should be morbidly obese like many others around me.

14

Manual labour in the rock & concrete processing industry, imo I move enough I don't really do anything to 'stay' fit, I just jog a bit before annual fitness level tests to get the lungs in shape... (Military training 1-2 weekends a month also maybe helps, tons of heavy marching and swimming from island to island)
Apart from that I hike a bunch, where the average walking distance is approx 30km a day.
I'm semi thin, and not carrying around 70kg of muscle has its benefits of not requiring as much energy to move around :wink:

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15

I'm happy to see so many people don't actually apply themselves to the stereotype, it seems to be roughly 50/50 so far? - Which is kinda normal I guess?

@Baz, talking about military training, personally, this weekend, I PLAN on doing special forces training. Basically go for a hiking session, be as quick as possible, for as long as possible, with an additional 60KG to carry, on top of my own body weight. Keep in mind, I'm not that big, I'm about 75KG in weight myself... So yeah... That may just kill me.... Plus it'll be over a mountain range... I may just be slightly insane?

I've personally now made it a routine to go swimming before work, do about 15~20 lengths of an olympic sized swimming pool in half an hour or less. Then repeat the same process just after work, and then either go rock climbing or weight training, I tend to alternate between the two.

My personal goal isn't to be fit in one area, but pretty damn fit in a few/many areas, I mean I don't just wanna be huge and look like I've been pumping iron since birth. But I also don't wanna be a super marathon runner either, I wanna get a nice combo of both, hence the mixture of strength & fitness training.

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Very fit.

I do cycling, weight lifting, running and hiking. But most important thing of all is a healthy diet. That cannot be understated. If you don't eat well you simply won't have the necessary energy to accomplish anything. It's as futile as trying to overclock a Titan X but all you have is a 5th tier PSU that can barely run it.

17

Simple, I like it! :slight_smile:

Similar thing applies to me, only my place of work is about 30 miles away from where I live and it's mostly up hill. It's a good thing I love my job.

Like me then, just use your phone aye? :stuck_out_tongue: ... As for your program, I don't follow a STRICT program as long as I push myself to my limits, I'm happy, I'm very strong for my size, I'd say pretty fit, as for being ripped, I couldn't care less about that.

That's not bad at all, shortly, I'm gonna push myself past my comfort zone and try to walk about 40 odd miles, all over rough terrain too.

Weird fact, I'm not sure if it's due to a combination of routines & exercises, but doing any form of abdominal work doesn't really cause me any ache or stress. I mean I'm not a skinny guy, but I still have a 4 pack, I think I somehow have developed my abs quite nicely.

I have what I call flabs, flabby abs, I'm not actually chubby, I'm at a body fat percentage where you just can't get a six pack, but I'm nowhere near fat.

Injuries are the worst, I had to take 6 months out from rock climbing when I tore all the ligaments in my shoulder, all the rear muscles were just limp for months.

The physical labour I've done has helped me build strength, but that was lifting concrete fences above my head, I quite literally had to do that. It wasn't nice, and when I injured my shoulder, I just couldn't, ignorant of the pain, my muscles in my left shoulder just couldn't cope, sadly! :confused:

That's basically me right now, turning 21 shortly, and I'm looking to join the military sooner rather than later too. :slight_smile:

Good for you man! :smiley:

IF you were a slightly bigger lad when you were younger, then there's no surprise, the strongest of men don't tend to be slim or ripped, they just tend to look kinda chubby.

I genuinely try to do that, no matter what I do, with my abs, nothing causes me to get quite to the unformortabl stage, I can do a plank or even a 'reverse plank' for so long I just get bored.

I can think of better abdominal exercises than just a simple situp, and a lot of people do them wrong, where you can cause damage.

That's very true in all fairness, cardio tends to be the best for losing weight, what kinda cardio, a log of people will debate about that. But most agree cardio is the way to go for weight loss.

This is why you shouldn't just skip leg day. :wink: :joy:

It is far from easy, I only know because I'm TRYING to do that myself right now, I literally track everything that I consume, from the amount of water I drink to the number of carbs in grams. You name it. I just try to make sure I don't exceed the recommended daily allowance more than anything, I'm not on some silly diet where you cut out all carbs, or whatever. I also watch my protien a lot, I know a lot of people take shakes and just don't pay much attention, but too much protein isn't great for your liver.

For fitness, I'd have to argue otherwise, I mean it without a doubt helps, the diet is without a doubt the key for looking good, but I've seen a few bulky looking or even chubby guys that could out run a lot of slim or slightly above average guys.

Now that part I do agree on, as long as you're getting enough fuel to keep you going, you should be fine, too much and you just get a bit curvy or grow some nice moobs. As long as you don't eat WAY too much, then it shouldn't really affect your fitness that much. At least that's what I think, I mean you don't have to look fit to actually be fit, that much I do know, although more times than not, when you look in shape, you tend to be in shape, unless you're one of those people who uses certain substances/enhancers/whatever you wanna call them.

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18

I wasn't really talking about how much you eat but rather what you eat. Everyone should see a nutritionist at least once to figure out how to best tailor their diet for their specific goals. You need the right amount of protein, fat, fiber and carbs in your diet. And that depends on your fitness goals a lot.

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19

My bad in that case, and yes, I totally agree with you, just eating right can make you feel better, if you add exercise into the mixture, it'll make you feel great. Or at least that's my personal experience.

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that was me. i would do things like carry a small block chevy engine around (all cast iron) and have had as much as 600lbs on my shoulders. 6 100lb bags of ceramic mix, 4 of which i put there myself, but couldn't balance them well enough to pick up the other 2, so i had help. they wouldn't put any more up there for fear of me getting hurt. i probably could of carried at least one more, possibly 2.