Idle conversation between some colleagues which was how fit are you today compared to the fittest you've ever been. So, if the fittest you've ever been is 10/10, where are you now?
Me, 8/10. 1 year ago I was at my peak, right in the middle of Marathon training, crap job that meant I could dedicate all my time to training and thin as a rake. I'm not far off now but my clothes are a little tighter and my times a little slows.
I’m a mere shell compared to my old semi-pro cycling days.
And I feel my age too some days..
3 out of 10 being optimistic.
Although a lot of pieces are beginning to fall into place that’ll facilitate a return to lost training levels.
I've always been reasonably fit, a peak was 2013 when I did an Ironman and could also run 5K in 18:00.
Presently 19:40 or so so 6/10
<div class="bbp-reply-author">bikebouy
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<div class="bbp-reply-content">I’m a mere shell compared to my old semi-pro cycling days.
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Do tell...
If my ultra triathlon year in 10/10, I'm nowhere close to that and would guess 3/10.
However, given my passed/passed by ratio on my last peak ride, it's not quite as bad as I thought compared to a random selection of "average" mountain bikers.
7/10
I used to be super-active, but ironically I think I was more 'capable' as an athlete in my early 30s. Then I returned to form in my early 40s, with minor backsliding over the last 12 months. That's what brings me to where I am now. I can cycle well enough, but I was taken by surprise when I got dropped by the chain I was riding with on Monday.
I am carrying about half a stone more than I want to carry, and need to work up my full power endurance.
Unfortunately, I am struggling to get there. 🙁
52 now, my peak was 28 years ago playing pro rugby league.
so far from my peak that I cant even remember it........... ;o)
It's hard to tell because not only am I less fit than 20 years ago I'm also lazier. The chances of me putting 100% effort into anything are pretty low so any fitness measurement is irrelevant.
id say about 5.
Ive been a lot fitter but ive also been a lot lot worse.
Never been really fit tbh
Depends what you mean by fit; between the ages of 8 and 28 I was a strong mountain walker and could charge up and down anything, I even worked for a full summer in Haute Savoie as a walking leader for Ramblers Holidays.
Then I moved to London and got into motorbikes and got quite unfit and began to get overweight.
Then at the age of 33 I started mountain biking and got quite fit but lacked mountain strength; walking down hills made my legs sore.
Then at the age of 53 I got into road cycling and got properly fit so now, I can romp up hills without breaking breath but walking down hills absolutely kills me; my legs are sore for days afterwards.
Mid twenties I ran 6 minute miles and benched 110kg
Now at 49 I run 110 minute miles and bench around 6kg
Compared to my peak - I'm probably about 8 or even 9 maybe.
It's not a very high peak though...... if the pro's are Himalayan, and the ex-pro RL / Ultra marathoners above are Alpine, I'm currently Scafell where I was once Snowdon.
I'm probably as fit as I've ever been, spent most of my 20s off my tits though so lean as **** 😀
1/10 at the mo, been off the bike for 18 months (embarrassed to say due to laziness rather than illness etc.), at my fittest I couldn't see the point of going out on a road ride less than 50 miles (unless just for a social thing) now I think I'd struggle to even do a 25 mile ride...
Happy to say that right now I'm at my peak.
I''ve raced XC for the last 5 years. I've taken it more seriously in the last 2 years and have really gone for it this year. Making the most of it whilst I still can!
Hopefully next year will be even better
I am very much afraid to say that I might currently be at my peak, that's depressing.
Fit for what?
In my twenties I worked as a scaffolder but even a day at half the intensity I used to do it would wreck me now! I climbed for thirty years but gave up about six years ago and would struggle on something that not long ago would be a breeze. Likewise with fell running. Last year I did a few days walking in Scotland Munro bagging and my legs were trashed! Yet two months earlier I'd done the HT550 and felt fine.
So I'd say I'm fit but it's not in the areas that I excelled at in earlier years. No idea how you'd measure/compare it but at a guess: 6/10
I'm 42 and fitter than I ever have been.
Not very, used to fairly comfortably ride with fast groups, and 100mile road rides were just something I did when I felt like it on a day off.
Even on my long slow decline I briefly had the Swinley blue/red/blue kom (for about 12 hours when it opened, not that impressive really).
These days I cramp up after about 25 miles off road.
5/10 - peak was when I was 30.. 24 bloody years ago. I don't think my body could stand for what I did to it back then. Knees definitely couldn't! What a depressing thread! 😆
It’s not a very high peak though…… if the pro’s are Himalayan, and the ex-pro RL / Ultra marathoners above are Alpine, I’m currently Scafell where I was once Snowdon.
I'm Crickley Hill where I was once Cleeve Hill
Possibly at 10 a couple of months ago (marathon PB) though I reckon my cycling time trials may be a bit down on what they were 20 years ago. Hoping to find a couple of flat/fast events this summer as a benchmark.
I'd say in a running/rowing fitness i'm not there.
Whereas in a cycling context i'm more than a 10... .I'm considerably quicker, faster, stronger and better on a bicycle than i've ever been. But as above, it's only my cycling fitness that's at a peak. I can't run like an 18 year old, or row like i did when i was 30...
My fittest (after my teens anyway) was late last year, I think, aged 52
Tried pretty hard to get fit before a hernia op, then off the bike (not just due to the surgery) for nearly 3 months before I did any meaningful pedaling so got some catching up to do.
maybe 6-7
Hard to say - from a bike perspective, having started riding bikes again in 2014, i rapidly decided to start racing again and worked hard on getting fitter. This peaked 2 years ago (mid-thirties) and since then fatehrhood has reduced time and inclination so am about 8/10 on that scale. However I'm unsure whether I was actually fitter aged 15 when I used to ride and race a lot. Certainly my resutls were better then but that's probably not a good marker given i loose so much time these days from lack of technical abilty which youthful exubernace made up for in the past.
When I do peak, you'll know.
In terms of running I'm fitter than I've ever been, assuming marathon PR's are an indication.
Cycling, I'm no-where near where I used to be as a cycle courier and MTB racing, probably 6/10
Cheers, Rich
51 and probably fitter than I've ever been. Mind I spent my late teens / early twenties living the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. 30's doing various martial arts, 40's off road cycling. Since 48 I've been getting into running and going to the gym 3 - 4 times a week. Also have a better diet than I used to have.
Been fit all my life. Military background.
Cycled competitively for years, at age 44 decided to retire from racing. All my spare time is spent with family and helping with after school clubs etc.
Im at least 1 stone heavier and most of my clothes are a lot tighter. I still get to ride 4 times a week, but at a significantly reduced intensity. I think I overtrained the last two winters and this led to me stopping racing early.
Glad to no longer be worrying out diet, power to weight etc. Nowadays I actually get to see and enjoy the countryside when I’m riding.
Great question, and I really don't know the answer. Most of my exercise these days comes from riding a bike, so I'm probably as fit as I've ever been for cycling. Ask me to climb or ski - stuff I used to do regularly in my youth - and I'll be a sorry 5/10.
10. Would like to beat my age in a 25 (current PB is 51 1/3, so only need a minute).
I could've been a contender...
No idea. Used to race XC in the NPS 11 years ago, just ride to work now (3 miles each way). 12kg heavier (mainly muscle) and currently just do strength training and very little aerobic stuff. Certainly stronger than I've ever been, but probably no where near as fit....
I think I'm about 7/10.
Back in 2008 I was 4th in the Scottish National XC Champs, and that year won a couple of 12 hour races and over the next three years was at worst 7th in all the endurance races I entered. Then I got a job in 2012, got married and my fitness crashed. I was getting somewhere in 2016 but then got very ill and had to start all over again at the start of 2017.
This year I did my first race for years and got 5th at the Strathpuffer, but in Quads and with a really fast lad on our team. I'm getting back there, and my riding all round is much better for it (my DH times are going up and up). It's much nicer to be fit than fat.
I'm 44 and about the fittest I've ever been.
I was a [s]bit of[/s] quite a lardy kid, always last in the cross country etc.
A lot thinner in my early 20s but that was down to not looking after myself - I suppose I got plenty of exercise but it was pretty much all dancing all night under the influence of drugs (and some shagging), so not really "fit and healthy" more "wired and unwell"
Then the first few years of being more like an adult, put on a bit of weight and didn't take much exercise at all.
Then rediscovered mountain biking around 15 years ago and been on a generally upwards slope of fitness (other than occasional blips due to injury) ever since.
Fit for what? Probably about 6/10 at running/biking/kayaking i used to do a lot of (I'm still pretty fit compared to the average person, but used to be incredibly fit). However I'm the best I've ever been at rock climbing, skating and unicycling.
[i]TiRed wrote:[/i]
Would like to beat my age in a 25 (current PB is 51 1/3, so only need a minute).
I reckon the easiest way to manage that is to get older. It's pretty much impossible for anybody under 45.
It doesn't make sense to me ... at 50 I'm reasonably fit for cycling but running kills me.
Of course I'm nowhere near as fit at 50 as late teens early 20's ... but I'm a good deal fitter than some of times in the 3 intervening decades.... but my expectations also changed. I don't think it would be possible to be as fit as in my late tens and early 20's but even if it were it would be an all consuming thing. So applying some sort of sliding scale if that was a 10 then although I'm not as capable of the same stuff I feel a 7 or 8 for my age.
It's hard to compare directly if I was fitter at say 30 ... 42-43 was a very low point when I was ill, couldn't do any exercise without tachycardia and passing out...
I’m probably as fit as I’ve ever been, spent most of my 20s off my tits though so lean as ****
Just thought id get a big smiley in.
Im the fittest i've ever been at 44, looking to get more so, might actually have a chance of a podium by the time im in the grand vets category.
I've just got back from a nearly 30 mile solo road ride at the highest average speed I've ever managed. I'm 58, and I've been cycling all my life apart from a gap between 24 and 30.
I'm 52 and right now I'm probably 10/10. Over the last couple of years I've ridden more and harder and got lighter. Oh, and having two new bikes recently makes me at least 10% faster 🙂
Its probably all downhill from now on though !
Not too far off my very low peak actually - there was a period in 2005/6 when I dropped about 3stone and was actually fairly fit.
Went to shit in 2009 when I got, was pretty good last summer, put some of the weight back on over the last 12 months, coming back off now.
For me 'peak' is being able to ride something like PDS without dying.
According to Strava, I peaked on 5 May, 2018, with a power output of 271 W. Yesterday I slipped to 270 W, today to 263. At that rate of decline, I'll be in a wheelchair before the end of summer.
It would be interesting to know how fit you were as a percentile of the general public. Impossible to work out of course but I'm going for top 0.1%. 🙂
At 37, depressingly, my fitness is now reducing..!
Still playing decent sport against all ages but noticeably that outright speed is slowly reducing.
I'm pretty far below my peak- which was summer 2016- but tbh still fit enough to do all I want to do so I'm not that fussed. I'm going to get absolutely rinsed at the GT7 though 🙂