7 out 10 Resting heart rate in my 30s was around 35 now at 54,it’s around 56.
1 out of 10,at 28 I weighed 9st 10lb and could run a half marathon in 1 hr 25 mins,now 63 weigh 13st 4lb and on a good day I average 10 mph on a bike on the TPT near Barnsley .
47 now. Its difficult to say how fit I am now compared to my peak. I have done different sports at different stages of my life, and each was very different, and the types of riding I used to do 10 years ago is different from the type of riding I do now.
20 years ago I had very good stamina/endurance but lacked physical strength - now the stamina/endurance is not what it was but I am physically stronger. I am better at the type of riding I do now - but not as good as the riding I used to do ... so I would like to think I have yet to reach my peak.
I recon with clean living, I will likely peak in about 8-10 years.
It would be interesting to know how fit you were as a percentile of the general public.
Non-representative analysis based on my Bootcamp. It's slightly self-selecting because Bootcamp attracts people who in general aren't that fit, but then they enjoy it and keep coming, and become reasonably fit (compared to population at large) or jack it in fairly quickly because it's hard.
So at any point there's a reasonable mix of folks from not very fit newbies through to one lass who's like the duracell bunny.
Agewise, similarly - 20's up to a few of us who are pushing (or breaking into) the 50's.
On that basis I'd say I'm top 10-15% of attendees by ability; and certainly top 10% of age by er, age - which gives a few bonus points because you expect the youngsters to be fitter and faster.
So my very approximately normalised for age assessment is that I'm probably top 10% of fitness among the general population, and age adjusted maybe top 5% in my demographic of 45-55 year old men?
That said - half of people are below average and so to be top 10% doesn't make you fantastically fit.
2 or 3 I reckon and slowly trying to get back up the scale. 41 now with two young kids and a desk job. In my late 20’s to early 30’s I worked s very physical job in a mill. Did weight training, boxing, martial arts, walked or cycled everywhere and did a fair bit of climbing.
I now rarely exercise, have no hobbies and only get out on the bike occasionally. 😕 just started a circuit class on Mondays and boxing on Thursdays. Very hard to make it every week though.
So my very approximately normalised for age assessment is that I’m probably top 10% of fitness among the general population
That would mean there were about 6.5 million people in the UK who were as fit or fitter than you. Or is my maths awry?
Pretty good right now, probably about 8.5-9/10. I go by what I can do on the Concept2 rower, a few years ago I was down to 38:30 for 10,000m now it's 39:00 on VERY good day. So I think I'm staying up here quite well. Doing more weights and kettlebell stuff too, as much reading says that I should now I'm soon to be 1/2 a century old.
Not great, maybe 3 or 4 /10. Just too many injuries since last autumn to actually get much riding, or anything done really. I'm confident I can return to something useful once over the current issue though. Just need a decent run of an injury and illness free few months.
probably 5/10. Used to commute 18miles each way most days and didn't appreciate at all the base level of fitness it gave. Now it's all a bit of a struggle 🙁
Haven't given up though, it just requires a lot more effort
It depends how you're measuring fitness. On a mountain bike for speed over a short distance (say a hilly 10k) maybe 7 or 8 but further (but still shortish) and it's probably a 4. For endurance a 1. Running of any sort a 0!
I'm probably 7/10. Finish 5 months training, went into racing and I can't ride at my potential. I suspect I'm tired/overtrained.
That would mean there were about 6.5 million people in the UK who were as fit or fitter than you. Or is my maths awry?
Yeah, broadly I'd say so. Or there's 55M who are less fit.
Or....... go and find 99 other people at random and we'll do a range of fitness tests and I'd be in the top ten overall.
I mean, statistically a proportion of those will be pensioners, a proportion will be young kids so fairly quickly you're in the top half even without being any good......
Finish 5 months training, went into racing and I can’t ride at my potential. I suspect I’m tired/overtrained.
Take a week off, chill out, recover. I did that about 20 years ago and never started again. I am almost certainly in the lowest 1% of STW forum fitness, perhaps even lower. I reckon I peaked at Primary School where we were playing full contact playground footy every break and I was an attacking centre half. I ran the 400 metres in around 78 seconds at the age of 10 or so, I will never be that quick again. It's sad really, but I often sit back with a glass of Tizer and dream about those golden days.
a proportion will be young kids so fairly quickly you’re in the top half even without being any good……
I think that that might depends on your measure of fitness! https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/children-fitter-endurance-athletes_uk_5ae03af0e4b07560f396d5ee , I get what you're saying but it's an interesting piece of research anyway!
When assessing fitness and ability, don’t forget to factor in mental stamina.
Knocking out 150k on a road bike can be an easy option, knocking it flat chat for 40% then coasting for 40% then try to return to that flat chat mode for the remaining 20%.. can be mind blowingly numb.
I’m finding trail running difficult for the mental “push myself in the last 5k” BITD riding training rides or competing was fairly easy (or my memory has smothered the pain) but a lot of cycling is coasting/freewheeling but running is plain and simple.. you can’t coast, you can back off but if you stop running.. you stop.
Today for instance, long 15k blat around QECP same long loop I do, and I felt great until I tried to push myself (interval type 30sec hard climb) damn if my brain just gave up 🤪
Some folks have no “ah back off bloke” button, I do and it can be frustrating at times 🤩🤩🤩🥊
24-51 I windsurfed and kite surfed for a living. Then a gap and the biking hit. My peak then was about 5 years ag when I did nigh on a 40 mile commute over the Ridgeway with a few ascents and dscents on each way, now I'm at at about 50% on the aerobic side, upper body strength is problem lower than that. I have that hummingbird heart thing where massive rates are possible but the downside looks "interesting".
I think that that might depends on your measure of fitness! https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/children-fitter-endurance-athletes_uk_5ae03af0e4b07560f396d5ee , I get what you’re saying but it’s an interesting piece of research anyway!
Yes, of course depends on your definition of fitness. Is my 14 y.o daughter fitter than me? We just did the 30 day burpee challenge, starting and ending with a 2 minute burpee test (max in 2 mins)
He starting score was 27, mine 24. After 30 days of various burpee sessions (some endurance, some speed, etc.) I retested at 31 (and in fairness it was straight after last Sunday's club run so I had 85k's in my legs) and she did 40. Which is pretty good.
But we went out for a run in the week and she can't run a mile non-stop (I can do a 25 min 5k currently), she couldn't do a 3 hour bike ride and she can't do a full press up.
I just googled and found this..... https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/oct/07/fitness.healthandwellbeing which isn't a bad overall mixture of strength, aerobic and flexibility - I reckon I'd rate as good or excellent in all categories.
september/october 2014, was smashing everything, was flying, did too many slow miles over that winter commuting 20 miles each way in all weathers, lost the intensity, then bust my leg, and in 2016/2017 i didn't even do 20% of the 2014 mileage, 2018 is panning out similar
I think 7/10 but probably the truth is 6/10, I'm old now and using it as an excuse, I keep thinking you've got to get back in the gym, go pound the pavements, maybe do some yoga to loosen up, maybe that'll stop the injurys that keep dogging me.
I'm seventy and it's getting really tough to stay on point.
Take a week off, chill out, recover.
Yep, we've be talking about it here at camp BeMC, non of my ridings going well so I'll finish this and take some time out.
Probably as all round fit as ever at 35. Many years of rowing in my 20s balanced out by poor diet, then a few years of not much then 4 seasons road racing. Then decided ironman would be fun and have my first in 7 weeks, eek. Swimming 4k, running marathons for fun and lots of long rides. Maybe lost a bit of 1-5 min power on the bike, but 3kg lighter as well!
Probably about 2, compared to the eighties - hod carrier and a lot of weight training .
Currently only riding once a week compared to 3 times a week for 5/ 6 years so definitely a 2 .
Really hard to say...
Back in ~1990-1995, when I was 17-22, I was a sport fanatic. Racquet sports, football, taekwondo. I could play to a decent level at high intensity for hours. Cycling was simply a method of transport, not done for fitness. Typically 70-76Kg.
My fitness then slumped horribly over the next ~9 years and my weight went to ~90Kg, while I went through the darkest period of my life so far.
Then a brief ~9 month spell in 2004, where I lost ~7Kg and regained a fair bit of fitness using the gym aerobic machines with a bit of weights.
The gym then stopped and my fitness dropped again, before I had a bad lower back injury in 2008, which even made cycling as a form of transportation impossible at times, sports fitness was a non-starter.
Realised in summer 2016, now 42, I was heading in a direction that was going to send me to an early grave, ~95Kg and the biggest workout my body got was walking at work (delivering mail for up to five hours, three days a week)!
I then lost ~10Kg by January 2017 by changing my diet, reducing how much sweet and complex carbs I was consuming often in the evenings. Then I started cycling for fitness, discovered the South Downs and got addicted to hill climbing, dropping another ~10Kg to return to ~75Kg by late summer. Lower back started to feel the best it had been in years, the chronic pain began to subside.
I've put on ~3Kg over the extended winter, but Zwift on a Direto turbo kept my hill climbing fitness going until mid April. Since returning to outdoor cycling in the last ~6 weeks, I've hit new PBs for every cat3/4 climb I've revisited since last year, the only major local one left to visit is Harvesting Lane. I even improved my Longleat Safari cat4 time this morning on a lumpy ~13+Kg hire bike by ~1min over my Wazoo time with 2.35" G-Ones (~11Kg) from last November, albeit I wasn't 100% healthy back in Nov.
I suspect the younger fitter me would be better at fitness cycling compared to now, but back then bikes were simply a cheap and practical way to get around Southampton. But since 1996, I'm currently at my best physically by a country mile.
9 or 9.5 out of 10, maybe?
Long way off it. When I was young I did Inverness to Carlisle in a day. Not sure of the distance and the roads have changed, but probably 250 miles, and with camping gear. (In a hurry, on way to hot girlfriend 🙂 ).
Last weekend I did 125 miles on Saturday, so I reckon I'm at basically half the fitness of my peak. I felt I still had a bit left in my legs though, so I may put that to the test in the next week or so. Maybe I need another hot girlfriend...
Interesting question. I’m 49 and have always been reasonably fit- started with gymnastics as a kid, then over the years, running, squash, 5-a-side football, commuting by bike, circuit training, fell walking. Then had to quit most of those in my late 30s, thanks to a long-term back injury getting worse but that’s when I discovered MTB. I’ve done lots of MTB and road biking through my 40s so I feel like I’ve maintained myself steadily rather than having massive peaks and troughs.
I had a bad autumn and winter just gone, with depression and feeling exhausted, struggling to do more than 50 miles on a road bike. I’m gradually recovering some fitness, did a 100 mile road ride a few weeks ago and the 174km trans Cambrian MTB 2 weeks ago. Still some way to getting a bit more power back though.
Yep, we’ve be talking about it here at camp BeMC, non of my ridings going well so I’ll finish this and take some time out.
I use ithlete - https://www.myithlete.com - a smartphone app to monitor recovery based on HRV levels. In very simple terms it's a more sophisticated version of checking resting heart rate and tells you how your recovery levels are plus makes basic training recommendations.
I've found it really useful for telling me when I'm metaphorically somewhere over the redline and need to back off. Conversely it'll tell you when you're really well recovered and ready for a more intense session. I've found it's generally right in my case and doesn't always correspond to my gut feeling.
It does mean you need to be flexible enough to sometimes change your planned session based on what an app tells you, but it's not a big deal if you think it through. If you have a coach, it's something you could raise with them I guess.
Anyway, generally, on the fitness front for me I'm arguably stronger on a bike than I've ever been. Significantly less running fit because I'm not running much. Useless at rock climbing because I no longer have any specific finger strength or basic coordination / motor learning. And core strength is pretty much consistent since I was about 15 thanks to a regular strength / resistance training habit.
There's a whole generation of 'middle-aged' people around these days who've been training and doing stuff for their entire lives and, I reckon, are maintaining higher levels of fitness into their 50s and 60s than previous generations. See 'Fast After 50' by Joe Friel if you're after advice/inspiration/explanations.
I’m 49 and am still relatively fit. I’m on the bike about 12-13 hours a week but I do notice that I don’t have the kick I used to have. I think my peak was in my early thirties when I was often on the podium at mtb races in my age cat . I can ride for longer now than I used to be able to though so maybe the audax scene is calling. Maybe a 8/10.
I am 2 stone over my racing weight but even at 53 I can still run and cycle surprisingly well compared to almost everyone else my age (comparing myself to athletic types not your man in the street)
At my best I ran 32:20 10k, 15:48 5k and 25:55 for 5 miles. Love to break 30 mins for 5 miles now 🙁
Well off imo.
In terms of weight I’m roughly the same but I’ve just replaced muscle with flab.
Haven’t trained properly for just shy of a year according to diary and I’d put myself at around a 5/10 now.
Running wise I’ve lost a few minutes of my 5k but possibly more since I last did it. Can walk all day though, which is pretty much the only exercise I’m currently doing.
Strength has gone to pot though. Sedatiary job doesn’t help.
A quick ‘fitness’ test with my Polar watch just now shows I’ve gone from the ‘elite’ for my age group bracket to ‘moderate’.
Struggling for many reasons to find the motivation to restart training.
..
Maybe a 4. Back in the 80s I could run 6 minute miles. When I did the Cuillin ridge in a day I left the tent in Glen Brittle at 6am and was fresh enough to jog the last 3 miles off the hill to catch the pub 16 hours later.
On the other hand while by average STW standards I'll be much below average I can still ride a bike for hours and walk in the mountains I'm probably fitter the the average 57yr old in the general population.
I appear to be fitter than my 30 years younger son on a bike. Nowhere near my best of about 4 years ago. I'm probably fitter than I ever was in my thirties but that's not saying much. At 55 with low risk prostate cancer very day is seized, though I no longer bounce as well as I used to.
About 6/10 - peak was 2008/2009, 21 Min 5k and 1:40 half marathon and 63kg .
Had a horrendous kidney in 2009 which knocked fitness, then daughter was born.
Life, kids and everything else got in the way.
Was up to 80kg before Christmas .
Now down to 74 and managing 25 Min 5k.
Getting fitter on the bike too .
Not even an echo of a shadow of a memory. Still having fun though
Impossible to say I think..
At 26 I was in the Royal Marines so awzum at climbing ropes and running around a lot so for that 10/10
At 40 I was racing XC & getting top 10 finishes, another 9/10
AT 47 I've now a knackered shoulder & a dodgy knee, however I'm still racing & now mid-pack - maybe 8/10
I'm probably in good shape for my age....I hope....maybe 8/10??
To conclude: I'm not what I was!
In 1999 I could knock out 60 high quality press ups in a minute & I did the 3 Peaks in 3:53.
In 2017 I could do about 10 press ups in a minute & managed 4:20 in the 3 Peaks (with a brief puncture & crash).
I can confirm that recovery definitely takes longer.
Peak aerobic fitness was probably when i was 14, it's a hard thing to quantify, but at 55 this year i'd say an 8.
Can still do 20+ deadhang pullups and i'm the only person i know who can do 10 front lever pullups, the downside is a beastie gym session can take it's toll, don't recover so easily now.
Probably a 9 or a 10 tbh - always been reasonably fit / active in layman's terms but never more than that. Mid 40s and started cycling more seriously, entering races and events which I never used to do outside of the odd MBO.
I definitely had the wrong perspective on races when I was younger - remember trying a few SXC mountain bike races 15 or so years ago and getting absolutely smashed [they had serious climbing up there, tbf], feeling like you needed to be levels above to race and that it just wasn't for the likes of me, only for serious whippets. I now realise that yeah, the sharp end was levels above, but the bulk of the field wasn't and it wouldn't have taken a huge effort to make that step up and enjoy racing.
Wakes in a cold sweat - It's Ten Tors weekend and I'm nothing like fit enough.
20 years too old as well, but the fear stays with you. Fact is I'm probably fitter now than then, precisely because of that fear.
Right now about 6-7/10 I'd think. I'm actually pretty fit for 42, but I had a couple of proper peaks to compare to.
Peak no.1 was at 16-18. Was properly into MTB and TTs (junior 10km record at my club). Also rowed at school, 8s and pairs. Took part in national champs at Holme Pierrepoint, etc. As well as that I did triathlons and duathlons, top 20 in the nationals one year.
Then i went to art college. Ha 🤣 2 years of that and i was properly unfit!
Second peak was at the end of my second year. I'd started cycling again, had got into clubbing and may have had some chemical aids along the way. Amazing how fit you get dancing all night 3 times a week. Like competitive aerobics!
Then I got a summer holiday job rickshawing tourists around Oxford. Cycling 100+ kilos of rickshaw & 4 fat Americans around all day, and a nightly regime of dancing and disco biscuits, I was ripped come September!
3 years ago pre 2 kids I was 72kg with a ftp hovering in the early 300s and could generally take a kom when I put my mind to it. now I'm 83kg with an ftp of 250ish. Strava depresses me these days. went from pretty quick to average. in also no longer a castelli medium 🙁
1
Currently 5/10. This time last year I was 8/10 and doing more endurance/sportive events, illness since then has seen fitness slip. I'll just enjoy riding mtb this summer and get back into training over the winter.
My fittest ie 10/10 was probably 10 years ago. I feel age is against me at 42, but it'd be nice to get back to that level again, I think it's possible, but will require a lot of effort whereas 10 years ago the fitness just seemed to come naturally.
I was probably fittest/ best condition when 14-18. Played in two rugby teams - 2 to 3 games a week and trained 3 times plus all the usual school sports stuff. Even 35 years ago we did lots of what would now be called HIIT fitness - shuttle runs up and down steep banks or with a bloody 16 stone prop on your shoulders. I was completely solid - like an ice hockey puck maybe if that makes any sense. But I had zero interest in running distance or cycling though and used to skive off cross country so I have no sense of my fitness at that age in that respect.
As a middle aged man mountain biking, bouldering and surfing are my main sports ( with some despised running for fitness). The fitness for the bike - we tend to ride long (4/6hr plus XC/natural trails) - is very different to what I did for rugby so it's differ to draw a direct comparison. But I'd say I'm about 6.5/10 at the moment looking to push that up to nearer 8 before a couple of big summer rides.
I'm 61 years old ..
I havent peaked yet ..😎😁
Having said that I felt really fit in the late summer of 2016 when getting a new bike just re-ignited my passion and I was riding three times per week ..