"Best" distance for keeping "fit"

RICHIE-RICH

Just a general topic for discussion.....
I read Barack Obama's autobiography recently, and in it he decides to give up the dooby and booze and start running.
He says that he does a three mile run everyday.
Now this morning I did a three mile run and was thinking that it is a satisfying run distance - Not too far, not too long, one that can be done easily in under a half hour (or for some in under 15 mins), so you can do it everyday if you choose.

So my question/topic for discussion is :
Is there a "perfect" distance to run every day (or say 5 times a week) to get you fit and keep you fit*.
The problem I have with stating a distance is that some people may run 3 miles in 15 minutes, or some may take 36 minutes. But does this matter?

Should we run to time, so do 30 min run everyday to maintain fitness?

Or should we do like Haruki Murakami and run 6 miles every day? Is this too much (min of say 30 mins, and maybe up to 70 odd minutes a day for the slower runners)?

Any comments???



(Apologies for the rambling nature of the post, it was kinda well ordered in my head this morning, but now that I type it up it sounds very long winded)


*Dunno what the proper definition of fit is, but say within your BMI for weight, and able to comfortably run the 3 miles or the magic distance without walking, or collapsing :-) ?

cfitz

Obviously there isn't going to be something that's perfect for everyone. I think 30 minutes, 6 days a week would be just about right for a young man. But if he has an otherwise unhealthy lifestyle, maybe a little bit more would be better.

thirtyfoot

Train like a sprinter:D

You will look better (if thats your bag unless you like the stick insect look), you will be stronger (which will reduce injuries), your fitness will be more relevant to most things you do in life, it will take less time, you won't be obsessed with getting a gait analysis, you can legitimately wear lycra.

When I say train like a sprinter I don't necessarily mean run fast on a track. I mean work on your strength in and out of a gym, work on your aerobic ability, your anerobic ability, flexibility, explosiveness, body conditioning etc etc.

Depends what you define as fit but I'd say going just for a long run is an inneffiecient way of getting fit.

Krusty_Clown

I really liked Harukami's idea of having several 6 mile routes, and depending on the mood, you select which route and what speed you will run it at. However, 6 miles a day is a lot for maintaining fitness if you have a lot of other things going on in your life. Marukami is a writer and as such has the flexibility to juggle his time.

Wouldn't it be good to mix it up a bit, and do some other form of exercise a couple of times a week too?

eliwallach

RICHIE-RICH wrote: »

*Dunno what the proper definition of fit is, but say within your BMI for weight, ?

That BMI criteria is a load of bo11ix IMHO.
To meet the criteria laid out by BMI I'd have to be at an unhealthy weight.
I am 172cm and 80kg which gives me a BMI of 27.0 and puts me squarely into the "overweight" category. I wish.
My OH and some guys here at work say that I'm wasting away since I started "the running", while I never really carried any weight I am certainly toned at the moment. Overweight no. For me to qualify for "Normal" weight I would have to weigh I would have to lose 6kg and I haven't got that to lose.

Interesting to see how many "fit" boardsies would fall into the BMI idea of "normal" weight.
Calculate your BMI as follows WT(kg)/H2(cm) or alternatively go to http://www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/bmi-m.htm

Underweight = <18.5
Normal Weight = 18.5 - 24.9
Overweight = 25 - 29.9
Obese = >30

thirtyfoot

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Wouldn't it be good to mix it up a bit, and do some other form of exercise a couple of times a week too?

As in what sprinters do, totally.

Changed my mind in fact, train like a hept/decathlete. The ultimate fitness. Running slow, running fast, running over things, running and jumping vertically (sometimes with a pole), running and jumping horizontally, throwing things over you head & under your head & while running & while spinning in a circle. Perfect for fitness.

Septico

Firstly sorry for hijacking the thread but it seems close enough to what i was going to post.

I started running a while ago to "get fit" and i have been (on a treadmill!) improving my stamina for the last few weeks and am up to 6km in 35 minutes. So roughly 6 minutes a km. I am cofortable at this pace.

The question i want to ask is whether for the next while i should continue improving my running distance at this same pace or should i concentrate on doing the 6 km in 30 minutes etc.

What is the best approach to looking/feeling fitter?!

Thanks

cfitz

Tingle wrote: »

As in what sprinters do, totally.

Changed my mind in fact, train like a hept/decathlete. The ultimate fitness. Running slow, running fast, running over things, running and jumping vertically (sometimes with a pole), running and jumping horizontally, throwing things over you head & under your head & while running & while spinning in a circle. Perfect for fitness.

Barack Obama has enough to be doing without learning the spin technique

Krusty_Clown

Tingle wrote: »

As in what sprinters do, totally.

Exactly. But weights and strengthening exercises will keep you race fit (right?), but they're hardly fun (or else I'm just doing them wrong!). Cycling/swimming might offer alternative opportunities to work other muscle groups, and reduce impact pressure.

thirtyfoot

cfitz wrote: »

Barack Obama has enough to be doing without learning the spin technique

Its Barrack Obama, I'd imagine he would be a 9000 point decathlon man if he wanted to.

thirtyfoot

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Exactly. But weights and strengthening exercises will keep you race fit (right?), but they're hardly fun (or else I'm just doing them wrong!). Cycling/swimming might offer alternative opportunities to work other muscle groups, and reduce impact pressure.

Weights and strengthening exercises are definitely not just for racing. Spend some time in the 'Fitness' board and you'll see a whole new world on what people regard as fitness. I'm only messing in the main but I do believe if you want to be 'fit' that merely just running is very one dimensional and hardly fun and I'm a runner/athlete for the last 28 years and I love running:). I still run but when I am not competitive and want to stay fit in the next few years I will (I hope anyway) continue to lift weights, do my core etc etc as well as run. If friends ask me what should they do to stay fit the last thing I'll tell them to do is go for a 30 min a couple of times a week. A couple of years ago I might have said that but I appereciate now that running only is a limited enough method of being 'fit'. Obviously relative to the standard Mars Bar and Tayto muncher in the couch them merely running would be great as opposed to doing nothing.

RICHIE-RICH

Tingle wrote: »

If friends ask me what should they do to stay fit the last thing I'll tell them to do is go for a 30 min a couple of times a week. A couple of years ago I might have said that but I appereciate now that running only is a limited enough method of being 'fit'. Obviously relative to the standard Mars Bar and Tayto muncher in the couch them merely running would be great as opposed to doing nothing.

I am suprised at that comment - the LAST thing you would say to get people to stay/get fit is to run for 30 mins a few times a week!!
If someone asked me how would they get fit, I would suggest they start running - it is easy, relatively inexpensive, and anyone can do it pretty much anywhere.
What would you suggest they do in the case of someone who's been boozing and living it up for say 10 years, and now wants to help themselves and get fit?

Yes running to get fit and stay fit means you are only a fit runner, and the transferance of the fitnesss to other disciplines is somewhat limited. But are still fitter than the tayto and couch brigade.

My question related really to running and they times/distances to maintain a level of fitnes. I appreciate that the term fit can be as broad or as narrow as you like, and soley running will not give you some aspects of fitness (flexibility for example), but if you had to check a box:Fit or Not Fit, then you'd selelct Fit.


Also, sorry about the opening the can of worms that is the BMI measure. I know I know. It is not applilcable for some people, but as a generic test to see if you are overweight or not then it is a somewhat crude but quick test, and you will see where you sit on the percentiles.
I have a degree in statistics and fully get the idea of what the BMI attempts to do, and can appreciate that a tall person may fall into the underweight category in htis measure, and a shorter person may be deemed to be overweight, without any consideration of their body type etc.

Thanks for all the comments and dialogue BTW.
Good to hear other viewpoints

thirtyfoot

RICHIE-RICH wrote: »

I am suprised at that comment - the LAST thing you would say to get people to stay/get fit is to run for 30 mins a few times a week!!

I was probably being a bit dramatic and silly but the point I suppose I am trying to make is that if getting fit is the goal then a 30 min plod is grand but you can do better more effiecient things with better results and once people got into would probably find a lot more interesting and varied.

RICHIE-RICH wrote: »

What would you suggest they do in the case of someone who's been boozing and living it up for say 10 years, and now wants to help themselves and get fit?

If they were just going to go off their own back and train unsupervised and it was a case of getting them off the couch then a 30 min run, they would see massive benefits initially but over time their progress would probably stagnate. If they wanted to do it right and were willing to train with someone then I would advise something very different as in all round training focusing on all the various parts of fitness. If they were willing to educate themselves on this it would also be very easy to do.

Back to the original question question on the best distance for keeping fit. I'd say 200m. Every runner or athlete bar the throwers will have done a 200m in training. Its the most flexible distance to use in training. One guy could do 3 x 200 in 23 secs with 10 mins recovery between each. Another guy might do 16 x 200 in 30secs with 1 mins recovery between each or a marathoner could occasionaly do 200's with short recoveries or whatever. 200m I'd say, you can do so much with 200m. Anything under 200m is probably too short for the longer guys while anything over 200 will scare the bejaysus out of many of the poncy short sprinters.

hunnymonster

tingle, could you please stop posting. I'm going to run out of "thanks" if you keep posting stuff I agree with

RJC

A short answer - 4 miles a day about 5 days a week would be loads - that is 1000 miles a year - huge by any standard.


The problem with running as a means to staying fit is (despite what you may think) that it is very goal oriented. therefore you start competing with some internal benchmark in you head for fitness and weight and speed and endurance and time a whole load of other internal goals. It might start off as a 'I've got to run the mini-marathon' and then it progresses to running the ballycotton 10 and before you know it you're taping your nipples, vaselining your crotch and lining up at your local marathon!

I've also noticed that it tends to attract people who get addicted to the endorphins and the serotonin releases.

Hands up for everybody who fits into this category:

You were larging it up on booze, pills and food in your 20's and have swapped that lifestyle for the life of the runner.

I can count about 5 or 6 people in my immediate circle who now are all 2 - 3 stone lighter than they used to be and put in 20 - 60 miles a week.

I think its a good thing but anybody who says that running isn't obsessive is in denial - and this can colour your views.

Zuppy

On a distance note I find the 5k the best distance to run if you have limited time and getting/ staying fit is your aim.
Fast enough yet long enough, the "perfect" distance IMO.

The issue of what is fit and what is not I will steer clear of.

shels4ever

The best distance to keep fit has to be 5312m exactly...

Krusty_Clown

ZuppyLurk wrote: »

On a distance note I find the 5k the best distance to run if you have limited time and getting/ staying fit is your aim.

...and just on queue, cool runnings just published the 6 reasons to run a 5K.
It's probably quite different in the US though, where 5K to many, would seem like a marathon (relatively speaking).

zenmonk

I love the 5k or 3m distance for a training run. If I'm not training for a long road race - say towards end of the year, absolutely love 3 miles. Nice and easy for the first mile then push on a little for the middle 1.5 miles and give it stick for the last half mile if feeling good.
The perfect distance and you should be warmed up , exercised and stretched inside the half hour.
3 miles x 4 times a week and work on bringing down your time.

Guisseppeth

RJC wrote: »

The problem with running as a means to staying fit is (despite what you may think) that it is very goal oriented. therefore you start competing with some internal benchmark in you head for fitness and weight and speed and endurance and time a whole load of other internal goals. It might start off as a 'I've got to run the mini-marathon' and then it progresses to running the ballycotton 10 and before you know it you're taping your nipples, vaselining your crotch and lining up at your local marathon!

You just summed me up in that paragraph!!!

--amadeus--

Tingle wrote: »

II'd say 200m. Every runner or athlete bar the throwers will have done a 200m in training.

I'm pretty sure I haven't :P

Any set distance repeated at teh same intensity over an extended time frame will end up with a plateau, IMO. You need to vary it, mix up the length and intensity. And if I only had 30 mins to exercise I'd row - great for cardio and a total body workout.

RJC

Guisseppeth wrote: »

You just summed me up in that paragraph!!!

Just take solace that you are not alone!