We’ve bantered around this topic on the forum a few times during the past couple months and I just added this editorial to our website. It lists some resources for things that have been included in the discussions such as Crossfit and the Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge and a discussion of the relationship of these things. Check it out here:
http://www.bikesportmichigan.com/editorials/0000119.shtml
As triathletes, how physically fit are we really?
not very fit when we try to play soccer with a bunch of young guys ad we’ve only been doing our one paced training…ouch.
I swear I was good at that game when I was in HS!
I gained 5-10 pounds when became a Marine officer and maintained it in order to do pull-ups and crunches. Before that I was a very thin cyclist and runner who could not do pull-ups to save my life. I don’t do pull-ups regularly, but still managed 12-14 on my PFT, so I attribute it to constantly picking up children, of which I have four. That makes you fit. 
Running off-road or on the golf course in the dark is a tremendous core workout that stabilizes your torso without building muscle you don’t really need, except for looks.
Chad
When I was in the military I maxed the P.T. Test a couple times and set a new record at Fort Benning for the 15 mile road march. That was a long time ago. A few seasons after that I did 24 triathlons including Hawaii. That was 1986.
I wonder what the cumulative affects of endurance sports- good and bad- have been over the past 22 years on my body. I know I couldn’t approach those general physical fitness standards now. I wonder if I can come close in the next 93 days- the amount of time before the SEAL fitness Challenge.
Here’s the editorial link for those so inlcined to check it out:
I just tried pull-ups again. I managed a rather sloppy 1. I need work.
Probably not as fit as a Navy Seal…is that where you are going with this???
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Tom, nice article.
One question, this is what is in the article “An Ironman who can pass a high school phys ed. test.”
Is it supposed to be An Ironman who canNOT pass a high school phys ed. test?
Dave
And they have to be dead hang. No kipping like back in the day.
Chad
All I know is that when I put a team of pro triathletes together in the mid 80’s for the off road Volkslauft obstacle course in Oceanside, we killed the 6 year in a row champion Navy Seals by 3 minutes. However It did not include any pushups or pullups. I suppose you would have to define the type of fitness you are talking about. Even though we do three sports, we are still very specific in what else we can excell in. I guess an obstacle course with 10k of running is one of those things…
After looking at the pic of you in the zodiac in your article, I must ask in my best Jeff Spicolli accent, “Dude, where did you get that jacket”?
I think of fitness as the overall package. Being as fit as a human can (in my mind) means you cannot be a specialist. I used to just run, but found I was happier spreading out my time over three sports. If I continued just running, no doubt I would be a lot further ahead in that sport. But I think I am a lot more fit for being decent in three sports, than excelling at one.
This is assuming that there isn’t a sharp decrease in ability and output. I’d say going from an elite cyclist to a drowning triathlete (Rasmussen and his twiggy arms?) doesn’t make you more fit.
But really… if you don’t need an incredibly sport-specific fitness to make a living, pick up some weights!
Gymnasts are probably my number one on the “Fit List”.
*edit: my pull-ups were at 26 until I picked up a mean case of “swimmer’s shoulder.” You can be a lean, monster in the gym and not get as many pull-ups as you think you should. They are one of those exercises that you just have to do to get good at. There is usually a pretty quick and steep curve once you start doing them often.
how would your typical ironman do on American Gladiator?
What about a Ninja Warrior?
Ooops. Typo. Thanks man.
That’s a Tadgear Softshell. Tadgear makes tactical equipment and apparel for Special Operations team members in use all over the world. Private Military Contractors use the stuff, Other Governmental Agency officers buy the stuff, straight military people use their stuff. Tadgear rules.
I am absolutely convinced the resurection of *American Gladiator *is a direct response to the surprising popularity of *Ninja Warrior *on the G4 Network. *Ninja Warrior *is the most successful show on G4 and has benefitted from the vacuum created by the writer’s strike. I think the program directors at G4 are thinking they found the Japanese goose that laid the golden egg in *Ninja Warriors *and when the U.S. networks saw the ratings G4 was getting for *Ninja Warriors *they started thinking, “Hey, we need something like that…”
"Being as fit as a human can (in my mind) means you cannot be a specialist. "
Agreed, along with your comment about gymnasts.
How would a typical American Gladiator due in an Olympic Tri ? How gassed would Lance be in an MMA bout or how gassed would an MMA fighter be after a 10k climb?
Fitness is pretty subjective if you want to compare “specialties”.
I define my fitness by how fast my heart rate recovers by 30 bpm after a near max HR workout. It’s been pretty true to me as a measuring stick of how much I need / can improve. And even though my max HR has changed over the last 10 years, my recovery time has been extremely consistent.
You hit the nail on the head Monty! “Physical Fitness” has a lot to do with specificity. Not very many people on this board would survive a 20 mile force march with an 80-100lb combat load. But I can take an 80mm Mortar platoon who could knock that feat out in their sleep…and VERY FEW of those mortarmen could hold a candle to any of us over, say a 70.3. And neither group would have much chance in a weight room with an Olympic or Power lifter. And none of that even touches athletes from so-called “skill” or ball sports. Even if that power lifter can hang with the pro football player in the weightroom, his body is woefully unprepared for the rigors of a 60 minute football game. And let’s take this out of the realm of sports…how many of these people are truly “fit” for, say, a week of laying cement block among a hardworking team of masons?
I made a comment some time back about the very narrow viewpoint that produced the front-cover headline “World’s Fittest Man” about Mark Allen. World’s fittest triathlete? Probably…hell…definitely at that moment. But “fittest man”? Only with a seriously constrained set of “fitness” metrics.
That said…in very general fitness terms, triathletes taken as a subset of the whole population, are certain to be above the average. But we can’t extrapolate that to say every triathlete is fitter than (fill in the blank athlete or other member of another subgroup).
I was just going to comment that some of the MMA fighters are probably in as good a shape as anyone else on the planet. They may not be able to do triple backflips, but those guys usually have a substantial cardio base, and anyone who has ever tried to go more than three rounds in the ring knows how taxing it is.