I'm not speaking of geometry here, but obviously the term of being in shape. How can I measure if I am in decent shape? Taking a week off of muay thai / any physical effort to defeat this flu has left me frustrated, and with a wandering mind. What does the community here consider to be decent shape?

For the normal guys it's always something round the corner. If I was asking myself from year ago I'd definitely say today's me is in a decent shape. However, today's me has new standards and wants to get in a decent shape that takes at least 6 months of regular thrice a week hard training.

i would posit that good shape is being able to go another round, when you don't have to.

Shape is what I'm not in.

Shape is what I'm not in.

you can squat and deadlift the weight of 3 skyscrapers full of fatties during a feeder convention combined, and you don't think you're in shape?

so, then, I must be in shape!

HOT DAMN

I don't like being content. However, I'm also a fattie =P

I would say shape is being fast enough and/or strong enough to tell Emevas to kiss my ass for claiming he's an out of shape fattie without having to worry about him dropping something that weighs more than 500 pounds on me.

For the normal guys it's always something round the corner. If I was asking myself from year ago I'd definitely say today's me is in a decent shape. However, today's me has new standards and wants to get in a decent shape that takes at least 6 months of regular thrice a week hard training.

This.

I don't like being content. However, I'm also a fattie =P
you poses the distorted body image of a women =P

No, just the body image the Air Force tells me to have, haha.

Being in shape to me means that the goals I set 3-6 months ago have been attained. Whether this be in reduced run times, increased weights, reps, increase/decrease in measurement of parts of the body, the number on the scale, how long I can work out at a certain intensity etc.. I think its quite a personal standard when one is not a professional athlete.

Also being in shape to me means being able to keep up, match and outlast the people I train with. Most of them work out similarly so we're all improving the condition we're in as time goes by.

I'll throw an esoteric definition of what 'in shape' means. I hope that this can serve as a useful guideline.

This definition leaves some things loosely defined and ignore genetic factors that can predisposition some (but not all) to certain attributes such as being overweight or underweight.

This definition also does not take into account (nor cares) about physical aesthetics (given that some people go to unhealthy actions to achieve a particular body image.)

Furthermore, it does not take into account pre-existing injuries. So, with all those caveats, each person should see that they more or less strive to reach these attributes of being in shape.

So, what does it mean to be in shape? To be in shape means meeting the following characteristics:

1. You are not underweight/severely underweight.

2. You are not obese.
3. You are somewhere between being a bit underweight (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underweight) to mildly overweight.

4. Your BMI (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Body_mass_index#Categories) is between 18.5 and 30 (see chart (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/56/Bmichart.png).

5. If you are 22 years of age or older are not overly muscular, your weight according to your height and gender will nearly match these tables (http://www.clark.cc.oh.us/clinic_weight.html)).

6. You are not at severe risk of bone loss.

7. You are not at risk of hearth disease.

8. You don't drink a lot.

9. You don't smoke a lot.

10. You can perform the physical activities demanded by your sport of choice without incurring in regular bouts of overtraining, exhaustion and sickness.
11. Your body is capable of adapting to increasing/challenging physical demands (assuming these demands are tackled in an intelligent manner.)

12. You are happy with how you look/feel/are capable of doing, or at the very least you are happy with the progress you are making to achieve those goals (assuming these goals are reasonable and healthy.)

13. You are happy, and if you are not, you are taking concrete steps to be happy (assuming what makes you happy is reasonable and healthy.)

#1 to #4 are basically one and the same.... sorta. #5 takes into account that young individuals may be underweight by adult standards.

Drink a lot, smoke a lot, that depends on you. Smoking a cigar once a week while drinking a glass of whiskey is one thing. Getting wasted every Saturday night or smoking half a pack or more a day is another.

#10 take into account that you are engaging in a particular sports or martial arts, and that you are choosing a given frequency of training (once a week, twice a week, four times a week, etc.) The frequency that you have chosen is something that you should be able to handle without incurring in over training. Obviously, the more often that you are capable of training, the more in shape you are.

#11 means that if you are presented with a training plan that is increasingly challenging, but that it's laid out reasonably, and if you have the mind to 'suck it up' and do it, your body will be able to adapt to the new demands. That is, you won't crash or get sick.

#12 and #13 are pretty obvious. We should be able to stop and smell the flowers down the road and eat some fatty french fries here and there while enjoying the pretty rabbits jumping in the grass and **** instead of going crazy chasing unreasonable goals.

Mental and spiritual moderation is key to be in a maintanable good physical shape.


-- edit --

holy crap, that was deep.

Whoa, I hit almost everything on El Macho's list. Only the amount of training I do right now is pretty low, but that's just me trying to work, hang out with my kid and wife and my thesis work. Fitting training in there is kinda hard sometimes.

So, huh. I guess I'm approaching decent shape. We'll see if it's just limes, or will I actually reach it one day ;)

Being in shape is that elusive thing ... where I get so close, and - smash my elbow, get the flu, get tendinitis, have to go on a business trip. It's always something. I like to think there will be a time where I can train 4-5 days a week for a few months straight, and get in the physical and and mental (skill level) shape I want to be in. But it never happens.

what is shape? baby dont hurt me, dont hurt me, no more.

*techno music starts*