How fit is the average person in Ireland?

Pisco Sour

How much exercise do you do? Be honest.

How fast could you run a mile in right now?

Do Irish people participate in sport enough?

Do girls get too lazy and drop out of sport too young?

Discuss

minidazzler

Starts fine, but then randomly turns into a gender thing, why? Young boys stop playing sport too.

I don't exercise much, but the nature of what I do for a living means I am strong enough to move a person.

I can run a mile in around 7 mins, probably less if I really pushed myself!

No, most countries these days don't have people who participate in sport enough.

See point 1 for last question.

Einhard

I was reading the thread about the fella who ran after a little skanger in Louth today, and I just thought to myself, I wouldn't be able to do that. It's not because I'm unfit, though I am, it's because my knees would likely just fall off. Nothing like falling over and sitting on your own knee when you're drunk to limit mobility in later life!!

Pisco Sour

minidazzler wrote: »

Starts fine, but then randomly turns into a gender thing, why? Young boys stop playing sport too.

I don't exercise much, but the nature of what I do for a living means I am strong enough to move a person.

I can run a mile in around 7 mins, probably less if I really pushed myself!

No, most countries these days don't have people who participate in sport enough.

See point 1 for last question.

Apologies, dont mean this as a gender discrimination thing at all. I've just always noticed that less girls take part in sport after the age of about 12 or 13. It is true. Look at any Triathlon or Marathon or fun run in Ireland and the majority of people taking part are males. That has to count for something.

I hadn't been fit for a number of years but I can do a half marathon in an hour, 54 mins.

karlog

I can run a good 20 minutes without stopping to take a breather.

No wait thats actually metres not minutes.

jd007

I'd be fucked for a couple of days after a short sprint tbh! :pac:

Einhard

Einhard wrote: »

I was reading the thread about the fella who ran after a little skanger in Louth today

What was this? Got a link?

Einhard

Deleted User wrote: »

What was this? Got a link?

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056019772

Davidius

I do very little exercise and when I do it only lasts for maybe 15 minutes before I either become bored or my lack of fitness leads to tiredness.

I never find myself running so I don't really know. I've seen fat people that could outrun me though. Not for very long mind you.

Most people I know play a bit of sport.

Mr. CooL ICE

I exercise 3 times a week. One game of astroturf soccer and two jogging sessions, and have been doing this for the best part of a year, and I don't diet, i.e. eat whatever I like, when I like.

I have no idea how fast I could run a mile in as I never time myself and only run to preveny myself from getting fat, as I am 25 and find that this is the age I need to really start looking after myself. Although I was never fat, I put on my interview suit yesterday (which I hadn't worn in over a year) and now its far too big for me

Bloody Nipples

04072511 wrote: »

How much exercise do you do? Be honest.

How fast could you run a mile in right now?

Do Irish people participate in sport enough?

Do girls get too lazy and drop out of sport too young?

Discuss

I do an awful lot of exercise, I run at least 7 miles (give or take) 6 days a week, along with squash and swimming.
I'm aiming at doing the Dublin City Marathon in Oct. in under 3 hours (hopefully) which means doing 6:51 min/mile for 26 miles. As to how fast I could run a mile, I reckon I could do it in about 5 mins if I was going all out.

And no Irish people don't participate in sport enough, as national obesity trends show. This is because boys AND girls get too lazy and drop out of sport too young (I'll put my hand up as being guilty of this).

I really don't get how people are perfectly fine being fat.

Frisbee

Train twice a week for an hour and a half and two hours respectively and then will have a game on a Saturday, sometimes a Sunday too near the end of season when we're trying to fit back matches in.

Cabaal

I run about 35km+ a week, can run about two hours non-stop without much of a problem,
Can do 10km in about 55min so I'd say I'm not too bad

easyeason3

It drives me insane when a poster ends his thread with 'discuss' or 'thoughts?'. It reminds me of the English paper in the Leaving Cert.

Relatively fit. Walk a good bit, getting back into jogging & do some cardio excercises.
I excercise at least 5 times a week so I suppose if I had to chase a gurrier I could manage it.
The change in weather has me cutting the excercise short though, I haven't climatised to it yet

kfallon

Have a decent level of fitness again!

Usually once boys/girls discover alcohol around the age of 15 the fitness levels start to drop away as it overtakes sport as their new hobby.

biko

OP, it's netiquette to first give input or reasons for your questions.
Now you sound like a lazy journalist.

_feedback_

easyeason3 wrote: »

It drives me insane when a poster ends his thread with 'discuss' or 'thoughts?'. It reminds me of the English paper in the Leaving Cert.

Remember, it's just a discussion, so there's no right or wrong answer. Good boy, well done.

Unwilling

I am overweight - but not as much as I used to be.
I am not FIT but I am fitter than I think I've ever been.

I do a bootcamp twice a week and I do two gym classes twice a week. I am also trying to do the C25K - but only managed to complete week 1.. and that was over a week ago, so I need to start from scratch.
I eat healthier than ever before but am still partial to sweet things.

I do believe girls drop out of sports - but I think a lot of that is self image and self esteem. Sports for boys is typically seen as a macho thing. Girls in their teens are conscious of their bodies, boobs, bellies bums the works.

I'm a few years out of school now, but I don't recall any lessons about self esteem, body image, confidence, healthy diet, the importance of excercise.
In fact, I managed to get through most of secondary school skipping gym class which was only once a week if not a fortnight.

The statistics on obeisity speak for themselves. In my gym also the majority of people are foreign and those who aren't struggle on the machines and the classes.

This has turned out to be quite the rant. I apologise.....

Banned Account

In my experience kids can suffer burnout. I was, at one stage playing rugby for the club, hurling for school and club, soccer for school and club and football for school and club - put me off by the time i hit 16 - i was just sick of it tbh.

orourkeda

04072511 wrote: »

How much exercise do you do? Be honest.

How fast could you run a mile in right now?

Do Irish people participate in sport enough?

Do girls get too lazy and drop out of sport too young?

Discuss

I couldnt run 100 yeards

gimmick

WTF is "netiquette"?

How fit is the average person in Ireland? Not very id say. One of the main reasons for this, in my mind, is the dim view taken towards PE in schools. And both pupils and teachers are guilty of this.

All too often, PE is seen as a "doss" hour or two in a week. All too often, the little butterball who has no interest in sports gets a note to get out of PE, and nothing is ever said about it. I am sure it would not be so easy for the butterball to get a note to get out of maths.

For the record, at the moment I do 2 solid hours kickbox training, do 50-100 press ups 3-4 mornings a week and do some dumbell weights (about 60-75 reps) 3-4 nights a week. And I would not consider myself fit. i would consider myself reasonably/passably fit.

Banned Account

gimmick wrote: »

WTF is "netiquette"?

How fit is the average person in Ireland? Not very id say. One of the main reasons for this, in my mind, is the dim view taken towards PE in schools. And both pupils and teachers are guilty of this.

All too often, PE is seen as a "doss" hour or two in a week. All too often, the little butterball who has no interest in sports gets a note to get out of PE, and nothing is ever said about it. I am sure it would not be so easy for the butterball to get a note to get out of maths.

For the record, at the moment I do 2 solid hours kickbox training, do 50-100 press ups 3-4 mornings a week and do some dumbell weights (about 60-75 reps) 3-4 nights a week. And I would not consider myself fit. i would consider myself reasonably/passably fit.

You're awesome ...

gimmick

And I get the impression you are being sarcastic are you? :rolleyes:

Banned Account

gimmick wrote: »

And I get the impression you are being sarcastic are you? :rolleyes:

Pretty much :rolleyes::rolleyes:

Kasabian

I would be averagely fit I reckon.

Can run a mile in 6 mins .
Do a hundred press-ups and 100 sit-ups.

I seem to have pretty good stamina.

LordSutch

04072511 wrote: »

How fit is the average person in Ireland?

Not very fit at all, of course there are many on here including myself who are fit and who try to stay trim, but sadly the vast majority just let themselves 'go' after their mid to late twenties, (it seems like keeping fit is not a priority in life), with some going up a waist size every other year > middle age spread they call it

gimmick

Fitzcaraldo wrote: »

Pretty much :rolleyes::rolleyes:

And what is your contribution apart from your witty sarcasm chap?

Back on topic, I would love to have the drive as some GAA/rugby players or swimmers and runners. It take serious application to be in tip top shape and to resist boozing too often and eating badly.

MistyCheese

You're asking on an Internet forum how fit people are. We need to send someone to a gym to ask people how much they know about computers.

For balance.

i71jskz5xu42pb

I'm well fit

easyeason3

elviscostello wrote: »

Remember, it's just a discussion, so there's no right or wrong answer. Good boy, well done.

Flyer1

I exercise 4 - 5 times a week. Running, cycling, weights, and then usual sit-ups etc just to stay somewhat fit.

itsallaboutheL

Fit for what exactly OP?

I'm fit to collapse at the moment due to lack of sleep.

JimmyCrackCorn

I exercise 2-4 times a week depending on motivation and workload.

Im not that fit, but i can still see my feet.

_feedback_

easyeason3 wrote: »

oops !












sorry

easyeason3

elviscostello wrote: »

oops !












sorry

You probably feel embarrassed now.

Discuss.

cython

Unwilling wrote: »

I am overweight - but not as much as I used to be.
I am not FIT but I am fitter than I think I've ever been.

Sounds like how I'd describe myself. I was always very overweight and unfit when I was in school, and even through my undergrad course in college, though I think college was marginally better than school all the same. In the last few years I got a bit of a wake up call, and especially in the last 12-18 months.

It used to be that a game of 5 aside football would leave me pretty wrecked, but since then, I've started doing a lot of cycling, and a bit of running, as well as the football I had been playing, and I can generally manage a 70-80k cycle with plenty of hills comfortably enough, and longer at times. I also can run 5 miles in about 45-46 mins at constant pace.

So fitter than I was, but plenty of room to improve yet!

starbelgrade

I can do a marathon in about 18mins if I put the foot down.

malkmoose

I train between 3 and 5 days a week depending on what part of the GAA season we're at.
I can run a mile in 5 minutes.
Just thinking about all my friends and my last few office jobs/ friends on Facebook/LinkedIn I can say that less than 5% are what I consider overweight.
On a typical night out in Dublin I would have the same experience. I think how obesity is measured is not accurate or scientific. Percentage body fat is the most accurate measurement in my opinion.

lamai

Last time I did a mile was last year when I started running(3 months) 5.17, Would hope to be around 5min now. I do triathlons and surf. Very fit:D


I am in my early 30's and was always involved in sport when I was younger. I find most of the people that are overweight now were never into sport when they were younger. I also said I would never be overweight, but I was a few lbs over what I should have been a few years ago, and I gave myself a good kick up the arse.

Banned Account

gimmick wrote: »

And what is your contribution apart from your witty sarcasm chap?

My contribution was back on post #20.

I just took offence to the butterball stuff - I think it's unfair in a lot of cases to direct the criticism at the kids - the parents should be made exercise until they get it into their heads that they are damaging their kids health by not making them exercise and by feeding them shít.

Thats all.

Fukuyama

Used to be quite fit this time last year.

I could do a mile in maybe 5:20. Which is quite good considering most of my friends and people I know couldnt run a mile if you gave them a week. Took my eye off the ball though and have stopped running for some reason... Time to get back into it though!

TBH, I think when I see properly fat people (not carrying a little padding but a bloody tractor tyre around their waste) I think its discusting. God only knows what they're like inside...

Imagine if they were ever put into a situation where they HAD to exert themselves... like in a flood or something. Survival of the fittest and all that... they'd be brown bread.

Laserhead

I gave up basketball when the leaving cert began, which had been keeping me pretty fit. Now I do no regular exercise, but I'm hoping to into rowing at college. I doubt I could sprint for a mile at this point.

gimmick

Fitzcaraldo wrote: »

My contribution was back on post #20.

I just took offence to the butterball stuff - I think it's unfair in a lot of cases to direct the criticism at the kids - the parents should be made exercise until they get it into their heads that they are damaging their kids health by not making them exercise and by feeding them shít.

Thats all.

Thats fair enough. As I alluded to in my original post the education around fitness in this country is muck.

seamus

Haven't run in about two years, and WTF is a mile?

Anyone who thinks "average" fitness is a 6-minute mile and 100 press-ups and sit-ups needs a reality check.

The average Irish person could likely jog about 1km, maybe 2km before they'd have to stop and have a breather, followed by a cigarette. Most people do very little exercise - at best they might walk part of their commute to/from work and play football once a week. In the under-40s, fitness rates for women are a good deal worse than for men because women traditionally stop doing any sport or exercise when they hit their mid-teens, whereas men are likely to keep it up to some small degree well into their 20s.

However, anecdotally and from personal experience, the tide is beginning to shift and people are recognising the importance of getting at least some exercise - especially once you've left college. I would certainly have to say that over the last two years I've seen a lot more people out jogging and cycling in all weather conditions than I can ever recall seeing before. But maybe I've only just started noticing them.

I say I haven't run in about two years, though I've cycled around 4,000km this year so far. Fitness is subjective from that point of view; My body would easily allow me to run 5km in less than 30 minutes, and I could probably manage to keep going to run 10km in less than an hour, but my legs would soon afterwards give out and I wouldn't be able to walk for a couple of days because I'm not used to using those muscles.

Best measure of fitness? 5 years ago, jogging 100m to catch a bus would leave me breathless, sweating and with pains in my lungs, taking 5 - 10 minutes to recover. Now I can sprint 200m to catch a bus and when I get there I'll be breathing a bit heavier but will recover in about 2 minutes.

Ostrom

http://www.slan06.ie/publications.htm

Main report (2007), pages 49-53 for physical acitivty summaries

Feeona

I run for half an hour most days. Feel great after it, but there was a time when I'd balk at running for five minutes! I hope to build up my stamina and speed over the next few months. Looking at some people's speeds here (mile in five mins :eek:), I'm seriously behind in the speed stakes!

kfallon

Well I got 90 mins of football ahead of me tonight so no doubt I'll be wrecked (but in a good way) tomorrow morning. Can't beat the feeling of stiff and sore muscles to know you had a good blow out!

sock puppet

In my experience once people reach college (me included unfortunately) they give up sport or start competing at a much lower level. Once you give it up it can be hard enough getting back into the routine.

scouser82

When people say they can run a mile in 5 minutes do they mean 5:00, 5:29, 5:59 or what?

Theres a hell of a difference between 5:00 and 5:59.

I've done a Mile recently in 5:48, I certainly wouldnt classify it as a "Mile in 5 minutes". What it is is a sub 6 minute mile.

Anybody who can do a mile in 5 minutes dead is WAYY above average fitness levels. There was a SPAR mile challenge last year around Ireland and less than 1% of people ran it under 5 minutes, and not a particularly big percentage (maybe 10%, I've forgotten) ran it under 6 minutes. Of course those percentages are only of people who were bothered to try run the mile. Of the general population the percentages would be even smaller for sub 5 and sub 6.

You need a bit of natural talent and a lot of hard training to get under 5 IMO. Hopefully I'll manage it some day.

Banned Account

scouser82 wrote: »

Theres a hell of a difference between 5:00 and 5:59.

Indeed, if only there were some new fangled way of quantifying it Hmmmm ...