Most important part of physical fitness (In your opinion)

[Denny347]

 

[Denny347]

About four years I got pretty big into fitness after breaking my ankle, and of course, I mainly focus on strength based training. Because, Ooga booga me like lifting heavy circles and putting them back down. But, I do try to have a more rounded training regimen with some cardio/endurance training.

Practically I'd say strength endurance is most important, because whats being able to lift 200lbs if you can only do it for 30 seconds. Although I've been told 30 seconds is too much sometimes.

But I wanted to hear from the people who have more experience on the topic. Whats most important, and more importantly, whats more sustainable as you get older? Also I wanna hear what your guys workouts look like and if you have any tips and tricks to pass along to anyone who stumbles across this thread.

I really started lifting heavy back in 2010 or so until about 2016. Power lifting, cardio, and olympic weightlifting was my goto for 3 days a week. I got quite strong and in 2016, at 43, I started BJJ and stopped lifting. Now at 51, I'm in the best shape of my life and all I do is BJJ. I lost some strength but still strong. My cardio is great. I weigh 225 at 15% body fat. I can live with that. Not putting the stress on my joints by the heavy lifts is helpful. I can keep this up for quite some time.

 

[22LRFan]

Endurance is the single most important fitness attribute there is. Both aerobic and anaerobic endurance are equally important. I’d put strength second and flexibility third.

 

[JayCo]

Endurance is the single most important fitness attribute there is. Both aerobic and anaerobic endurance are equally important. I’d put strength second and flexibility third.

I really like this explanation and ranking. For the average person's day to day I think this checks out

 

[1nderbeard]

I've been on a strength training/powerlifting regimen for about 10 years. I workout generally 3-4x a week. One day is centered around barbell squats, one day around pushing (incline bench, bench, shoulder press), one day around deadlifts. I will usually also do a bonus upper back day, because my deadlift day I'm usually to tired to do anything other than 4-5 heavy deadlifts.
IMO strength training is the most applicable for life. You don't have to squat 500 pounds, but being able to squat 300-400 pounds a few times puts you light years above the average man. There is no better core workout than lifting heavy weights. Start small and build up.
We could all add more cardio. Usually we do 1-2 trips a year focused on heavy hiking/walking. This year we did 20 miles over 10 days in Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion.
Good example of why Strength training matters:
We got up early morning and hiked about 1.75 miles down in to the Canyon. Plan was to do that hike and get back up out before 10 AM and the heat. (Side note: we realized it was a big ask of of 7 year old, and planed on plenty of snacks/breaks. We also had about 60 oz of water.) At the bottom of the route, the 7 year old was done. He essentially shut down. The options were to stay down there long enough to get him right again, call for someone to help, or huff him out on our backs. So I carried him up out of the canyon on my back. Took almost everything I had, and I had to take several breaks. If I was not as focused on strength training it would have not been possible. I also carried our 4 year old most of the way on our Bryce Canyon hikes (about 6 miles).
So my focus is always going to be strength first and cardio second as much as I can stand it.
Don't discount the impact of good food choices also.

 

[hereforthecootbash]

Endurance. I spent my twenties in the infantry and I’m pushing 40 now and I still ruck and run more than I lift. Keep pushing past the point where you feel “tired” because it’s a lie. I did my time in Afghanistan and I’ll tell you now that being able to carry weight over distances and stay in the fight when you are smoked matters way more than how much you can deadlift or bench.

 

[model1994]

Diet/Nutrition is the foundation of everything.

Proper form & mind-muscle connection in whatever form of exercise you choose.

Lastly, consistency - it’s a lifestyle, not an activity.