Is it possible to be fat and fit? It is common knowledge that
being overweight or obese brings about a host of health issues such as
heart disease, stroke, and diabetes to name a few which is why it is
important to keep a watchful eye on your weight.
Mention the word fat and what follows is usually a whole list of negative traits and fit is the last adjective to be associated with fat. Well I realized that this may not necessarily true, you can be FAT and FIT! What prompted me to say that? You may ask.
Last Sunday, I participated in a mass run event organized by a popular fitness magazine and this annual mass run, usually held in July caters only to ladies. I had reported to the starting point at 0700H for my 5km flag off at 0735H. As usual, there were a few categories to cater to the different fitness level for participants with a whopping turnout of 8,000 people, of which 6,000 had signed up for the 5km category with the remaining accounting for the 10km and 2.4km.
As I made my way closer to the starting point, I noticed a good mix of participants who were on the heavier side as well as slimmer ones. I thought to myself: lean runners should be better runners (think road runner? Beep beep)since they are so much lighter and even if that is not the case, they SHOULD still be faster because they are rightfully fitter than their overweight participants?
As the countdown timer showed seconds ticking away, the majority of runners were unable to contain their excitement as we were all raring to go! It was a sea of pink (geeze, the event tee was pink) when the guest of honor sounded the horn to start and officially flagged off the race. All you can see from your surrounding were runners decked in pink whizzing past you.
After clearing the bottleneck (with a massive 6,000 runners gathered at the start point), I can get a better view of other runners and started to observe those ahead of me. I was in for a surprise to see heavy weight runners in front of me.
In fact, I observed that a number of much leaner and slimmer runners were already out of breadth shortly after the race started. As I continued my run with a slightly faster pace, I was expecting to see slimmer runners ahead in the pack. In fact, it was a mixture of the lean runners and also a good number of heavier runners ahead of me and well ahead! I instinctively increased my speed to close up the distance and overtook them. This scenario repeated itself alternating between me being in front and then overtaken. I guess it was the competitive streak all runners have as it was after all a race.
But it did set me thinking why was it that overweight runners were able to run faster and on top of it, they seemed to have better stamina as most of them soldiered on when their leaner friends had slowed down and started walking instead. Actually, truth is that a person on the heavier side who works out regularly is definitely fitter than a leaner person who does not exercise at all! It is probably stereotype at work! But there is something worth exploring further: if those overweight runners have been working out consistently, why are they then overweight? It certainly takes time to build up your stamina and cardiovascular fitness. If you too had participated in mass runs and had the same observations, please visit my blog and share your thoughts.
By the way, I had clocked in a humble 35 minutes for my run and the winner completed the run in just a mere 17 minutes. Of course, she got to walk away with cash prize and many other prizes from the sponsors!
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http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jo_Chan
Mention the word fat and what follows is usually a whole list of negative traits and fit is the last adjective to be associated with fat. Well I realized that this may not necessarily true, you can be FAT and FIT! What prompted me to say that? You may ask.
Last Sunday, I participated in a mass run event organized by a popular fitness magazine and this annual mass run, usually held in July caters only to ladies. I had reported to the starting point at 0700H for my 5km flag off at 0735H. As usual, there were a few categories to cater to the different fitness level for participants with a whopping turnout of 8,000 people, of which 6,000 had signed up for the 5km category with the remaining accounting for the 10km and 2.4km.
As I made my way closer to the starting point, I noticed a good mix of participants who were on the heavier side as well as slimmer ones. I thought to myself: lean runners should be better runners (think road runner? Beep beep)since they are so much lighter and even if that is not the case, they SHOULD still be faster because they are rightfully fitter than their overweight participants?
As the countdown timer showed seconds ticking away, the majority of runners were unable to contain their excitement as we were all raring to go! It was a sea of pink (geeze, the event tee was pink) when the guest of honor sounded the horn to start and officially flagged off the race. All you can see from your surrounding were runners decked in pink whizzing past you.
After clearing the bottleneck (with a massive 6,000 runners gathered at the start point), I can get a better view of other runners and started to observe those ahead of me. I was in for a surprise to see heavy weight runners in front of me.
In fact, I observed that a number of much leaner and slimmer runners were already out of breadth shortly after the race started. As I continued my run with a slightly faster pace, I was expecting to see slimmer runners ahead in the pack. In fact, it was a mixture of the lean runners and also a good number of heavier runners ahead of me and well ahead! I instinctively increased my speed to close up the distance and overtook them. This scenario repeated itself alternating between me being in front and then overtaken. I guess it was the competitive streak all runners have as it was after all a race.
But it did set me thinking why was it that overweight runners were able to run faster and on top of it, they seemed to have better stamina as most of them soldiered on when their leaner friends had slowed down and started walking instead. Actually, truth is that a person on the heavier side who works out regularly is definitely fitter than a leaner person who does not exercise at all! It is probably stereotype at work! But there is something worth exploring further: if those overweight runners have been working out consistently, why are they then overweight? It certainly takes time to build up your stamina and cardiovascular fitness. If you too had participated in mass runs and had the same observations, please visit my blog and share your thoughts.
By the way, I had clocked in a humble 35 minutes for my run and the winner completed the run in just a mere 17 minutes. Of course, she got to walk away with cash prize and many other prizes from the sponsors!
