Devise a Fitness Competition Between Roommates

May 20, 2008 4:40 PM

Devise a fitness "competition" between myself and my roommate. Roommate and I will be having a friendly competition this summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day) where the person who improved the most physically will 'win'. Problem is, we are a little different physically

One of us 6 foot, 195lbs has alot of workout history. I'm 5'6 158lbs. and very little workout history (but have tried losing weight before). He's signficantly stronger than I

What metrics would you use? Thoughts:

-Percentage weight loss
-Body Mass percentage loss
-BMI loss

posted by sandmanwv to health (14 comments total)

percent improvement on...

# pushups
1 mile time
# pullups

etc.
posted by mpls2 at 4:45 PM on May 20

On Memorial Day, you could each take the Adult Fitness Test from the President's Council on Physical Fitness.

On Labor Day, you each take it again.

The winner is the one who shows the greatest percentage of improvement.
posted by dersins at 4:46 PM on May 20

The same question was asked very recently, but I can't find it.
posted by fire&wings at 4:55 PM on May 20

go to a used book store and buy the oldest boy scout manual you can find.

use the fitness merit badge criteria for your competitiion.

or american gladiators. same thing, really.
posted by stubby phillips at 5:01 PM on May 20

and post it to projects
posted by stubby phillips at 5:02 PM on May 20

Percent improvement over starting 3-rep max weight on bench press, squat, or deadlift. Take advantage of those beginner's gains while they last :)
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 5:07 PM on May 20

You might want to take a read through of this earlier Ask.Me, though it was specific to weight loss.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:20 PM on May 20

Run a 5K before and after. You can score it either by percentage change or just time differential.

Each pick three activities in your own six-athlon. I'd pick 10K run, time in the tree position, and vertical jump. My brother would probably pick half marathon, pushups, and some kung fu thing. We'd both suck at some of them. I'd be nice and not pick cycling since he hasn't learned to ride.

Pick a sport neither of you have any background in. 200m breaststroke. Unicycle race. Pushing hands.
posted by advicepig at 5:33 PM on May 20

Above ideas sound good. I just wanted to suggest that you don't use any of those metrics you listed, since they're all based on weight/mass, which fluctuates wildly based on what you eat and drink on a certain day and lots of other stuff, and will increase if you do strength-training (so losing weight isn't always a plus).
posted by SuperNova at 8:20 PM on May 20

Percent increase in pushups/etc will work in your favor, since you get gains very, very quickly at first, which start to taper off once you get to some level diof fitness. I'd pick something that neither of you are good at at the moment. If neither of you run, I'd choose something like 5k or 10k time. Same with swimming.
posted by devilsbrigade at 9:07 PM on May 20

Get a Wii & Wii Fit & try to outdo each other!
Yes, I am in love with my wii and my wii fit.
posted by goshling at 9:08 PM on May 20

I'd do it by measurable effort, not results. A few years ago, my husband and I had a competition we called "STP@home" -- we raced on our treadmill for a distance equivalent to the distance between Seattle and Portland.

It was a good way for us to compete despite being very physically different. He's stronger, faster, has more physical stamina, and (unlike me) has no chronic illness; I have more tenacity. Maybe I just like it because I won handily! But in any case, it did the job, which was to get us on the treadmill.
posted by sculpin at 9:30 PM on May 20

BMI is useless.

The best measures for you (but not for him) in this contest are BF% lost and LBM (lean body mass) gained. As a newbie, you can totally own because you'll get initial bump.
posted by ewkpates at 3:49 AM on May 21

If you want to judge fitness, you need a competition that is about what your bodies can do, not how much the earth's gravity acts on them. Weight and body mass will tell you nothing about how fit you're becoming.

Compete to become faster, stronger, or more agile. Many people have made good suggestions above, including percent increase in number of pushups or pullups, increase in running speed, and increase in ability to lift weight. I would also suggest measures of things like balance (greatest increase in the time you can stand on one foot with your eyes closed?) and stamina (greatest increase in the number of stairs you can climb?). Those are physical skills with real-world applications that will help to prevent you from becoming injured as you age and increase your body's ability to perform tasks you are likely to ask it to perform on a daily basis.
posted by decathecting at 9:24 AM on May 21