What constitutes an "athletic person"... standards?

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

I propose the following standards for some to describe themselves as athletic. I suspect that these may upset some people as they will imply that certain professional athletes are not athletic. That is partially the point. One dimensional competitors may have athletic qualities, but are not 'athletic.' Discuss, disagree, do whatever. If you don't like my definition of athletic, please provide an alternative.

Mile- 5:30 for men, 6:30 for women.

100m- 13 seconds for men, 17 seconds for women.

Marathon- capable of finishing without walking.

Squat- 2x bodyweight for men, 1.75 for women.

Deadlift- same as squat.

Bench press- 1x bodyweight for men, .75 for women

Vertical jump- 2/3 body height (men and women)

I think that's a pretty good list, but I'm open to well-conceived arguments against it.

Being a varsity HS athlete in three "major" sports at a big HS or a Division 1 Big 10 college athlete in a "legitimate" sport with a "normal" amount of training. Like 50 mpw for runners in HS.

My standards are stringent, but I don't just call people "athletic" willy nilly.

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

100m- 13 seconds for men, 17 seconds for women.

I hope you're kidding.

It is generally accepted that women are 10-15% slower than men. So make this 15s for women and I am ok with it.

That gap should be bigger for explosive measures, smaller for endurance measures.

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

I propose the following standards for some to describe themselves as athletic. I suspect that these may upset some people as they will imply that certain professional athletes are not athletic. That is partially the point. One dimensional competitors may have athletic qualities, but are not 'athletic.' Discuss, disagree, do whatever. If you don't like my definition of athletic, please provide an alternative.

Mile- 5:30 for men, 6:30 for women.

100m- 13 seconds for men, 17 seconds for women.

Marathon- capable of finishing without walking.

Squat- 2x bodyweight for men, 1.75 for women.

Deadlift- same as squat.

Bench press- 1x bodyweight for men, .75 for women

Vertical jump- 2/3 body height (men and women)

I think that's a pretty good list, but I'm open to well-conceived arguments against it.

For the 100... flying start or standing/blocks?

I would say you're doing something similar to defining standards for intelligence. You know it when you see it, but it's hard to put into terms.

So if I'm 6 feet I should have a 48" vertical? I think I'd be able to out-jump LeBron James at that point.

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

I propose the following standards for some to describe themselves as athletic. I suspect that these may upset some people as they will imply that certain professional athletes are not athletic. That is partially the point. One dimensional competitors may have athletic qualities, but are not 'athletic.' Discuss, disagree, do whatever. If you don't like my definition of athletic, please provide an alternative.

Mile- 5:30 for men, 6:30 for women.

100m- 13 seconds for men, 17 seconds for women.

Marathon- capable of finishing without walking.

Squat- 2x bodyweight for men, 1.75 for women.

Deadlift- same as squat.

Bench press- 1x bodyweight for men, .75 for women

Vertical jump- 2/3 body height (men and women)

I think that's a pretty good list, but I'm open to well-conceived arguments against it.

.

Seems reasonable. 15.x would be better for women in the 100m. And we need age-grading for older athletes. For example, a 50 yo man who can run under 6:20 for a mile...would be comparable to a sub 5:30 for a man in his prime.

the ones I disagree with are the 100m for women, squat for both, bench press for both and vertical jump for both.

100m for women should be closer to 15s, 17 won't even sniff your HS girls track team whereas 13 for boys at least gets you JV.

You can deadlift more than you can squat and squatting 2x BW requires some to bulk up to more than they should be. I think 1.75x for men and 1.25x for women is more comparable. Deadlift, lower the womens one down to about 1.5x

Bench Press, increase the mens to 1.25xBW and womens to 0.9xBW. both of those looked very weak.

Vertical Jump, mens should be ~24-26" and womens should be 18-20". Short people have a massive advantage if it is relative to BW and a heads up is that it is nearly impossible for someone taller than 6'0" to jump 2/3 his body height.

I think the standards should be more objective.

Speed - sub 12 100, sub 55

Endurance sub 5:00 and sub 18 5k

Strength Push-up 50x, pull up 10+, BP at least 200 or 10-15xBWt

Power Vertical 30in+ at least touch the rim

Coordination/Balance be able to do at least one skate/surf/snowboard

Multi sport skills be able to play bball, baseball, football ,volleyball, or hockey without looking like a beginner

AllsportsMed wrote:

I think the standards should be more objective.

Speed - sub 12 100, sub 55

Endurance sub 5:00 and sub 18 5k

Strength Push-up 50x, pull up 10+, BP at least 200 or 10-15xBWt

Power Vertical 30in+ at least touch the rim

Coordination/Balance be able to do at least one skate/surf/snowboard

Multi sport skills be able to play bball, baseball, football ,volleyball, or hockey without looking like a beginner

A 5ft tall person with a 30 inch vertical isn't touching the rim. I doing think your standards are very fair

I have never met an "athletic person" that was only 5 ft. I am talking at least by adult standards. Sure there gymnasts and cirque folks that are 5ft that are the top of their one sport but I have yet to see a 5ft all around athlete. We are looking for athletic standards not" fair."

Being able to run and lift weights etc. is part of being athletic, but not everything. There is much more. Can they throw and catch? Can they shoot a basketball? Is there some eye-hand coordination? Can they play a decent game of tennis? Table tennis? Golf? Hit a baseball?

I have seen some really good, strong runners who throw like the proverbial "girl", and can't do any other sport worth a darn. They were good runners, but totally one trick ponies.

2xBW Squat is well harder than a 5:30 mile. 1XBW Bench is well easier than 2x Squat.

For the sake of argument, an athlete is a person who can garner clapping in his/her respective sport. It's relative.

Cmon dude wrote:

Being able to run and lift weights etc. is part of being athletic, but not everything. There is much more. Can they throw and catch? Can they shoot a basketball? Is there some eye-hand coordination? Can they play a decent game of tennis? Table tennis? Golf? Hit a baseball?

I have seen some really good, strong runners who throw like the proverbial "girl", and can't do any other sport worth a darn. They were good runners, but totally one trick ponies.

Truth ^

It's not about how much you lift. It's about how much you look like you're lifting. Not relating to the last sarcastic statement, an athlete is someone who looks cool when they are playing a sport.

AllsportsMed wrote:

I have never met an "athletic person" that was only 5 ft. I am talking at least by adult standards. Sure there gymnasts and cirque folks that are 5ft that are the top of their one sport but I have yet to see a 5ft all around athlete. We are looking for athletic standards not" fair."

You think Olympic level gymnasts are one-dimensional????? They have the best balance of speed, agility, power, flexibility, strength, and coordination out of just about any if not every other sport.

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

Mile- 5:30 for men, 6:30 for women.

100m- 13 seconds for men, 17 seconds for women.

Marathon- capable of finishing without walking.

Squat- 2x bodyweight for men, 1.75 for women.

Deadlift- same as squat.

Bench press- 1x bodyweight for men, .75 for women

Vertical jump- 2/3 body height (men and women)

I think that's a pretty good list, but I'm open to well-conceived arguments against it.

I would say coordination is a big part of athleticism, and it's hard to measure that. I don't agree with the Marathon one, and you want me to have a 4ft vertical if I'm 6ft tall?

It ain't rocket surgery! wrote:

Vertical jump- 2/3 body height (men and women)

No....just...no.

Vertical should not be based on height-and certainly should not be 2/3s of it.

Standing vertical:

19 or under is poor

20-22 is fair

23-29 is average

30-32 is good

33+ is excellent

38 to 46 is the range of Spud Webb, Lebron James, Shawn Kemp, Vince Carter, Dominique Wilkins, J Ewing, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, Shaquille O’Neal and Magic Johnson as well as Karl Malone.

And they all fail this part of your athleticism test.