What is considered "athletic?"

"Athletic" is a subjective term.  To an elderly obese person, I am athletic because I can ride a bicycle.  To anyone who regularly exercises, I am not athletic at all.  To a professional athlete, none of us are very athletic.  There are medical standards to what is considered healthy physical shape, if that is what you want to know.  You have to consider several factors when calculating these standards because of age.  As far a "athletic" abilities like running 3 miles, that is subjective.  For others it would be skating or swimming or bicycling or pounds lifted.

   As far as your last question, most definitely yes, though probably not at a professional level for all people.  Everybody starts out not being athletic.  So what if some people change later than others?  After 12 years of age our brain is pretty much finished with the hardwiring or our motor skills, sense of timing and space, etc.  This makes it hard to achieve a professional level for anyone without exposure to the basic skills of any particular field of endeavor at a young age.  It applies to music and dance as well as sports.  But that doesn't stop adults from taking up any of these things and enjoying them.  It doesn't have to be about how well you do something, but how much you enjoy doing it.

   If you are looking for standards, here is a link to the army physical fitness standards (broken down into age groups) for its members.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/army/a/afpt.htm

It really depends if your are willing to undergo physical training. To be athletic means your are physically fit to do certain task in a matter of minutes and without much effort. For example if your are given a task to run a certain mile at a given time you should be able to complete the task without collapsing.,")

According to the American Heart Association someone who trains (walks, runs, bikes, any cardio) for 3 (or more) times a week for 20 minutes or more is in good physical fitness. Of course this is a very general statement. If I were you I would think more about my personal goals in training rather then how others determine my fitness level. A personal trainer might be a worthwhile investment for you.

being athletic means different things such as percentage of body fat muscle ratio. Some people have great bodies and can trip over their own feet,others may not have the proper body fat and muscle tone and yet can climb mountains,hike etc.It's hard to explain as different people have different tolerances to their body. If you can endure all types of exercise such as walking,running ,exercise swimmingetc and your body can handle it without strain or serious difficulty then you should be in pretty good shape. Being athletic does'nt mean you have to know and play every sport and it dosen't mean you have to run a marathon. Being athletic is like being normal, what is normal????

being athletic means different things such as percentage of body fat muscle ratio. Some people have great bodies and can trip over their own feet,others may not have the proper body fat and muscle tone and yet can climb mountains,hike etc.It's hard to explain as different people have different tolerances to their body. If you can endure all types of exercise such as walking,running ,exercise swimmingetc and your body can handle it without strain or serious difficulty then you should be in pretty good shape. Being athletic does'nt mean you have to know and play every sport and it dosen't mean you have to run a marathon. Being athletic is like being normal, what is normal????