Time for a Fitness Assessment
After plotting my running graph on Monday I wondered if there were other ways to evaluate my fitness level to see where I fit in the general index of healthy or not folks. I came across the Mayo Clinic’s fitness assessment which they say lets a person ask, how strong is my body?
According to more than one site there are 4 areas to focus on when doing a fitness assessment and these are:
Aerobic Fitness: to test–
Walk briskly or run one mile, and record the time it took. If you feel froggy you can record your before and after heart rate and use a formula to see if you reached your target maximum heart rate…
Muscular Strength and Endurance: to test–
Pushups, baby. How many can you do before you collapse and squish your nose into the floor? When you can get up again, record the number. For core strength use this plank-based test developed by a sports coach to gauge the health of your important core muscles:
Start in the Plank Exercise Position (elbows on the ground)
Hold for 60 seconds
Lift your right arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Return your right arm to the ground and lift the left arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Return your left arm to the ground and lift the right leg off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Return your right leg to the ground and lift the left leg off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Lift your left leg and right arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Return you left leg and right arm to the ground
Lift your right leg and left arm off the ground
Hold for 15 seconds
Return to the Plank Exercise Position (elbows on the ground)
Hold this position for 30 seconds
If you’re unhappy with the results of your planking continue to use the test to strengthen your core, onwards and upwards.
Flexibility: to test–
Sit on the floor with legs together and straight out in front of you, reach for your toes and record how close you get. This is to test the flexibility of the backs of your legs, hips and lower back – important to continued movement in your gray years…
Body Composition: to test–
Measure your waist circumference just above the hip bones, record for posterity. If you believe the Body Mass Index (BMI) is a reliable way to gauge health then divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches and multiply by 703 – check to see where you stand on the BMI chart.
Now, once we have all these numbers what to do with them? I’ve scheduled my test for right at the end of December to see how I finish off the year, and then I’ll repeat the test periodically and hopefully improve the numbers. Will you join me and assess your fitness? I have excuses to slay, what would you use the numbers for?
[Img.Src: Coach and Player]
