The “Do it Yourself” Fitness Test-Before You Start
Many people want to start a fitness program at home and keep track of their progress but aren’t sure how to determine their current fitness levels with regards to strengths and weaknesses. To conduct your own test requires no special equipment and allows you to record your personal results. The results will give you a bench mark as to where you started, strengths and weaknesses, motivate, assist in the goal setting and give you a way to evaluate and direct your exercise routine. The following is a very simplified home fitness test you can perform yourself. You want to include cardiovascular endurance, core, upper and lower body strength and flexibility. Remember since you are just starting a fitness program don’t overdo it. Safety is the most important factor.
1. Cardiovascular Endurance :
You can walk or run a pre-measured one-mile distance and time yourself. To check on improvements after you have started a program repeat the same testing procedure later and compare the time it took to walk or run the mile.
2. Upper Body :
Push-ups are a good indicator of upper body strength. Perform either male or female (from the knees) style pushups, going, all the way down until your nose almost touches the floor and all the way up until your arms are fully extended. Do as many as you can and log the score.
3. Core, Abdominals & Back :
Partial sit-ups are to be performed by lying on your back on the floor; legs are at 90 degree angles with the soles of your feet flat on the ground. Place your palms on your thighs and, by contracting your abs, raise your torso upward until you bring your fingers to the top of your knees. Do as many as you can with proper form and log the score.
4. Lower Body :
Squats can be an easy indicator. Sit at the edge of a chair on which your knees are at right angles to the floor. Stand up and sit back down just barely touching the chair and immediately stand back up. Repeat until you cannot properly perform any more repetitions then log the score.
5. Flexibility :
Stand with your feet together and legs perfectly straight, bend at the waist and keep your palms parallel to the floor. Log how close you come to placing your palms flat on the floor.
Perform all the components of the test again in eight weeks to monitor your progress.
Calculating Your Target Heart Rate Training Zone
Target Heart Rate = 220-Age x Range
Range = (60% to 90% of Max. Heart Rate)
bpm = Beats per minute
Beginners and less fit individuals should strive for 60-70% of maximum heart rate and more fit experienced exercisers should strive for 70-90%.
Example : 20 year old beginner
220-(Age) 20 X 0.60
= 120 bpm (60%)
0.70 = 140 bpm (70%)
Divide the beats per minute by six to give you your beats per 10-second count.
You can check periodically during your workout by stopping and placing your finger on the carotid artery in your neck and counting the beats for 10 seconds to ensure you are staying in your target heart range.
Back to the Basics-The Components of Fitness
Many times fitness enthusiasts get caught up in advanced or sport specific training programs and forget about the basics. Beginners need to learn proper form and technique to build on. Advanced participants can sometimes take a step back to the basics to correct newly acquired bad habits.
There are four primary areas of concern and five secondary factors affecting your total fitness level. Keep in mind that each must be considered to attain overall fitness.
Primary Components of Fitness
1. Body Composition :
This refers to the proportion of lean mass compared to fat. This is often equated to Body Mass Index (BMI). A high BMI reading, generally over 27, is associated with many health related risks including heart disease, high cholesterol, diabetes etc. See “Muscle Building Guidelines” on page 18.
2. Resistance Training :
This can involve traditional weight training with machines or free weights. It can also be accomplished by using free body exercises or stability ball training.
Target your training sessions to meet your goals, usually 2-3 times a week. To tone, keep the resistance light and the reps high, 12-15. To build, keep the number of reps lower, 8-10 and the resistance heavy. Resistance training improves posture, prevents and reduces the likelihood of osteoporosis and reduces loss of muscle due to aging. See Chapters Four and Seventeen.
3. Cardiovascular Training :
Try to keep physically active 30 minutes a day with walking, biking or whatever you enjoy that will give your heart a workout. For training purposes train 3-5 times a week in your target heart rate zone. See “Calculating your Target Heart Rate Training Zone” above. Cardiovascular fitness reduces the risk of heart disease, normalizes the blood pressure and lowers the resting heart rate.
4. Flexibility Training :
This should be done before and after each training session. Before working out, utilize dynamic stretching mimicking the routine you are about to perform and keep the range of motion to 75%. After your exercises, with warm muscles perform full body stretching ensuring that you exhale while lengthening the muscles and hold each stretch for at least 10-30 seconds. Stretching also helps restore the natural length to the tendons and ligaments as well as reduces incidence of injury during training or everyday tasks. See Chapter Eighteen.
Secondary Components of Fitness
These involve skills and abilities such as balance, coordination, agility, reaction time, speed and mental capacity (to train). Whether you are an elite athlete or just starting a fitness program, everyone can gain sports performance enhancement or better everyday functionality by improving these components. Whatever your motivation is to stay fit or get in shape, start off with a well-balanced program, sticking to the basics and building slowly to ensure a safe and efficient routine.
Some people are training for muscle mass, some for weight loss, increased cardiovascular efficiency, strength or flexibility. For those of you wondering how to start or change your fitness routine to match your desired results, here are some suggestions to point you in the right direction:
1. Weight Loss :
Weight train three times a week using high reps 15-20 for 3-4 sets with very little rest between sets. This will help by toning the muscles. Do cardio work like walking, running, cycling etc. starting with three times a week for 15-20 minutes at 60-70% of your maximal heart rate and slowly increase to 85% 3-5 times a week. You must also monitor your calorie intake to ensure it is up to 500 calories less per day than you expend in order to safely aim for a one-pound weight loss per week. See “Your Calorie Counting Calculation” on page 37.
2. Muscle Gain :
Train with resistance including machines and free weights 3-4 times a week. Increase the weight until you can only perform 3-4 sets with a maximum of 8-10 reps. The last rep of each set should be to muscle failure but with strict form. Rest about one minute between sets. See Chapter Four.
3. Strength :
This requires 3-5 sets using at least 80% of your “one rep maximum” (1RM) and dropping the reps to between 2-6. To determine your 1RM calculate (weight X reps X .03) + weight = your one rep max. Rest about two minutes between sets. See “Muscle Building Guidelines” on page 18.
4. Cardiovascular Efficiency :
Keep these in mind: Frequency, Intensity, Time and Type (F.I.T.T.). Slowly increase from 3 to 5 days a week. Elevate the maximum heart rate range from 60% to 85%. Gradually increase the time you are performing the cardio from 15 minutes up to 50 minutes. If it is not your goal to lose weight you must remember to increase your caloric intake to offset the expenditure of calories lost during the workout.
5. Flexibility :
Perform stretches 5-7 days a week regardless of whether you are working out that day. Always warm up with at least 5-7 minutes of light exercise or dynamic stretching. Stretch all the major muscle groups for two sets. Hold each stretch for 10-15 seconds at your own full range of motion, exhaling during the movement and avoiding bouncing movements.
Fitting SMART Fitness Goals into Your Program
When it comes to fitness, your program should fit your goals and what you need are SMART goals. The reason most attempts at fitness programs are short lived is not the fact that you can’t achieve them; rather it’s that you have set unrealistic goals that quickly become morale defeating. By setting SMART short and long-term goals you are more likely to stay committed. To beak it down SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Targeted.
Take the time to plan your program, remembering that failing to plan is planning to fail. Let’s address each facet of the SMART goals principal.
S Specific :
Know what it is that you want to accomplish. To say: “I want to get fit” is too broad ranging and very difficult to assess. Ask yourself what needs improvement. Take the four main components of fitness and write out specific goals, be it body composition (lean muscle vs fat), increasing muscle (muscle mass, strength, power or endurance),cardiovascular improvement or flexibility.
M Measurable :
How will you know when you’ve accomplished your goals? Clearly define your goals so you can recognize when you’ve reached them for both short-term and long-term. For all your goals make sure you note where you are now and where you want to be and chart your progress. For example: if it’s cardiovascular fitness, check your heart rate beats per minute during your routine and chart it so that you can see the reduction as you progress.
A Attainable :
Can you possibly reach your goals? If you decide you want to loose 50 pounds in a month you’ve set an unattainable goal. A SMART weight reduction goal would be one to two pounds a week, doing it sensibly and safely.
R Realistic :
Is it likely you can do it? If you have a hectic schedule and you have set a goal of getting to the gym every day, you might want to re-think your goal. You might set a goal of getting to the gym 3 times a week for your short-term goal and re-asses it in a couple of months.
T Time Targeted :
How long will this take and set a timetable. Getting those rock-hard, “six-pack abs” in two weeks is pressing the time target a bit. Most short-term goals should be time targeted for 8 weeks and long-term 6-12 months.
Consider your current fitness program or lifestyle and ask yourself: What worked in the past and what didn’t work? What do you need to develop? Consider new and existing ideas and alternatives. What goals will you need to set in order to achieve the desired results? What behaviors need to change to support this direction? With these questions answered, or at least considered, start setting your SMART goals to stay committed. Perform all the components of the test again in eight weeks to monitor your progress.
Putting Your Best Foot Forward
Shoe manufacturers and athletes have been working closely with researchers over the last few decades. The result is advancements in design that contribute to improved safety. Shoes are built to support and absorb shock in the feet, ankles and the rest of the body in the areas that will be most affected during specific sports.
If you are a runner you should get proper running shoes. Good running shoes will have a well-padded soul to absorb and displace your weight from heel to toe. The force on your body created while running can be equal to three times your body weight on each impact. They should also have good tread to avoid slipping.
If aerobics classes are your thing you will be moving laterally a lot. This requires more ankle support and less tread to avoid catching on the floor and twisting an ankle or knee.
Indoor sports on smooth floors like basketball or lacrosse in which running and quick forward and lateral movements are involved, require high top shoes with great ankle support and smooth tread to avoid unexpected gripping on the floor.
Cross trainers are probably the way to go for most people who participate in several activities. They are, just as their name indicates, a cross between the other shoes. They are mid height at the ankle and have medium tread. These shoes would be perfect for normal gym use, lifting weights, working with stationary cardio equipment or even low impact body sculpt type group fitness classes.
For those of you who just like to go for a walk there are walking shoes. They have a low top, medium cushion on the souls and medium tread, which is ideal for shopping or walking to work.
Calculating Your Body Mass Index (BMI)
Have you ever been to a doctor’s office and seen the height and weight charts and wondered where you fit in? As a society, we are obsessed with weight and ruled by the almighty scale. The body mass index scale is fairly simple to calculate and provides for a general guide to the benefits and risks associated with your weight as proportionate to your height.
Example : a 25-year-old
5’7” weighing 150 lbs
Step 1 : convert to metric
5’7” = 170 cm
150 lbs. = 68 kg
Step 2 : convert cm to meters
170 + 100= 1.70then square it
1.70 x 1.70 = 2.89
Step3 : divide the weight by the height squared
68 + 2.89 = 23.5
Body Mass Index is 23.5
As a general guideline consider the following. If your BMI is less than 20 you fall into the “underweight” category and may experience some health risks. If you fall between 20-25 BMI you are in the “normal” range. Those up to a 27 BMI could be slightly “overweight” and those over 30 could face considerable health risks such as diabetes, heart disease and problems with elevated blood pressure.
What the BMI does not take into consideration is the fact that muscle weighs more than fat. Therefore, a very muscular person can have a high BMI yet be in excellent physical condition and have little health risk. Conversely a person who lacks lean muscle and cardiovascular conditioning can have a BMI that falls into the normal range yet have considerable health risks due to their poor fitness level.
The point of this exercise is to make sure you consider your fitness and activity levels when determining if you need to lose or gain a few pounds.
Keeping a Fitness Journal
The beginning of a new year or the start of a new fitness program are perfect times to start keeping a fitness log or more accurately a journal.
A fitness journal will note times, speed and duration of cardio sessions or the pounds, sets and repetitions lifted in strength training. Your journal should go a couple of steps further and not be limited to the actual workout. It should include: short and long-term goals, eating, drinking (especially water), sleeping habits, and of course your workouts. You may be working out faithfully but failing to eat right, hydrate or get enough sleep. Without gathering all the information you may find yourself in a quandary as to why you aren’t seeing results. You may need major changes in one area and minor subtle changes in another.
A complete journal will also raise your level of commitment and accountability. You will be able to more readily identify poor habits or patterns in your activity. Patterns in eating are usually the first thing that will leap out at you within the first month. You will likely notice certain meals will either increase or diminish the efficiency of your workout. Once you put pen to paper you are also more apt to be conscientious about your water intake during exercise and on a daily basis.
Be sure to also include a reward system in your journal. Don’t fall into the all work and no play syndrome. Most people will work harder if they know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This is why, at the very least on a monthly basis, you should take time to enjoy a break. Miss a workout, eat a forbidden desert, sleep in or go out and buy some new clothes.
Another one of the biggest pitfalls is to record only either the good or the bad. Your journal should be as complete as possible with both the positive and the negative aspects.
Be careful how you measure or evaluate your successes. The most common measure in a fitness program is the weight scale, but try to only weigh yourself once a month. Use other means such as improved cardio endurance, more strength, having your clothes fit better or just plain feeling better, be your guide and be sure to note it. It doesn’t all have to be empirical data. How you feel and how you feel about yourself are just as valuable information to include in your journal as the numbers on the scale.
Remember, write in your journal daily when it is fresh in your mind and be honest with your entries so as not to cheat yourself.