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January 27, 2010
Just as we are using your measurements as a benchmark for inches lost, fitness tests act as a point of reference for improvements in your health and fitness. You’ll test yourself in three key areas (cardiovascular health, strength, and flexibility) and compare your scores to others of your age and gender. Then you can retake the tests at a later date to see how much you’ve improved!
There are a multitude of tests you could use to determine your fitness level in cardio and strength, speed and power, and flexibility and balance. And, as you can imagine, the equipment used to perform these tests ranges from absolutely nothing to very expensive, high-tech gadgets that measure probably more than you care to know about your body! For our purposes here (and because I try to provide you with stuff you don’t need to spend money on!), I’ve narrowed the field down to 5 tests that you can do at home with little-to-no equipment:
- The step test for cardiovascular health
- The push-up test for upper body strength
- The plank hold for core strength
- The sit-and-reach test for lower back & hamstring flexibility
- The cobra stretch for trunk flexibility
Today we’re going to start with the step test…
At-Home Step Test
To begin, you’ll need to measure your resting heart rate. Place the tips of your right index and middle fingers on the inside of your left wrist, at the base of the thumb, and press only lightly. Move your fingers ever so slightly back and forth until you feel your pulse. Count the number of beats in 30 seconds and multiply that number by 2. For a more accurate reading, take your pulse twice and average the numbers. Average pulse rates for women are around 75 beats per minute, while men average about 70. However, a “normal” resting heart rate can range from as low as 40 bpm to as high as 100 bpm. The more fit you are, the lower your resting heart rate will be.
Next, stand in front of a 12-inch-high step. If you don’t have an “aerobic step” at your house, just use stairs or another sturdy surface. Emphasis here on sturdy. The height of the step is important too, since you will be comparing your scores to standards based on this step height. A shorter step is technically cheating (and I know you want to find your real score)!
Place your right foot on top of the step, then step up with your left foot. Step down the same way: right, then left. You will continue in this pattern of “up, up, down, down” for 3 minutes at a very steady pace. Once the 3 minutes are up, take your heart rate again for 30 seconds. Multiply by 2 to get your beats per minute and your step test “score”. You can then compare your post-step test heart rate with the values in the tables below. Record the corresponding letter (remember, we’ll be tallying the results from ALL fitness tests next week!). For now, I’ll just say that A is excellent, B is good, and C needs improvement.
We’re basically looking to see how high your heart rate gets after doing an activity like stepping for 3 minutes. The more fit your heart is, the less of a difference you’ll see between your resting heart rate and your post-step test heart rate.
My next post will be the upper body strength test… the push-up! To make sure you don’t miss the rest of the fitness tests and other posts, you can subscribe to Trainer Confidential via email or RSS.
January 26, 2010
Are you ready to re-define your lifestyle (and your body)? In this series of posts, we’re looking to achieve new definitions in 2010 – in fitness, nutrition, and overall wellness. To start, you’ll need to set benchmarks for your progress and assess your starting fitness level, or what I am calling your “fitness age.”
Now that you have your circumference measurements recorded, it’s time to review your exercise history and assess your current fitness level. When I sit down for a goal-setting session with a new personal training client, it’s important that I run through a health screening process for two reasons. Firstly, it identifies any risk factors, medical conditions, medications, recent surgeries, or recent injuries the client might have. If any medical conditions exist that would make exercise more difficult or more dangerous for the participant, he or she must get written consent from their doctor before proceeding. And secondly, it paints a picture of my client’s experience with exercise, so I have a starting point to work from. The program I create for someone that has never stepped foot in a gym will be extremely different from that of a competitive runner.
The following exercise history questionnaire is an abbreviated version of what I use in my gym to assess my clients’ exercise habits and risk factors. Choose the letter answer that best describes your current habits. If you can’t decide between two, pick the lesser value (between A and B, choose B).
If you plan on taking the fitness tests I’ll be posting over the next week or so (which I hope you are!), then keep track of the number of A’s, B’s, and C’s you chose. The fitness tests will also have letter answers and, at the conclusion of the fitness tests, you’ll tally your letters and reveal your starting level workout program!
What Is Your Fitness Age?
1. Your exercise history has been…
A. Consistent for years (regularly 3-4x/week)
B. Consistent only within the last year
C. Non-existent or sporadic
2. Your workouts consist of…
A. A combination of total body strength training and cardio
B. Mostly cardio with sporadic strength training
C. If I do anything, it’s cardio-based (walking, biking, elliptical, etc.)
3. Your age is…
A. Younger than 30
B. 30-54
C. 55+
4. Your BMI is…
Calculate BMI by dividing your weight (kg) by your height2 (m).
A. Under 25
B. 25-30
C. Over 30
5. You are currently diagnosed with/recovering from the following health conditions and injuries…
A. None, I’m healthy!
B. I was injured and/or sick over 6 months ago but have fully recovered since then
C. One or more of the following: surgery, broken bones, hospitalization, heart disease, diabetes, thyroid disorders, hypertension, high cholesterol, severe asthma, bronchitis, COPD, seizures, heart murmur, hernia, osteoporosis, severe arthritis, chronic or recurring joint pain, or pregnancy.
Note: if you circled “C” above, please consult with your doctor before beginning this or any other exercise program. If you are on medication for any of the above conditions, you should ask your doctor about any side effects that might interfere with your participation in an exercise program.
Your Results…
Mostly A’s: Training Pro
You are no stranger to exercise and have maintained a healthy weight and active lifestyle. You are looking to add variety and an extra challenge to your workouts. Congratulations!
Mostly B’s: Avid Exerciser
You have exercised in the past (or only just recently) but fitness has not been a constant in your life (until now!). You are looking to change your lifestyle and make exercise a regular activity. Good for you!
Mostly C’s: Fitness Freshman
You are new to exercise and/or it’s been a VERY long time since you worked out. You are looking to bring fitness into your life, and you need a routine to get you started. You’ve come to the right place!
Although you can establish a general starting level with the answers above, I find fitness tests to be invaluable in truly depicting the “fitness age” of a new client. So remember your answers to this quiz and stay tuned for the 5 fitness tests I’ll be posting this week. Remember, the more tests you perform, the more accurate your results!
January 21, 2010
In order to achieve “new definitions” this year, we must first determine our starting line. Establishing a complete “before” picture of yourself and your body today will set you up to see immediate progress from your efforts all year long. And you can do it at home, by yourself!
Every time I sit down with a new client I take body composition measurements. They are not glamorous, definitely not fun, and can be downright discouraging for a lot of us. I know this. BUT they are the single best way to track your progress and keep you motivated throughout the year as you work towards your goals.
 As you progress with your weight loss program, you will be losing inches on different areas of your body. Oppositely, if your goals include gaining muscle size, you will actually be gaining inches. Either way, these are the changes we’ll want to track with circumference measurements – literally measuring the circumference of different body parts. Common areas of measurement include the waist, hips, chest, thighs, etc.
Circumference measurements, in particular, are my favorite method of tracking changes in body composition because most people see a difference within only a few weeks. They are also the easiest and least expensive tool for assessing change over time. Additionally, there are no “standards” to compare yourself with (or to discourage you!), since each person’s body is different. You take your own measurements to start (creating a standard for yourself) and every measurement moving forward is compared to your benchmarks. You are your only competition!
All you need to measure yourself is a non-elastic cloth or fiberglass tape measure (something bendable, like what you’d use for sewing). When you are measuring, make sure not to pull the tape too tight – you want it taut enough to stay in position without causing any indentation of the skin. So no cheating to get smaller numbers! Accuracy is critical at this stage of the game – remember, you’ll be tracking your progress all year!
I’ve written before about how to take circumference measurements, so I’ve included a few clips from that article below. The important thing to keep in mind is to be consistent in your measurements.
Where to Measure
To ensure the accuracy of your readings, it is helpful to associate anatomical landmarks with each reading (like taking your abdominal circumference at the level of your belly button). This practice keeps your recordings consistent and reduces the chance for error. The list below contains specific measurements and their landmarks.
Circumference Locations & Landmarks
Waist: the narrowest point between the bottom of your rib cage and the top of your hip bones
Hips: with your feet together, the point where your butt sticks out the most (not our favorite measurement, I know…)
Abdominal: at the level of your belly button
Chest: the very center of your chest, across the nipple line (without a padded bra ladies!)
Upper Arm: with your arm extended, you want to measure the largest part of your upper arm (the belly of the muscles)
Forearm: with your arm extended, the largest part of the lower arm (usually right below the elbow)
Wrist: with your arm extended, the narrowest point above your hand
Thigh: stand with one leg in front of the other, measure the front leg at the largest part of the thigh (again, the belly of the muscle)
Calf: measure the front leg at the largest part of the calf (the lower portion of the leg)
The important thing is to take your measurements in the same place every few months. Make notes if you decide to measure elsewhere, so you’ll remember to do the same later on. For example, perhaps you have a birthmark on your upper thigh and you decide to measure at that level. It’s perfectly fine to do this – you’ll be losing weight across your whole body so all of these measurements (and more!) will work to follow these changes. Whatever you decide, just be consistent.
If you’d like to read more on body composition measurements, check out my previous articles on the subject:
The Secret to Seeing Weight Loss Results
Do-It-Yourself Body Composition Measurements
Your Guide to At-Home Body Fat Analysis
The next several posts in this series will go into more detail on setting benchmarks. Now that we have circumference measurements, it’s time to begin assessing your fitness level. There are a number of fitness tests designed to evaluate your strength, stamina, speed, balance, cardiovascular health, and flexibility, and we’ll go into a few of them here on Trainer Confidential. Again, everything can be done at home with little or no equipment, which makes these tests easy and accessible for all of us.
Remember, it’s a new year, the start of a new decade, and it can be the beginning of a healthier you, if you make the decision to change. So choose your health, take some circumference measurements today, and together we’ll work towards achieving new definitions in 2010!
September 21, 2009
The technique of using body composition measurements, rather than weight, to track your weight loss results is an effective way to see results right from the beginning. Body composition measurements themselves encompass several strategies to track your progress, including body fat percentage, waist-to-hip ratio and circumference measurements which are the easiest, most inexpensive way to measure your weight loss success.
That being said, no measurement is more critical to weight loss than body fat percentage. At any given time, your body is a combination of lean body mass (muscle, bones, skin, tendons and organs) and fat. Body fat is actually necessary for the proper functioning of cell membranes and hormones, transportation of fat-soluble vitamins and the provision of essential fatty acids. Because of this, you always want some fat on your body. The key to having enough, but not too much, is body fat analysis.
BMI v. Body Fat: What’s Important?
You might remember your doctor or school nurse talking to you about BMI, or body mass index. Long touted as the standard for assessing health risk, BMI uses your height and weight to tell you whether you’re overweight or not. Here’s the formula:
BMI = Weight (kg) / Height² (m)
That’s it – just height and weight! No measurement of muscle mass, body fat, where you carry your weight or any other standard that would assess actual risk of disease and account for genetic differences between body types.
On the BMI chart, most of my fellow trainers would be considered overweight or even obese, based on their weight – because weight alone doesn’t distinguish between muscle and fat. My colleagues have a low body fat percentage with a great deal of muscle, and they weigh heavier on the scale as a result. Similarly, you can be “skinny” in terms of your actual weight while still having a high body fat percentage. You simply cannot determine health from weight alone. This is another reason to ignore the bathroom scale – your weight doesn’t matter as long as your body fat is healthy! So forget about your weight and BMI. Body fat analysis and circumference measurements are the absolute best ways to determine your actual health risk, and I’ll show you how to do both for yourself.
There are a few techniques for measuring body fat, some more expensive than others. To avoid sounding like a textbook, I’m going to skip right to the inexpensive, do-it-yourself methods because, let’s face it, this article is about doing these measurements on your own!
Body Fat Percentage…From Your Scale?
There are two ways to calculate your own body fat percentage. First, you could buy a bioelectrical impedance scale, which works by sending a minor electrical current through your body. This principle is based on the fact that electricity moves more quickly through lean tissue than through fatty tissue. These scales usually have metal plates for you to stand on barefoot (don’t worry, you won’t feel anything!). You can also buy a handheld device instead.
Using Circumference Measurements to Calculate Body Fat
Alternately, you can use circumference measurements to estimate your body fat percentage. The only equipment you will need is a tape measure and a regular scale (your weight is necessary for the calculation).
For Women:
Begin by measuring the following body parts: waist, hips, forearm, and wrist. Next, plug these values into the following equation to determine your lean body mass:
8.987-(0.157*waist)-(0.249*hips)+(0.434*forearm)+(0.318*wrist)+(0.732*weight)
(Tip: You can copy and paste the entire formula into the Google search box to get a quick answer without a calculator – just replace the words with your measurements.)
Subtract this answer (we’ll call it X) from your total weight to get your fat mass.
Body Fat Mass = Weight – X
Now divide your body fat mass by your weight to get body fat percentage.
Body Fat % = (Body Fat Mass/Weight)*100
Example: Sarah is 20 years old and weighs 130 lbs. Her waist is 28 inches, hips are 36 inches, forearm is 8 inches, and wrist is 5.5 inches. Her formula looks like this:
8.987-(0.157*28)-(0.249*36)+(0.434*8)+(0.318*5.5)+(0.732*130)
Sarah’s lean body mass is 96 lbs.
130 lbs – 96 lbs = 34 lbs
Sarah’s body fat mass is 34 lbs.
(34 lbs/130 lbs)*100 = 26% body fat
For Men:
This formula is slightly less complicated, since all you need is your weight and waist measurement. Next, plug these values into the following equation to determine your lean body mass:
(1.082*weight)-(4.15*waist)+94.42
(Again, you can copy and paste the entire formula into the Google search box to get a quick answer without a calculator – just replace the words with your measurements.)
Subtract this answer (we’ll call it X) from your total weight to get your fat mass.
Body Fat Mass = Weight – X
Now divide your body fat mass by your weight to get body fat percentage.
Body Fat % = (Body Fat Mass/Weight)*100
The results for either of these methods are, of course, not as accurate as more expensive techniques. However, for weight loss purposes all you really need is an idea of your progress over time (for example, you lost 5% body fat in the last 5 months). It doesn’t matter whether that percentage is slightly off or not – you still have evidence of your progress.
What Do Your Numbers Mean?
Now that you have your body fat percentage, let’s put it into context. Body fat ideals vary by age and gender, so I’ve included the following chart to help you analyze your results. What category do you fall into? Remember, these are starting numbers – it’s going to get better from here!
Recommended Body Fat Percentages for Women:
Recommended Body Fat Percentages for Men:
Tables adapted from ACSM’s Health-Related Physical Fitness Assessment Manual, 2nd Ed. 2008
Staying Positive
As you know, weight loss takes time and effort to achieve. That is why these baseline measurements are so important – they paint a surprisingly accurate picture of your progress through every step of this journey. I know some of these numbers can be scary to look at, but that’s why I’m giving you ways to measure them for yourself, in the privacy of your own home. There’s no need to have someone else take these readings for you, and you don’t have to spend a lot of money to see the results. You can start today, on your own, and make the commitment to yourself that you’re going to change your body.
Tracking Your Progress
My advice is to re-take these measurements every 6-8 weeks (about the same time you would update your workout program). This gives your body enough time to produce measurable changes. You can, of course, measure whenever you want, just don’t get discouraged if you don’t see a change after only one week. Be realistic with yourself!
Looking Beyond the Scale
And lastly, please remember that your weight is secondary to all the positive changes you’re making to your body. Reducing your waist-to-hip ratio and body fat percentage will lower your risk of disease…and your weight will follow in time. In fact, my advice is to weigh yourself once – only once! – when you first start a new program. Then walk away from the scale. Hide it if you need too! I know too many clients who become obsessed with weighing themselves every day (sometimes more than once a day). These are also the same people who get discouraged just a few weeks into their new routine because they don’t realize that the secret to seeing results is to look beyond the scale. You will see more dramatic results in less time by tracking your circumference measurements and body fat percentage, rather than your weight.
So hide the scale and keep up the great work!
September 16, 2009
I recently posted about the secret to seeing weight loss results - particularly the significance of body composition measurements (such as body fat and circumference readings) on assessing your progress. Nothing works better to motivate you than visual confirmation of all your hard work!
Measuring Your Progress (Literally)
A circumference reading is possibly the easiest and least expensive method for assessing body composition. And it is exactly what it sounds like: a tape measurement reading of particular areas of your body, taking the circumference of the body part being measured. Common areas of measurement include the waist, hips, chest, arms, and thighs.
As you progress through your weight loss program, you will be losing inches on different areas of your body – and trust me, you’ll want a way to track these changes. In fact, I take circumference readings on my clients every 6-8 weeks in the beginning. I often find they’ve lost several inches long before they see a change in body fat or weight!
Equipment Needed
Although the principle behind these measurements is simple, there are some particulars that I want to review – especially if you’ll be doing this for yourself at home. To start, you’ll need a non-elastic cloth or fiberglass tape measure, something bendable like what you’d use for sewing. When you are measuring, make sure not to pull the tape too tight – you want it taut enough to stay in position without causing any indentation of the skin. So no cheating to get smaller numbers! You want to be as accurate as you can to really track your progress effectively.
Where to Measure
To ensure the accuracy of your readings, you should also associate anatomical landmarks with each reading (like taking your abdominal circumference at the level of your belly button). This practice keeps your recordings consistent and reduces the chance for error. The list below contains specific measurements and their landmarks.
Circumference Locations & Landmarks
Waist: the narrowest point between the bottom of your rib cage and the top of your hip bones
Hips: with your feet together, the point where your butt sticks out the most (not our favorite measurement, I know…)
Abdominal: at the level of your belly button
Chest: the very center of your chest, across the nipple line (without a padded bra ladies!)
Upper Arm: with your arm extended, you want to measure the largest part of your upper arm (the belly of the muscles)
Forearm: with your arm extended, the largest part of the lower arm (usually right below the elbow)
Wrist: with your arm extended, the narrowest point above your hand
Thigh: stand with one leg in front of the other, measure the front leg at the largest part of the thigh (again, the belly of the muscle)
Calf: measure the front leg at the largest part of the calf (the lower portion of the leg)
The important thing is to take your measurements in the same place every few months. So make notes if you decide to measure elsewhere, so you’ll remember to do the same later on. For example, perhaps you have a birthmark on your upper thigh and you decide to measure at that level. It’s perfectly fine to do this – you’ll be losing weight across your whole body so all of these measurements (and more!) will work to track changes. Whatever you decide, just be consistent.
Since everyone has a different body size and shape, I don’t have a list of “right” or “wrong” numbers for circumference measurements. A thirty-six inch waist might be small for you, but would be large for someone else. This is another reason accuracy is important – your previous readings are all you have to compare to!
Determining Your Waist-to-Hip Ratio
This being said, you can use your measurements to determine your risk for abdominal obesity and heart disease. To do this, divide your waist measurement (this one is above your belly button, at the narrowest point) by your hip circumference. This figure is your Waist-to-Hip Ratio. For women, this figure should be less than 0.80. For men, less than 1.0. Values above these indicate a greater health risk for type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and other conditions associated with being overweight. As you can see, this ratio is something you really want to keep low.
Seeing Results from the Beginning
 Circumference measurements alone are a great way to see results from the beginning. As you lose weight, gain muscle, and change the shape of your body, your circumference measurements will reflect every change, whether it’s three centimeters or three inches. If you’re going to be tracking your progress for yourself at home, then circumference measurements are really all you need – no expensive equipment required. You’ll get an overview of the changes taking place across your body and see results all along the way. I would recommend taking a set of initial measurements and then re-measuring every 6-8 weeks.
In addition, there are some cost-effective ways to determine your body fat percentage and to calculate some realistic weight loss goals. You can even use the circumference measurements you just took to do so – no extra equipment required! For more on body fat percentage and the difference between body fat and BMI, continue reading here.
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