Fitness Assessments-- How Fit Are YOU?

So how fit are you?  How fit do you want to be?  How will you know when you are fit enough?

Fortunately, the experts have come up with ways to gauge fitness in several tests.  Each focuses on different areas of focus.  Using some or all of them will give you interesting information on your fitness level.  The ones I feature below are a good cross-section of tests available.  Look online to find more.

Fitness focal points show different things.  Aerobic fitness indicates your 'wind' or stamina during exercise.  Muscle endurance shows how well your muscles recover after exercise.  Muscle strength measures how strong they are.  Body Mass Index shows our body composition, crudely, but it helps.  Flexibility, usually overlooked, measures your range of motion.  This will indicate whether you will be prone to injury.  And a fun one-- Lifestyle-- shows how well you will age based on your current lifestyle choices. 

Cautions:  Don’t take these tests if you are on a drug that prevents your heart rate from rising.  Stop immediately and seek medical attention if you feel pain, skipped heartbeats, excessive weakness or fatigue, dizziness, nausea, faintness, light-headedness, or persistent pain or pressure in you chest, shoulder, arm, neck or jaw.  

Let's examine these fitness tests and how they are administered.  

Aerobic Fitness Test—The One Mile Walk 

(Reader's Digest, Live Longer, Live Better, 1995. pp 96-101.)

                

              Designed for healthy adults, this test involves walking a mile as fast as you can without straining.  Find a flat, measured course—a track is ideal.  Use a stopwatch to record your time.    Women’s ratings:

Excellent	Less than 13:10
Good	13:10-14:40
High Average	14:40-16:20
Low Average	16:10-17:35
Fair	17:35-19:05
Poor	More than 19:05

Muscle Endurance—The Step Test
(Reader's Digest, Live Longer, Live Better, 1995. pp 96-101.)

               Using a sturdy step or box 12 inches high, step up, up and down, down, 24 times a minute for 3 minutes.  Take your pulse for one minute to determine your heart’s response and speed of recovery right after undergoing this endurance exercise.  Women’s ratings:

Grade	Age 30-39	Age 40-49	Age 50-59	Age 60-69
Excellent	77 or less	79 or less	85 or less	89 or less
Good	78-99	80-100	86-105	90-108
Average	100-109	101-112	106-115	109-118
Fair to Poor	110-126	113-126	116-131	119-131

Muscle Strength—Sit ups and Push ups
(Reader's Digest, Live Longer, Live Better, 1995. pp 96-101.)

                Using proper form, count how many sit ups and push ups you can do in one minute.  Reasonably good condition—can do 15 to 20 (each) sit ups and push ups.

Body Composition—Body Mass Indicators  (CDC.com)

               BMI=     Weight in pounds                            x  703

(Height inches)x (Height inches)

< 18.5	Underweight
18.5-24.9	Normal
25.0-29.9	Overweight
30.0 +	Obese

    

 

 

Flexibility—Reaches

               Sit and reach—stretch your arms slowly forward, do not bounce or strain.  If you can reach 6 inches past your feet—excellent; touch your feet—very good; fall short of feet by 1-6 inches—average; by more than 6 inches—below average.

               Hands across the back—place one hand behind your neck.  Put the other with the palm facing outward behind your back.  Try to connect the fingers of both hands.  Switch hands and try again.  Rate yourself as follows:  hands clasped—excellent; fingers touching—good; 1-3 inches apart—average; several inches apart—fair to poor.

Lifestyle Questionnaire—Real age Calculator

Oprah Winfrey posted a quiz to determine what your 'real age' is.  Real Age Calculator 

Want to track your progress in improving these assessments?  I have a dandy chart to do just that.  Print it out on card stock and measure these monthly to see how your exercise program is doing.  Your numbers should improve steadily.  

We all want to dance into our retirement years, not roll in within a wheelchair.  Let's do what we need to do to improve our health and fitness, and then maintain it at the level we want. 

Photo courtesy of microsoft.com

 

An Apology From Weight Loss Specialist Iris Higgins

A weight loss specialist Iris Higgins apologizes for putting women on low-calorie diets that potentially harm their health.  Iris asserts that women of all sizes are beautiful.  She makes some interesting statements in her apology:

"I am sorry because many of you walked in healthy and walked out with disordered eating, disordered body image, and the feeling that you were a "failure." None of you ever failed. Ever. I failed you. The weight loss company failed you. Our society is failing you."

I encourage all women concerned about health and fitness to read this, so as to avoid the trap of 'dieting.'  We need to eat the right foods and exercise, not diet.  Reading this apology will help reenforce this determination.

Apology

Photo courtesy of Iris' blog 'Your Fairy Angel'

The Value of Vitamins

An article in my husbands' scientific journal caught my eye a few years ago.  I clipped it for future reference and it hasn't disappointed me.  Dr. Ames is the man who developed the test (called the Ames test) that determines how carcinogenic a food is.  He says that the 'real culprit of most causes of cancer and diseases of aging is adequate intake of several dozen key micronutrients.'  In other words, it's malnutrition!

He makes several interesting statements:

"Obese people are actually starving-- starving for nutrients." 

[Before modern medicine,] "the kids whose moms didn't tell them to eat broccoli were selected out."  (ie:  They didn't live through childhood.)

"All the low-hanging fruit in disease prevention is in nutrition." 

"Vitamins and minerals are dirt cheap." 

I tried to link to the original article in Chemical and Engineering News, but it is a member-only site and won't give me access.  So I am posting a scan of the original article.  It is a valuable read.

Relief Society President Extolls Virtues of Word of Wisdom in Healthy Lifestyle

Back in 1978, Barbara B. Smith, President of the Relief Society, spoke about the merits of abiding by the Word of Wisdom in her talk, "Good Health-- A Key to Joyous Living."  To read the whole talk, click here:  Good Health-- A Key to Joyous Living

She outlines some of the benefits of living the Word of Wisdom, adding that exercise and other good habits will give us the good health we want.  She even encourages going to bed early and arising early, citing scriptures. Her suggestions are valid and applicable today if we are to avoid extremes in current fad diets.   She concludes with the following statement:

"Our physical health goals should be---
1.  To obey the Word of Wisdom;
2.  To maintain proper weight and endurance through regular exercise, adequate rest, and a balanced diet;
3.  To improve or maintain personal and home sanitation;
4.  To practice preventative measures to preserve good health;
5.  To learn and practice home health skills.
May the application of these principles help each of us live joyously..."

Although this talk was given decades ago, it is sound advice.  We can all do this and improve our health.  It may take some time to adapt, but we can do it.

Barbara lived to be 88 years old.  Certainly she set a good example for us all and lived her own advice.

Photo courtesy of Deseret News.

God's Codes of Health

With all the fad diets and crazy eating plans out there, I remembered a lesson I heard in church once outlining God’s code of health in Biblical times.  Is there such a thing?  Yes!  Our Heavenly Father tells his children what to eat and what not to eat by describing things as ‘clean’ or ‘unclean.’  

In Leviticus, God outlined the do’s and don’t’s of eating to his prophet Moses.  These guidelines were meant to keep His people healthy, not as punishment or just to control them.  When one looks at them closely, one can see the wisdom there.  Remember that there was no refrigeration then, so meat was particularly prone to spoilage.  Note that He said that these were all to be followed in perpetuity, so they should be taught to each generation through time.  Hence we see some communities who still practice these directions.  

Leviticus 3:17—No fat or blood.  I can imagine that blood would spoil particularly quickly, and who knows what might make one ill within that. 

Leviticus 10:9—No wine or strong drink.  Context implies that the purpose here was to prevent poor judgment due to drunkenness. 

Leviticus 11—Eat meat from animals that parteth the hoof, clovenfooted and cheweth the cud, except the camel, coney, hare, swine.  Eat fish with fins and scales.  Don’t eat things without fins and scales.  Eat fowl with a long list of exceptions.  Creeping things are to be avoided. 

Carcasses of every animal forbidden should also be untouched.  And any animal that died should not be eaten, only fresh meat.  Specific instructions are given on how to clean oneself and clothing if one touches carcasses. 

Leviticus 12-15—Teaches how to manage serious illnesses to keep them from spreading through the community.  

It’s clear that our Heavenly Father loves His children and wants them to be healthy and happy.  He gave these directions for the good of all who lived on the earth.  He knew that people already ate beans, grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts and other foods in season.  Add to that clean diet some proper meats and it’s a healthy diet.

Is there an update to this?  Now that we have refrigeration, recreational drugs, fast food and genetically modified foods, what do we do?  

There is an update!  It’s called ‘The Word of Wisdom.’  It is part of a revelation to a prophet in the 1800’s, just like the biblical times.  Read it here:  Word of Wisdom

Here, God tells us that ‘in consequence of conspiring men with evil designs’ we need new guidance.  That’s pretty descriptive of parts of the food industry and drug lords, eh?  

Here’s a general breakdown of what Heavenly Father recommends for the modern world:

No wine or strong drink, tobacco or hot drinks.  Later clarification showed that to include tea, coffee and recreational drugs.  There’s been a lot of discussion about caffeinated drinks—that hasn’t been firmly clarified, but many followers avoid them because of their similar addictive properties.

Herbs (vegetables) are good in season.

Eat any meat sparingly, in times of famine or cold. 

All grain is good.

Note the absence of mention of dairy products, refined flour, processed foods and sugar laden foods.  I take that to mean that God wants us to apply these basic guidelines using our good judgment.  One might consider that God means grains as they come out of the ground, or whole grains.  He doesn’t say to strip them of their vitamins and minerals first.  And He doesn’t say to add sugar and preservatives to everything either.  

Again we can see the wisdom in this.  After the no's, the do's are in order of vegetables first, small amounts of meat and grains.  If we take that to mean most important, we should be eating primarily vegetables and fruits, with meat for flavoring and grains accompanying.  

Back to the Word of Wisdom, God promises many great blessings to those who would follow this counsel along with keeping His commandments:

Health in their navel and marrow to their bones,
Wisdom and knowledge, even hidden treasures
Shall run and not be weary and walk and not faint
The destroying angel shall pass by them as the children of Israel and not slay them.

These are pretty awesome promises, blessings that I want for me and my family.  As an ongoing project, I look for recipes that reflect this way of eating.  With our family favorite recipes, I adapt them to fit these guidelines better.  I will be posting these adaptations as time permits.  Hopefully this will lead to better health and fitness for me and my family.

Photo courtesy of mormoninfo.org

Starting With A Commitment to Better Health and Fitness

For several years I have researched nutrition in relation with the Standard American Diet (SAD.)  I have watched horrific documentaries outlining the poor nutrition found within SAD.  I have downloaded e-books with more detail than I could really grasp.  I have read dozens of books written by scientists, nutritionists, therapists, personal trainers, and even talk show hosts.  And I have read pages and pages worth of information on blogs, websites and the like.  While all may differ in the minutia, all agree that the SAD is creating an unhealthy and unfit populace.  And that is probably an understatement. 

Armed with this information, and finally secure in my own approach, I want to share what I've learned and the recipes I have adapted that will allow me to feed my family healthy food.  And I'll share any other tips I can related to becoming fit.  I'll have to tap into my personal trainer hubby for his insights. 

It's not easy to take a stand against the SAD.  We are living in a world flooded with the foods that hurt us.  I say that as if all of the stuff in food packaging is even worthy of the title 'food.'  Much of it is edible garbage, stuff that our bodies can't even digest.  And if we take a bite of it at a company party or church social, we seem to crave it for days.

I smile when I remember the scene in 'Parental Guidance' when Arty (Billy Crystal) buys an ice cream cake for his organically-raised grandkids.  Pre-Teen granddaughter Harper takes a bite and becomes so excited by the sugar rush that she climbs up onto the counter and eats it by the handfuls.  Her two brothers have already lost control and are covered in the gooey mess, running through the kitchen wildly.  Harper yells at her mother in anger, "You lied to me!  Yogurt does not taste like ice cream!"  She's right.  There is no comparison.  She's never had a sugar buzz like that before on yogurt. 


How do live in a world craving tasty but empty calories which leave us without energy or desire to exercise? 

We can learn to love whole nutritious foods so that it is easy to pass up the junk food in the SAD.  We can learn to love the feeling of our healthy bodies moving and exercising. 

Diagram from organikrecords.com