Hi all,
Frustratingly (for me, GP, at least), the Body Mass Index (BMI) appears to be the most commonly used measure of health and fitness. It should be remembered, the BMI is only a unit of measure of body weight in relation to height, which is only one factor to consider when measuring someones health - it does not necessarily identify a healthy individual. However, this is not the reason for my frustration. My main frustration is the fact that many (but not ALL) health, fitness and medical "professionals" do not factor body composition into the equation and provide the client with a FALSE reading. Many of the people I work with are athletes and therefore many of them carry a greater muscle mass, but it would be wrong to categorize a muscular frame as overweight or obese when they clearly are not. In these instances, a body fat percentage test would be a far fairer unit of measure to identify their health status (amongst other tests). Again, a body fat percentage test should be performed which does not factor height and weight into its calculations. In the absence of expensive testing equipment, a 4 site caliper test is a sensible body fat percentage test.
Please find the BMI formula and reference chart below:Weight (kg) / Height2 (metres) = BMI ScoreExample: 85kg divide (1.80m x 1.80m) = BMI Score of 26.2 - Overweight (Grade 1 Obesity)
I hope you find this information useful!
All the best,
GP
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Many fitness tests have been created as a unit of measure for various fitness categories, such as general fitness, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition.
Fitness tests are only as accurate as you make them, so reading instructions carefully, and performing them often, should bring more accurate results.
Although fitness tests are only likely to highlight what you already suspect - a bodybuilder achieving "excellent" muscular strength test results, or a marathon runner displaying an "excellent" score for their aerobic fitness tests - it can be used for trend analysis, which can identify progression or decline and might, in turn, alter the way you train/ or you train your client. Also, it'd be ignorant to assume you've taken all factors into account, although unlikely, sometimes the test results can throw up a surprise, such as a powerlifter with poor grip strength or an outwardly healthy individual with high blood pressure. If you're performing fitness tests on a client for the first time, you should have their full approval and a completed PAR-Q (health questionnaire) that you're happy with. Please visit the www.gymprofessor.com website for further information about PAR-Q’s. If you're working with a deconditioned (not “fit”) individual, as a matter of course, they should see their Doctor beforehand and, thereafter, it would be prudent to perform the static fitness assessments (measuring general fitness) first.
Please visit the Gym Professor website for more information on the following:
Static Fitness Tests (measuring general fitness - good health & well-being).
Dynamic Fitness Tests (aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility).
Until next time,
GP ---
