"You brought a snack to your body fat assessment?!"

Saturday, April 9, 2011

I’ve been spending a lot of time in the office putting together all the information I need to upgrade my fitness test. Since graduating from school, I’ve been conducting my fitness evaluations using the test developed by Dr. Jim Klinzing of Cleveland State. We used it during our graduate program to access ourselves and design a complete exercise program to address all of the components of a complete fitness program, which we had to follow for 10 weeks. We were retested at the end of the class to determine how solid our program was…and how well we’d followed it. I was training for the Iron Man Triathlon at the time and figured I was in outstanding shape and didn’t need any improvement. I did pretty well, but discovered that I had weaknesses and was able to improve them all during the 10-week period.

Upon graduating, I asked Doc if I could borrow the test and use it in trying to find a job with a health club. “Go for it, John. I think you’ll find few clubs doing any testing, which is a big mistake. How can anyone know where they’re going if they don’t know where they are?” I brought the test information with me to an appointment I’d scheduled with Tony Martin, CEO for American Courts/The Back Wall and he hired me on. I set up shop in two of the clubs and was so busy that we quickly hired more Fitness Directors and were eventually offering the service in all 10 clubs.

That test has served me well, but had some shortcomings. First…it wasn’t completely mobile. It included evaluations for muscular endurance which I performed using a bench press and leg extension weight lifting machines. I also conducted a step test using a box 16 inches tall, which I have found to be difficult to handle for people in the worst condition…the ones who need the most help.

I’ve made some moves to redesign the test and have incorporated push-ups, curl-ups, and the YMCA 3-minute step test, which is performed on a 12-inch step box. This has necessitated the redesign of the unique point scoring system Don Alexander and I developed as a way to ‘score’ the test and give participants something concrete to help them understand how they’d performed and upon which they could improve. To do that effectively though, I need data…people willing to be evaluated.

“Hey Holly…how about taking the fitness test. I’ve got some new things I’d like to try out,” I said. Holly has done the test before and has had her body fat measured often. She’s way out of shape for her right now and I know she really wants a kick start to get moving in a positive direction. Testing her now…when she’s at her worst should motivate her to do more…or so the theory goes. “Okay…give me ten minutes to get myself ready.”

I started with the step test, and although she’s gained some weight since we did it last, she still performed in the ‘above average’ category with a 1-minute post-stepping heart rate of 104 beats. She has an amazing cardiovascular system, but has never been interested in the kind of endurance sports in which she would likely excel. I want to stay married and just leave it alone. Next, we did the flexibility and she reached 3 inches past her toes…a little below average. We tried the curl-ups, a form of a crunch, which bothered her neck until I allowed her to put her hands behind her head with fingers locked (not protocol, but you have to know how to adapt in the field). We were going to take her body fat, but she decided to take a break first and ran to check her email. When she returned to my office, she was carrying a handful of peanuts.

“I think I’ve got an idea why you’ve gained some weight. I’ve done thousands of these things and you’re the first person to ever bring a snack to a body fat assessment,” I said. She thought that was pretty funny…a good thing because criticizing your wife during fitness tests you’re administering could easily create issues. When I tried to do the skin fold measurement next to her naval, she started to whine. “Hey…that hurts,” she said wiggling and pulling away. “Seriously? Are you the same woman I watched give birth to four children without any drugs? Now…knock it off so I can get this reading.” It took me a couple of tries, but I finally got her to deal with the pain…which is really non-existent.

We finished the tests and I reviewed the results. She wasn’t too pleased, but I think she’s motivated to really try something new…and stick with it. I’m going to try and develop a training regimen she will enjoy…which greatly increases the likelihood of sticking with it. “When can I do a retest to see if it’s working?” she asked…which is just the right question. I told her probably 6 weeks could show so major changes…if she got serious.

I went out for a ride in the late afternoon. John was coming the next day for a long ride and I felt I had to know how the knee was doing. I pushed hard on my Waite Hill course and after 80 minutes of riding, felt pretty good. The knee did hurt whenever I found myself working hard…as in hill climbing, but was pretty solid for the rest of the evening. I’m concerned about running next Saturday, though. I’ll do the kayaking first and was thinking of heading right into the run before the ride. If I hurt the knee running…the ride’s out and I don’t want that to happen. Getting old is such a bitch…

Bike duration: 80 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 130 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 1200.