Fitness Assessment

The Basics

• Understand what you need to do to get fitter
• Tailor made training programme

Assessment

Whether you are a regular gym user or exercise newbie, having a fitness assessment can help you understand your body, and set yourself realistic, personal targets.

Understand your body

There are many things that make you healthy and fit, it's not all about fat! This comprehensive assessment looks at the following components of health and fitness in relation to what is healthy and fit for you.

• Blood Pressure
• Hand Grip
• Height and Weight
• Resting Heart Rate and Recovery Rate
• Fat Composition
• Lung and Aerobic Capacity  
• Postural Endurance
• Flexibility
• Waist to Hip Ratio
• Lifestyle Analysis

Take the time

The assessment takes about 90 minutes after which your Fitness Adviser will create a specific programme for you.

Your tailor made fitness programme is yours to keep, all our staff are trained professionals and gym staff and are always on hand to help.

If you'd like to book an appointment just pop into reception at the Greenhouse 2 or Manor Road centres.

Component Descriptions

Aerobic Capacity

Sometimes called VO²  max, this is all about how much oxygen you are able to use while exercising. The higher intensity your workout, the more oxygen you need.

Blood Pressure

As blood travels around your body it pushes against blood vessel walls. Having higher blood pressure means that your body is working harder to circulate blood, adding more and more strain to your arteries and eventually your heart.

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Fat Composition

This is the amount of fat in your body. From babies to Olympic athletes, everyone needs Essential Fat, this is a percentage of fat necessary to keep you healthy and functioning. The table below shows you the typical percentages of fat in men and women.

The percentages for women are higher due to needing more fat for hormonal and childbearing purposes. This chart is a rough guide for fat percentages in adult men and women. Children, young people and the elderly will have varied percentages.

Flexibility

The range of movement in a joint or series of joints and also the length of the muscles that interact with these joints.

Hand Grip

The strength applied by your hands when pulling and lifiting things, suspending your body as well as bracing yourself.

Lifestyle Analysis

Taking a look at things in your life that may be affecting your health and fitness. This ranges from diet, smoking and alcohol consumption to sleep problems, energy levels and stress.

Postural Endurance

Bad posture can lead to excessive stress on your body, postural endurance is about maintaining good posture. Good posture relieves tension from your muscles and joints, and encourages better circulation of blood around the body and organs.

Recovery Rate

This is purely a test of how long it takes your heart rate to return to normal after exercise. Generally, the quicker it takes your heart to recover the fitter you are.

Resting Heart Rate

This is how fast your heart beats when you are at rest. When you are sitting down and lying down (but not sleeping) for example.

Typically speaking, the lower your resting heart rate is, the healthier you are.

Waist to Hip Ratio

This is said to be one of the most important physical indicators of health. People who carry more weight around their waist (apple shapes) are said to have higher health risks, over those who carry more weight on their hips (pear shapes). For more information, see our Waist to hip ratio wellbeing page.

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