My fitness assessment results are in!
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I mentioned previously that I had booked in for a fitness assessment. Well, today was the fateful day.
It started off fairly innocuously as the instructor was late. So the first ten minutes of my test were spent sitting down. Average heartrate 54 bpm.
Once he arrived, we then had to climb 4 flights of stairs up to the testing room. Average heartrate 100 bpm. Much to my disappointment that was not part of the test.
We then sat down and he explained what he was going to measure and asked for a bit of my history etc. He was absolutely floored when I told him I had already lost 81 pounds. He said he’d seen me in the gym before and never would have guessed I’d lost that much weight.
The first thing that he tested was my blood pressure. This came in as 120/80 which is in the high end of the normal range apparently.
The next test was the one I was dreading. The body fat test. He started off by telling me that over 25% was obese and that he’d never had anyone go that high before. I immediately thought oh shit I’m going to be the first. He asked me if I had any idea of what my rating was and I told him by scale says about 22-24 depending on which way the wind is blowing. He measured me up and the rating came in at 18.9% which I was sure was a mistake so he did it again and got the same. Friggin hell that’s in the normal range for men! Now I still think he’s off by a hell of a lot a bit but hey, he’s the expert not me. 
I also got my waist to hip ratio done and that was in the normal range as well. The dreaded BMI was computed and as expected it came in as overweight.
The next test was for estimated VO2 max and it involved cycling while he took some measurements of my heart rate and adjusted knobs and buttons to make it harder. My estimated VO2 max is 50 which he said was ok.
I then had to do the strength tests. The first of these was to do as many pushups in a row as I could. I did 25 as I knew I could do 25 then piked out. I should have done a few more but oh well. Once more he said that my effort was in the fair to good range for my age group. The next test was the sit up test. For this one I had to do as many sit ups as I could in 1 minute. I got to 40 which rates as good but I’m going to do a voluntary downgrade to fair as I’m fairly sure that the last few weren’t quite up to form.
I also had to do some flexibility tests which I aced. There were 3 sets, a touching the hands behind the back, one arm from above, one from below. I surprised myself when I did that one I’ll tell you. Then there was a hamstring test which was fine. And last but not least the old touch the toes test. I’ve been able to touch my toes ever since I started doing squats. Squats are great for improving your flexibility I reckon. Everyone should do them.
I must admit I was quite surprised by my results. I appear to be a lot fitter than I thought I was. The trainer said I should work more on my strength as my cardio fitness is good. I won’t quite change the name of my blog to Andrew is fit yet however. I still have a significant amount of weight to lose from around my stomach area. But it does appear that I am no longer unfit which is something to celebrate. 
I think the next test that I will do will be the beep test. I’ve never done one of these and I’m told they are quite tough.
What an awesome set of results! I for one, will be quite interested in your beep test results (though just a hint, don’t go out drinking the night before, and don’t do RPM and Body Jam back to back right before it like I did!)
How did he measure your body fat? Mine’s been coming in at mid-high 40 percents and I’m wondering whether I can be sceptical or take these figures as accurate.
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Well done!
Maybe I should go get the test done, too. So I can get some advise on what to work on. (rather than getting confirmation - yes you are fit, like someone else, eh! :P)
Marshmellow: Women naturally have higher body fat% I thought?
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Sally - you better watch where you’re putting that e.
I know that women tend to have a higher body fat, but nearing the 50% range?
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That’s remarkable! You must be so pleased.
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I am indeed.
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Great result on your fitness test, keep up the good work.
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Thanks Rob.
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Marshmallow: Oops… Maybe you can get a 2nd opinion from somewhere else?
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Congrats on the great results!
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Thanks Chief Wahoo.
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Awesome results, Andrew! You must feel so rewarded having your hard work pay off in such a great way!
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Thanks Cammy. I do find it very motivating when the results are there.
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Fantastic results! I wish my gym did the analyses like the beep test and whatnot…they seem like they’d *almost* be fun
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*Almost* - I know exactly what you mean!
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Super results!
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Thanks Cynthia.
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Out of interest, how many sites was the body fat test, i.e. how many measurements did he take?
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Great results, Andrew! I’d say you’re pretty fit.
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Chami: He took 6 measurements, tricep, back, belly button area, hip, thigh, and upper chest. I still think he was a bit off somewhere as my measurements at home (I’ve got an accufitness caliper and a bodyfat scale) reckon I’m about 22-23% bf.
Jeff: Thank you very much. I’m slowly getting there I think.
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Hmm.. Bodyfat scales are notoriously inaccurate.. The Callipers are reasonably ok, but you need to take at least 7-12 measurements. 6 is prob a bit too low.. The only thing it can’t measure is subcutaneous fat (around the organs).
The best method is DEXA Total Body Composition Testing, where they stick u in something that looks like an Oxygen chamber and measure your density (or something). But those are expensive.
Since u got the Callipers, get Sally to take 12 readings.. I’ll email u some info..
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Those results are top notch! Interesting that you’re in the healthy range for body fat, yet in the overweight category for BMI. Maybe you have some muscle that’s pushing you up higher? Or as you suggested it may not have been an accurate reading, but you’d assume he knew what he was doing right?
WD on the VO2 Max as well, that’s a darn good result!
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