The Fitness Test: You don't have to be fit to take it.........

I do a fitness test with Kay every spring to monitor my overall fitness. It is very inexpensive, especially for YMCA members, and measures four different aspects of your fitness.

 "Now to measure your body fat, we are going to use a calipers," said Kay, "We would use immersion in water which is the most accurate, but we don't want to raise the level of the river!" Grabbing some fat around my waist Kay soon realized that the calipers wouldn't work so she went down and brought up a C-Clamp from maintenance that did the trick.

Actually, Kay was very nice and didn't need to use a C-clamp to measure my fat, although there is definitely room for improvement. That is what the fitness test is all about however, seeing where you are at in different physical aspects and measuring this accurately. This then allows you to plan what areas you need to work on in your individual fitness plan. In addition to the measurement of body fat, which is taken from your waist, back, legs and hip there is a measure of flexibility. This was a weakness for me a year earlier so I have added some stretching and other exercises to my routine and improved a lot. The step test seemed pretty easy and anyone of almost any age could take this. By stepping up on a step and back down and then measuring the change in your heart rate, a measure of aerobic fitness is determined. For men my age, we go downstairs to the weight room and I bench pressed 80 pounds as many times as I could. This is of course adjusted for women and older dogs than me. They do the same thing at the NFL camp for prospective players, only with 225 pounds, so I had to put my pro football aspirations on hold until I get a little stronger.

CRAAAAACK! Kay dove under the desk sure that it was an earthquake, but it was only my back when the task required as many crunches as I could do in a minute. This was the hardest task of the four actually, but since it only lasted a minute, not unmanageable. A crunch is like a mini sit-up and while tiring, is a great measure of abdominal fitness, Often called the core, abdominal fitness is an  important component in many activities at the YMCA. Following a measure of my blood pressure and pulse rate and we were done. The upshot, "Well Old Dog, you are in great shape for a  90 year old."

Any quotes by Kay in this article are purely made-up of course and this yearly test is an important component of my fitness plan. It is not so important that one reaches the excellent level in every category as it is knowing exactly where you are and attempting to keep a balance of these different aspects of fitness. The fitness test is not easy, but it is important to note that it is adjusted to everyone's physical capabilities. There is no reason every member of the YMCA couldn't take it and everyone should.

Next: Now is it the Sliver Slippers or Silver Sneakers?