Saturday, February 04, 2006

Fitness Test

I took a fitness test (for the fun of it) a few Fridays ago... here's my analysis of it :)

Took my height and weight (and suspect something is wrong with the machine). I turned out much taller and much heavier than I had known myself to be. Darn..time to shed some weight.

I was asked to lie down on a mat while he stuck a sticky pad to my left hand and leg. It was a body fat analysis test which at the same time, magically tells you your blood pressure, resting heard rate, lean muscle weight, fat weight, water content. I also think something is wrong with the machine also. My RHR is way too high (its higher than when I first started exercising 5 years ago!!) and body fat way too low, which indirectly means all other weight measurements are probably "wrong".

Then I did a sit and reach test. The sit and reach test is for testing your flexibility. But in reality, it only tests for flexibility in your hamstring and lower back. I passed with flying colours.

The step test was next. I was given a step board and asked to step up and down for 3 minutes. Rate of stepping, up to you. In my mind I thought, if you step slower, you work less, you step faster, you work more isn't it? And if you work harder, you probably have your heart beat faster. Anyway, your recovery heart rate was then taken. How fast your heart recovers is an indication of your cardiovascular fitness. I did badly in the test actually... :P But while the step frequency wasn't monitored, I was also talking to the tester! Haha. This is a very simple test that you cannot underestimate. Seems like a simple exercise, but your heart rate can really soar by doing it!

"Strength" test is next. The push up test. It may be for "strength" but its quite "endurance" actually. Ladies do it on knees. I managed quite well simply because this is something that is done quite often after the combat classes for conditioning.

Finally, came the sit up test. It's a full sit up. Actually, has anyone ever told you that the sit up is a bad exercise to perform? Simply because it adds unnecessary strain on your lower back. Still I managed with fair performance. This is the first time I'm doing sit ups every since leaving school more than 10 years ago! This exercise is supposed to test your endurance (in this case, abdominal endurance). But if you really ask me, doing a sit up with someone pressing on your feet, you don't really use yours abs a lot.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 2:52 AM with 1 comments