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Fitness Accessment

We are all able; we only need to know what the best is for us.

Before starting any fitness activity, it is important to ask the question: Am I fit? There are many complex and expensive ways to find out if you are fit, but there are also simple and FREE ways. Consider the following indicators to find out how fit you are:

• You can climb up a couple of flights of stairs easily.
• You can walk a mile without major efforts and pains.
• You can talk while doing a moderate exercise.
• You are able to walk the dog without feeling exhausted afterwards.
• You can work lightly in the garden for a couple of hours and feel good afterwards.

Then, the next step is choosing the right exercises. It is not as simple as you might think, but it is not as complex either. First you need to know what your goals are. If you want to get fit, the best exercise program combines the five types of exercises: strength, aerobics, balance, flexibility, and core stability. At the same time you must ask yourself if these are the best exercises for you. So, access yourself by asking the following questions:

• What are my real goals in exercising?
• Which exercises will help me achieve them?
• Do I enjoy any of these exercises?
• What are my limitations?
• Which exercises can I do?
• Do I do to practice exercise alone or socially?
• What is the time that I like to exercise?
• Am I am an outdoors or indoors person?
• Do I like the gym environment?
• Do I own the equipment?
• Am I comfortable in the water?
• Do I like the cold?
• Do I prefer hot?

Doing fitness assessment is very important otherwise you could harm more your body by doing an exercise that is not really fit for you. For example, people concerned with joint health or with joint problem should focus on exercises that are easier on their joints. They should be concerned with the exercises that are moderate and hard on their joints. But again, it all depends where your joint problem is. For someone with a shoulder joint problem, the rowing is probably not a good idea. Just be aware what makes you feel good.

Source: Editorial Staff, August 2007
Last update, July 2008