Taking Tests – Live In Fitness
Taking tests is something we all love to do. We love to stay up all night, drinking coffee and energy drinks until our hands shake uncontrollably, and the screen or page we’ve been staring at becomes blurry and illegible. We love knowing that, after spending sleepless hours intensely studying a subject, that we probably don’t find that interesting, we are going to be asked a barrage of difficult questions…questions we had answers to only hours ago, but now can’t seem to remember where we put them. The best part is the desperate feeling when we close the book and put our number two pencils down. That’s the good stuff…knowing you don’t know anything except that you’re going to be judged (and poorly) and compared (not favorably) to others. It doesn’t get any better than that.
If you guessed that last paragraph was sarcastic, you passed. Let’s face it; taking tests is an awful experience, but a necessary awful experience. The only people who enjoy taking them are those who excel at them, but they are definitely the minority. People, as a general rule, do not like to be judged and compared, especially when they don’t feel good about the subject. And when you come to Live In Fitness Retreat, the subject will be you. Don’t freak out yet; there’s good news.
You Will Not Be Judged or Compared
It can be intimidating coming to Live in Fitness. You might feel like that insecure kid who gets shipped off to fat camp. It’s nothing like that.
Yes, we are going to put you through a lot of tests, but those tests are for us to gain information about where you are right now, so that we can get you to where you want to be. We will gather information about your personality, your behavior, your likes and dislikes and your current state of fitness. But rest assured, we are only going to be assessing, not judging or comparing. We’ll have already judged and compared you when you show up—this person has a lot of courage…more courage than the people who refuse to take steps to better themselves.
Showing up is the hardest test…much more intimidating than the tests we give you at Live In Fitness.
Hydrostatic Body Fat Testing
Hydrostatic body fat testing is the most accurate and technologically advanced method available to determine your body fat percentage. We need to make sure that the weight that you are losing is pure fat, and not the lean mass that you lose on most diet programs. By knowing what kind of weight you are losing, we are ensuring that we are helping to speed up your metabolism for the long term and that the inches are dropping off of you more rapidly.
Posture Alignment
Your posture is very important for many exercise plans, but if you have not worked out in a while you may very well have postural problems, often relating to underdeveloped muscles around your spine. Testing your postural alignment can reveal a host of problems, including a stiff or hyper-mobile spine, tight muscles, kyphosis, lordosis, scoliosis, hyper extended joints, and other alignment and movement issues. Once we have evaluated your postural alignment, we can then create an exercise plan to help correct your posture.
RMR System
Your resting metabolic rate determines how quickly you burn calories. We test your RMR when you arrive at the resort, so that we can determine how many grams of protein, carbohydrates and fats you should be consuming in each of your meals from day one. This also helps your coach to implement the correct exercise program to speed up your metabolism as well. Then we’ll keep testing your RMR so that we can adjust your portion sizes as your metabolism changes due to your new healthy lifestyle. This means you always get exactly the calories you need based on how many calories your body is burning.
Real Body Age
Our real body age machine is one of our most important testing devices. Your real body age isn’t the number of years that you’ve been on the planet. It’s a measurement of how at-risk for disease you are, compared to the average person. For example, you could be 35 years old, but just as at risk for a heart attack as a 65-year-old. That would mean that your real body age is 65, not 35. Your real body age is composed of a wide variety of factors that are easily measured by our real body age machine.
V02 Max
Knowing how much oxygen your body can transport and utilize when you exercise is an excellent measurement of your physical fitness, and that’s exactly what the VO2 Max testing system will tell us. This is important because knowing how well you are utilizing oxygen lets us know how strenuously you can exercise and still be safe. The more efficiently your body uses oxygen, the harder you can work out.
Blood Pressure
Your blood pressure determines how strenuously you can work out without putting too much of a strain on your cardiovascular system. Knowing your blood pressure allows us to create workout programs that are safe and effective. During your stay at Live In Fitness, you will develop healthier blood pressure that will allow you to work out harder and burn calories faster, without putting you at risk for heart attack or stroke.
Gait Analysis
How you walk and run can have a dramatic effect on your body and your workout plan. If your gait is off too much, running or related exercises could put you at a heightened risk of injury. We will analyze your gait and design an exercise program that will work for you. If possible, our staff will also try to help you learn how to correct your gait, so you can walk and run in the healthiest way possible.
We perform these tests so that we can tailor your program to your body and your goals. The most difficult test is one question long, and you’re taking it right now:
1. Do I want to lose weight, keep it off, and live a happy, healthy life?
If you answered yes, it’s time to come see us.
