One of the great things about joining a gym and starting a structured health and fitness programme is that the numbers soon seem to add up. Interestingly, for most people starting to work out, UP is not the only way the numbers go. Some of them come DOWN. If you’re thinking about joining a gym like Bodywise, and want to set some target metrics on your programme, what’s the best way to make a plan and see how your fitness adds-up?
The only way is up
When it comes to strength and endurance it’s remarkable how quickly your numbers go up. If you’re simply doing weight machines within 2 or 3 visits you’ll be quickly increasing the loads you can push or lift in terms of kilos. If you’re doing loose weights in a Small Group Gym Session the same is true. Likewise you’ll find it easier to do more (say push-ups) or for longer (think plank). The world of health and fitness simply loves numbers and as the body toughens up, so does your capacity to do more.
The same is true in the cardio room. Get on the rowing machine three times a week and your time for rowing 500m or a kilometre will quickly start to come down. On the bike you find yourself turning up the resistance. On the treadmill you’ll be increasing your speed and running for longer and further.
Keeping a note of the benchmarks
So the very first day you’re in the gym by yourself, or with a trainer, it’s really good to write down your benchmark metrics. What weight could you manage, how many sets of 12 did you complete, what speed and what incline did you get to on the treadmill? How far did you row in 5 minutes and how much further did you go next time? The absolutely brilliant thing is that every machine and every loose weight is clearly marked – all you need to be able to do is count. (Don’t forget to breathe!).
Improvement is continual and almost never ending
From time to time you may hit a plateau for a week or two, but essentially the more you work the more you can lift or endure. If you get stuck it may be down to technique in which case ask one of the trainers to take a look at you and see what they suggest. Eventually you’ll get towards ‘peak fitness’ for your individual physique and move into ‘maintenance mode’, but generally there’s always one more little step you can push for.
The Bodywise traffic light system
There are metrics other than performance capabilities. Where performance going up shows your improvement, some metrics show how well you’re doing when they start to come down. It’s always good at the start to ask for an assessment. This will measure basic things like weight – which many people want to lose. But, given that building muscle adds weight it’s not that trustworthy a measure. The wonderful thing about the Bodywise scales are that you show other things, some you want to increase, others you want to reduce. These metrics work on a traffic light system – green is fine, blue is too low and red is too high. In all cases The Bodywise philosophy is to work towards getting as many categories in the green zone as possible.
Bone density
Particularly as we get older we lose bone – this is especially true of women where changing hormone levels can lead to bone loss. That is why peri-menopausal women and women post menopause are encouraged to do resistance work with weights. It really works for reducing the risk of bone fragility should they fall. We want bone density to go up.
Muscle mass
Small Group Personal Training sessions at Bodywise are designed to build muscle mass. As we get older, our bodies find it harder to synthesise protein and it requires a combination of diet and exercise to maintain muscle. Again this is important to reduce the risk of falls whilst maintaining mobility and agility. Increasing muscle mass is always good.
Body fat and visceral fat
We’ve finally got to the ‘F’ word. It’s fair to say that most members of the Bodywise community want to become leaner and stay leaner. The Bodywise scales measure two types of fat, the first of which is body fat – basically the sub-cutaneous fat that’s visible. Visceral fat sits deep within the abdominal cavity surrounding organs like the liver. Most people who want to lose weight will be in the red zone in both of these categories and it’s good to get levels down. Visceral fat is the more dangerous but, happily, it metabolises more quickly and is easier to lose than subcutaneous fat.
Metabolic age
An overall combination of these measurements, along with factors like body water, can be combined to give a figure representing Metabolic Age – a measure of how efficiently your body’s metabolism functions compared to others of the same chronological age. It’s essentially a way to assess your body’s energy expenditure at rest and compare it to the average for your actual age group. A lower metabolic age generally indicates a more efficient metabolism and better overall metabolic health. If this is lower than your actual age, happy days!
Regular assessments can show how quickly you’ve improved
Noting your performance in the gym on weights and machines will quickly show you how you are improving – within two weeks you’ll have things to be proud of. Changing your metabolic body metrics is a longer term process – but within six weeks on a regular and consistent exercise programme you’ll be amazed at the difference you can see. Especially if backed up by a more structured and focussed diet.
If you want a whole new you (well, a new looking and feeling you at any rate) get in touch to arrange your Discovery Call.
By Al Campbell, Bodywise Member