my fitness assessment....

D

dpiglet

Cathlete
was really lame, as was the guy that did it. I expected something far different, but since the gym offers personal training for an additional cost, I guess what he did is all I am gonna get for free. What did he do? Calculated my body fat using a little hand held gizmo, using my height, weight, age and bicep measurement. Is this a widely done thing? I am 5 foot nothing, weigh 115 and I am 40. The machine spit out that I have 34% body fat...isn't that kinda high?? I mean I know I am not as lean as I could be, but 34%?? The last reading on the tape says my BMI is 22.4%. And that was it. Kinda dissapointing. But on the bright side, I went to my first class this morning and it was awesome!! It was a "kickbox conditioning" class and the instructor was great, and I made it all the way through the class! The instructor noticed I was new, introduced herself, let me know the class was "fairly tough" and to march in place whenever I got tired. I know I am going to still try to squeeze some Cathe workouts in somewhere at home(especially weights...since I am really uncomfortable about doing any lifting in public)....but at least I have some cardio alternatives now! Tomorrow I am going to try a "muscle" class and see how that goes. Thanks for the gym encouragement Lisa! Take Care,
Donna
 
Yeah that sounds pretty standard. Don't let the body fat measurement get you down. That's why I don't use those things, they're really not very accurate. I guess they can be used as a gauge, but as far as your actual body fat goes I just don't trust them. I use the scale & the mirror. ;-)
 
http://www.linear-software.com/online.html

Donna,

Regarding your question on bodyfat %, this website was posted a few weeks ago. The female data is down at the bottom. I found it very informative. Remember, the key to lowering bodyfat is to be sure you are getting plenty of protein and lifting heavy.
 
That "fitness assessment" sounds really lame! God forbid they should actually do any WORK for anyone who isn't paying $80 an hour for personal training.

When I joined a gym and had a fitness assessment, it was very thorough - they tested my cardiovascular endurance and recovery rate, flexibility, upper body strength, core strength and lower body strength. They measured my body fat using 2 different methods. And they talked to me about my goals and gave me advice on how to get there. I was really impressed.

I wonder why they even bother doing the cheesy assessment that you got. It wouldn't tell them enough about your actual fitness level for them to give you any advice or pointers. And that body fat measurement technique they used sounds kinda dumb. I can't believe they didn't even use callipers!

That kickboxing class sounds awesome though! FUN FUN FUN! :)
 
Emily,

I'm assuming that hand held gizmo Donna talked about was a caliper, no? And, yes, you can be 5'0" at 115 lbs and have a higher body fat. At 40 I was the same height and weight but my body fat was about 33%.

I'm 50 now, 5'0" at 122 lbs but since lifting weights, more protein and a cleaner diet, my body fat percentage when I last took it was 25%.
 
>Emily,
>
>I'm assuming that hand held gizmo Donna talked about was a
>caliper, no?


Candi - ahh, yes, it could have been. When she said "gizmo" I immediately thought "computer" or "calculator". She didn't say anything about being pinched anywhere, so it didn't sound like a caliper measurement. But, alas, it could have been. :)
 
Donna...lame is right!!! I would not call what they did a fitness assessment since they did not ACCESS your cardiovascular system, flexibility or strength. A true fitness assessment measure these in addition to your bodyfat and it sounds like that's all they did. And as far as that hand held "gizmo"...PAY NO ATTENTION TO IT!! And that's my professinal opinion! It is an electronic gizmo, not as accurate as hand held caliper test done by someone who has some experience. That gizmo counts a lot water in the body as fat! So, if you drank any water, are retaining any water, or even have breast implants with saline, it will count that as fat. Pay no attention to that reading, it is totally inaccurate.

On a happier note...I'm so happy that you enjoyed the class!!! I'm so happy for you. I looked for a post from you all day yesterday because I was so anxious to know how you made out..haha Glad you posted.

There was a post regarding the inaccuracies of scales that measure fat. It is similiar to the problems with the hand held "gizmo" they used on you. Someone had some good advice and said to know that the reading is too high, but you can still track your fat loss progress when you see the reading going down.

Have a great day!!!! And I am confident you'll be lifting in public in no time!!! You go Girl...enjoy your new classes!!!

Lisa J.:)
 
If it was an Omron analyzer or the like, and not taken immeditaley upon awakening, the % was probably high!
 
I would like to have something like this done but no one offers it around here. I guess if I went into the city I could always get it done. It would be just nice to know.
I do have stretched skin on my stomach from stretch marks and it is lose when I sit down, so I wonder if they would think it was fat and not just skin?
Lori:)
 
Actually, I don't think the gizmo was calipers. There is a hand-held computer device where you input your height, weight, and age, then squeeze the little sides and it spits out all kinds of bogus info about you. They have this at my gym, too.

I am surprised, though. I thought most insurance policies required a much more thorough assessment of new members if only to make sure no one drops dead on the treadmill. Even my lame company gym requires a cardio assessment and uses a form to help you figure out what you should do to meet your goals. Not TOO thorough, but better than nothing, I guess!

Marie
 
I don't even touch my Omron in the afternoon...it's evil! I gauge mine when I crawl out of bed. I have a caliper too, but I am still pinching the same amount so I am disgusted and don't use it anymore!!! LOL!
Like Maximus, looking in the mirror, etc. is the best bet. Just don't look to closely into those dressing room mirrors with hospital like lighting. LOL!

Charlotte~~
 
Hey all! I should have been more clear....the gizmo was not calipers just a little hand held calculator thingie....he measured my bicep by putting a device that sorta looked like a small microphone at my bicep...he did have me measure my frame by the fingers around the wrist. Does plugging in the proper sex in the machine make a difference?? The tape he ran off for me reads "male"...not that the number bothers me(okay, maybe a little). Just looking at the chart on the site Candi wrote about depressed me....according to that chart, using his numbers....I am "overfat". Like I said, I know I could be leaner, but I really do not think of myself as overfat! I am probably going (when I work up the nerve) to pay for a session with a trainer....I have never used any of the machines and would really like a workout planned out for me, since I am no good at that sort of thing....that's why I love Cathe, she tells me what to do, and I just do it....that's probably why I know I will enjoy the classes. Lisa thanks again for all the encouragement!! Thanks for all the help everybody else too! Donna
 
I'm sorry your assesment didn't go as we had thought it would, I don't ever give that weak of an assesment to anyone free or not. But it's also the reason why I work for a privately own gym and not a chain. I like to know the clients that go there as best as I can. Well look at it this way, at least it wasn't the assement like the football players get every 6 months. That is an evil 5 hours, I'm exhausted after, and I'm just giving the tests.

But don't even think the body measurement is anywhere near what you really have. As those machines don't know the difference between a toned bicep and a fat one, it just takes the inches and if it's big, your fat, it's simple as that. It's really annoying those machines will tell a couch potato has less fat then you, because their bicep is smaller then your toned one. So the results are very bogus.

The golden standard for body fat measuring is where you get to stand in a tank of water and have a special scale under you and see how much you sink or float. But most women don't generally like to do that, as well as costly as insurance doesn't pay for it, and it's almost always done at a hospital.

The cheaper way that can be mostly accurate, is the calipers. If you got someone who is really good, you'll only be off 5 points or so from the water test, which isn't bad. As the calipers if your very muscular will always tell you, you got less fat then you really do. As there's nothing to grab and squeeze, or not very much of anything, anyway. So it basically is off a bit more the more toned you are, but when your that toned, you should realize by then you don't have much fat, nor anywhere where it's easy to pinch the fat from the muscle. So basically as long as you don't have Cathe's muscle tone, you can get a pretty accurate reading. I'd seriously would hate to try get a caliper reading on Cathe. As when you look at her, where would you pinch to get enough fat for a reading? I'd more then likely have my money down that it would say she had 0 to 1% body fat. As that's what most women that have muscles like Cathe usually report having their reading as.

Kit
 
Donna,

Okay, we're getting hung up on numbers again! Like Maximus says, the mirror and your clothes are probably your best (and less expensive) indicators :)
 
At Gold's we do a body fat assessment - which sounds a lot like what you had done. It's quick - you get on a Tanita machine and it gives you a print out of BMI, BMR, bodyfat %, weight, pounds of bodyfat, pounds of lean mass, and hydration level. We go over it with the members and ask them their goals (briefly) and either set them up with an orientation or training.

The orientation involves going over what they are currently doing as far as cardio, resistance training, nutrition. We go over their exercise history, what their goals are and we do a few assessments of their biomechanics. Then, we are supposed to come up with a program for them (general but not specific) and try to sell training. I sometimes feel sleazy doing that. As if when I get to that part they're thinking, "That's why she got me here! It's all about selling!" I basically feel they don't get much out of the orientation and I really hate doing them. I feel like they feel they wasted 45 -60 minutes only to hear a sales pitch.:-(

According to my manager, we are only to do Tanita machine assessments free. We only do caliper testing for clients paying for personal training.:eek:

Don't worry about the bodyfat assessment on the machine. Calipers are definitely more accurate. I did the Tanita machine a week ago and my bodyfat came out to 26%! (I almost cried!) This week I did it again and it was 22%! That much different in one week! Caliper testing was 17%. In my experience, I've noticed the machines (including the handheld ones) produce higher (and less accurate) results than caliper tests.
 
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