Fitness Assessment breakdown
Here is an overview of some of the things we tested during the fitness test.
Body mass Index
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Why do we measure this?
BMI is potentially a good predictor of increased risk in heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers (1, 2), Osteoarthritis, kidney stones, kidney diseases, metabolic syndrome, fatty liver disease (1), and more. A high BMI usually worsen positive outcomes with comorbidities (1, 2).
Learn more about obesity here.
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Body fat percentage - Lean body mass - Fat mass
Body fat calculations should be seen as a more accurate method to assess body composition, and obesity.
Women have about 8% body fat more than men at the same ranges.
Body fat percentage tend to go up with age not only because of physiological and hormonal changes that occur, but also because of the loss of muscle mass that comes from years of poor physical inactivity (1).
We estimate body fat weight, lean body mass, body fat percentage while measuring the amount of fat below the skin and use the Jakson and Pollock equation. JP is accurate (1) expect for individual who are morbidly obese (2).
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Determining body fat percentage gives us some insight on both the amount of fat on the body, and the amount of lean mass (including muscle mass). It can be used to measure "invisible" weight changes resulting in loss of fat mass, and increased muscle mass (1).
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Waist and hips
The hip to waist ratio is a great metric to assess increased risk of diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases. We do not all carry body fat the same way, and some have a propensity to carry less body fat around their organs and heart - and thus be less exposed to cardiovascular diseases which may come from clotting. In this regard, individual who carry fat on their lower body have better prognostics if overweight or obese.
Even though we cannot change - where our body naturally tends to store body fat, lowering body fat percentage always lowers the overall ratio,
Waist circumference is sometimes favored over waist to hip ratio due to the ease of measuring. The two metrics offer the same insight, but the later is generally more conclusive. Some group of population, namely Asians, tend to be quickly more at risk with a higher w:h or waist circumference.
Recommended reading (1)
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Spirometry
Spirometry is the most common of the pulmonary function tests. It measures lung function, specifically the amount and/or speed of air that can be inhaled and exhaled. Spirometry is helpful in assessing breathing patterns that identify conditions such as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and COPD. It may help spot obstructive, and restrictive conditions.
When performing our spirometry test we mainly look at four values FVC or forced vital capacity - which is the total volume of air expired, FEV1 or the forced expelled volume in one second, the relationship between FVC and FEV1, and lastly PEF or peak expiratory flow -which is the volume of air expired in the first 200 milliseconds.
Values are compared to norms (1 - 2 - 3), percentile are calculated and results are interpreted using simple algorithms ( 1 ). Non of the results we prove are made to diagnose conditions. Always refer to your personal physician if any results is abnormal.
Another important note about pulmonary function is that it tends to drastically decrease with age (and activity). Spirometry is often used to assess proper pulmonary function ( 1 ), as it impact overall cardiovascular capacity, and autonomy.
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Blood pressure
Blood pressure refers to two metrics: systolic blood pressure (the pressure at each heart beat) and diastolic blood pressure (the pressure between heart beat).
While low blood pressure often has no to little symptoms (lightheadedness, general weakness, feeling sick), high blood pressure or HBP, is known as the silent killer and results in almost 13% of total death worldwide. Obesity, diet, inactivity all may contribute to HPB, and its risks are heightened for the overweight (and above), people over 45 years old, and people of specific ethnicities (creole, hindustani, african americans, jawanese .. 1 , 2 ) . It is probable that the majority of these ethnical disparities are due to dietary differences.
Blood pressure metrics are assessed, and people are put into different risk categories. Heart.org is a site solely dedicated to HPB and related ailments (1), the CDC also has some well presented information (1).
More about hypotension can also be found here.
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To summarize, blood pressure may be affected by dietary choices, lifestyle, body composition, hormonal changes, medication, pregnancy, and more - it is a vital metric that can easily be measured with a simple and affordable tool.
Salt is often being given a bad reputation as an increased of sodium level in the body increases bp. Lowering salt intake, increasing exercise, or increasing potassium intake, can reduce sodium in the body and HPB ( 1 ).
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Base metabolic rate
The base metabolic rate is the energy, in calories, your body needs to survive/maintain its function at rest. Men tend to require almost 50% more energy on average due to their larger size.
A person total caloric needs (if the intent) is to remain at the same weight can be seen as followed:
TDEE (total daily energy expenditure) = BMR + TEF (energy used to process and digest food) + NEAT (non exercise energy expenditure, eg: walking, shaking, dish washing...) + EAT (exercise energy expenditure: running, weight lifting...).
BMR can account up to 70% percent of TDEE. Your BMR changes along with your weight and body composition.As a rule of thumb never eat less than your BMR (unless under medical supervision).
There are several ways to estimate BMR, some account for BMI, some account for height, weight and gender, and some, like the one we use (the Wang equation) accounts for fat free body mass.
Using fat free mass eliminate other equations outliers, such as "skinny fat", people with low body weight/ high body fat, low muscle mass, and the more muscular people, low body fat, high muscle mass.
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More about metabolism ( 1 )
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Ideal body weight and nutritional guidelines
In this section you are presented with a few metrics. Your "ideal" (note the " ") body weight, your body weight right in the middle of the healthy BMI zone, minimal macronutrients intake, and total energy intake.
These numbers are for reference only and may not reflect your true needs - but can already give you a range of what is expected.
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Weight or Ideal body weight: if your BMI and your body fat percentage are within healthy, or desired, range it is best to just look at your current weight - otherwise check your "ideal" weight to assess macronutrient needs like in the assessment.
Protein intake should be 0.8g per kg of weight for sedentary individuals to 1.0g for active individuals. So if you are 100kg - you should aim for 80 to 100 grams of protein per day.
Fat intake should account for 0.5 to 1g per day.
The remaining calories should come from complex carbohydrates.
Take these guidelines with some degree of flexibility though, it is ok to have a little more of this or or that. We do not require diets that focus on very high protein intake (kidney (1), and pollution issues (1) ), or very high fat intake, especially if fried, process, or trans-fat ( 1 - 2 - 3), or processed sugar. Dietary guidelines are a great place to start ( 1 ).
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McGill core strength battery test
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Sharpened Romberg test
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Stork-stand balance test
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6 minutes walk test
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Harvard step test
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Running test
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Cycling test
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Harvard step test
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