Test Your Fitness

Before embarking on any new fitness or exercise regime it's always wise to have yourself tested by a qualified Personal Trainer or your own Doctor to make sure that there are no issues which would prevent you from performing certain exercises.

Take a good starting position, this could be for example your resting heart rate. Initially this might be 85 beats per minute, then after 8 weeks, it's been lowered to 75 beats per minute. This very simple result is a good indicator which shows that the training and exercise is working for you.

The purpose of these tests is not only to check your current fitness level and to help assist you by giving you the green light to commence your workout, but also so that you can see and monitor what improvements you're making.

Any negative results, should always be looked upon positively, as by having the test done regularly (4 - 8 weeks) you can see what changes you need to make in your training.

Don't worry if results such as bodyweight may have gone up, this could simply be due to an increase in healthier muscle tissue, you will need this to burn off the fat and to give your body a better healthier shape and muscle tone.

Its very important that you keep a note of all your results, dont just write them down, type them out and email them to yourself.

If you lose the scrap of paper that you wrote them on, at least you can get them by surfing through your emails - (Subject heading Test 1).

Its the positive gains that you can see on paper that will help you stay motivated, as sometimes the gains are there, but because they can come slowly, they are often missed.

Start by printing off the record sheet, then complete the questionaire to make sure its OK for you to undergo the tests. If you are unsure, or have any reason not to exercise, consult your doctor before performing any of these tests.