Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Part 2: Get your Starting Stats!

In Part 1 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine, we covered the core components of your best fitness routine:

Consistency. Versatility. Achievability. Actualization.
Too bad that's not a catchy acronym. Oh well! Now that you know what criteria your plan needs to meet in order to be most successful, we can talk about goal setting, developing your routine, and your personal health stats, which you should figure out in order to do all that!

In order to get somewhere, it's helpful to know where you're starting so you know how far you've come! There are 3 types of benchmark number sets that are helpful to have as you're starting this journey:
Weight Mgmt Stats

• Current Weight
• Basal Metabolic Rate
• Body Mass Index
• Body Fat %

Heart Healthy Stats

• Blood Pressure reading
• Resting Heart Rate
• Cholesterol Levels

Exercise Performance Stats

• Target Heart Rate
• Maximum Heart Rate
• Other Fitness Assessment measures

If your gym, rec center etc. offers a Fitness Test, that is a nice way to establish a baseline as well. My gym offers a complementary Fit Test to members twice a year- every 6 months. I took my first fit test on September 7th, 2012, a week after I started my new healthy lifestyle. 

My Weight Mgmt stats:

Weight- 136.7 Starting, 125 Current

Waist Circumference- 30 and 1/2" Starting

Waist to Hip Ratio- .76 Starting

BMI- 27.14 Starting, 24.41 Current

Body Fat %- 31.8% Starting

My Heart Healthy stats:
Blood Pressure reading- 108/64 Starting
Resting Heart Rate- 64 BPM Starting

My Exercise Performance stats:
Push-Up Test 24 StartingSit & Reach- 9.2" Starting
VO2 Max- 29.9 Starting
Grip Strength Test (Left hand)- 36 lbs Starting
Grip Strength Test (Right hand)- 32 lbs Starting

Now is the time that you go start collecting information! Start with whatever you have easiest access to. The important reason to have, know, and understand these measurements is because they will help you set goals, and also be indicators for measuring future improvement!

I personally CANNOT WAIT to take my 6 mo. Fit Test check-in, because I think I will have radically changed both my body composition and my fitness abilities!

Your homework before you read Part 3 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine is to figure out some of your more basic stats: current weight, BMI, body fat %, etc. You could even do a Push-Up test for yourself! Once you've compiled those numbers, think them over. Was anything shocking to find out? Are there stats that stick out like a sore thumb, ones that need to change for the better? These things you notice will help to influence Part 3 of Design your Perfect Fitness Routine- Goal Setting.

Thanks for tuning in- Click here to head on to Part 3- SMART Goal Setting