Most gyms offer new members a fitness body composition assessment to help them establish safe and achievable goals for their workouts. Most assessments include five basic components: body mass index, body fat percent, flexibility, strength and muscular endurance and cardiovascular endurance. Understanding what you can expect during one of these assessments may improve this often nerve-racking experience.
Body Mass Index
Body mass index, or BMI, was designed to give the people a snapshot look at their health. Your BMI is essentially a height to weight ratio calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in centimeters squared. A healthy BMI for adults is between 18.5 and 24.9. A BMI of 25.0 to 29.9 is considered overweight, while anyone with a BMI over 30.0 is categorized as obese.
Body Fat Percent
Body fat percent is an accurate portrayal of your health and an excellent value to use in goal setting. Body fat percent represents the percentage of your body that is fat mass compared to lean mass. Several methods are available for determining body fat. The most common used by health clubs and private training studios is the skin-fold analysis. Calipers are used to measure pinches of skin at specified sites on the body, such as the triceps, hip, abdomen and thigh. Recorded measurements will be added up and compared to a chart to determine the percentage. Healthy ranges vary by age and gender.
Flexibility
Some fitness and wellness centers also offer a flexibility test with their body composition assessment. This test is reminiscent of the sit and reach test you may have performed in grade school. The fitness professional will have you sit with your feet pressed against a box with a ruler protruding toward you and a sliding metal piece. You will be instructed to reach, without bending your knees, for the metal piece and move it as far back as you can, without shoving it away on its hinge. Men in the range of 17 to 27 centimeters and women in the range of 21 to 30 centimeters have good flexibility.
Strength and Muscular Endurance
A multitude of assessments are used to determine strength and muscular endurance. These may include a push-up assessment, a sit-up assessment, a one-rep max bench press and the plank test, but many more exist. Most fitness centers have participants perform the push-up and sit-up assessments, as these are easy to administer and safe for most participants. Much like body fat percent measurements, healthy strength and muscular endurance test ranges vary by age, gender and the specific test.
Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance is a critical component of a fit body. This assessment will tell the health and fitness professionals how your heart responds to various levels of aerobic intensity. The two most common tests to determine cardiovascular fitness are the Rockport Walk Test and the 3-minute Step Test. During the Rockport Walk Test, you will wear a heart rate monitor and observe your heart rate as the tester increases the speed and incline of the treadmill at three-minute intervals. The 3-minute Step Test will have you step on and off a one foot high step for three consecutive minutes. The fitness professional will then have you rest for one minute and then record your heart rate. Healthy scores for these tests also vary by age and gender.
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