Fitness Assessment

I went tonight for my fitness assessment. This is the post test for the Biggest Winners program at the university. My pretest FA was on Sept 5 and then Nov 6 for the post. So this is a 2 month timeframe. I went at about the same time of day. Sept 5 was a 6pm appointment and today was a 5 pm. I just wanted to share some of the findings from tonight.

My total fitness score, on a 100 point scale, went from 31 to 37. My sit reach score, which measure flexibility, went from 13 to 19. This was centimeters. I sat with my legs flat, arms straight out in front of me. This was how far I could reach past my feet without bending my legs.

They use 3 skinfold measurements, and I guess height?, to figure body fat %. I went from 41.3% to 33.3%. When I had a dexa-scan done in January it said my body fat % was 49.x%. They did 13 body measurements on my each time. In the past 2 months I have lost 13 inches over those measurements. 3.5" on my right thigh and 3" on my left.

Needless to say I am proud of my changes. I think they are a major accomplishment. I'm also really glad that Jennifer sat down with me after my FA to talk to me about those results. She thought they were great too. I never would have thought that I had lost 8% body fat in the past two months. Considering it is "acceptable" for a woman to have in the range of 2x% body fat, so I'm getting closer to a good number. Just to give you some numbers (if you care!), the following information is according to Health Check Systems.

Women's Body Fat Percentages
Essential Fat: 10-12%
Athletes: 14-20%
Fitness: 21-24%
Acceptable: 25-31%
Obese: 32% and above

For men the numbers are lower, and are posted on that site. I think that if the option is somehow available to you, getting the skinfolds measured to calculate body fat % might me a terrific way to keep you motivated. 8% body fat is SO much more motivating than saying I lost 6.5 pounds in the last two months. I really hope they do another weight loss program at the university in the Spring semester so I can this done again. I think it is a wonderful measure of my progress. And a much better measure of where I am than the BMI chart!

Well, I think that's my speach for the day. Hope everyone is doing really well this week, and I'll let you know about my weigh in once I get to work in the morning.