So How Fit Are You?

About two weeks ago, I had gone downstairs to fix myself something to eat before I got settled down to work. I had popped a bag of popcorn and picked up a medium sized Julie mango for dinner (I prefer to eat light in the evenings to avoid the almost inevitable energy dip after eating in addition to the fact that I’m just tired). I took my meal up to my bedroom but realized I forgot my bottle of water. As I was making my second trip upstairs, I decided to run upstairs as I had usually done not more than a few months ago. Needless to say, I was a bit surprised when I found that these stairs aren’t that easy to sprint up. I know my exercise routine had been on hiatus for a while but surely walking up and down these stairs everyday must have counted for something. So it got me thinking: what does it really mean to be fit? How do you even really know how fit you are? And, how can you improve fitness?

Your level of Fitness really refers to your body’s ability to meet the demands of physical task s while still having energy and strength to feel as good as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to be an athlete but it does mean that you should be able to be and feel at your best as this lowers your risk for certain non-communicable lifestyle diseases. The basic components of fitness include the following:

·         Agility - your ability to perform a series of power movements in rapid succession in opposing directions

·         Balance - your ability to control the body's position, whether its stationary (e.g. boat pose) or while moving

·         Cardiovascular Endurance – your the heart's ability to deliver blood to working muscles and their ability to use it (think long distance running)

·         Co-ordination - your  ability to put together all components so that effective movements are achieved

·         Flexibility – your ability to achieve an extended range of motion without being impeded by excess tissue, i.e. fat or muscle (think of a leg split)

·         Local Muscle Endurance - a single muscle's ability to perform sustained work (riding a bike)

·         Power – your ability to exert the most muscular contraction immediately in a fiery burst of movements. The two components of power are strength and speed. (think of Usain Bolt in a sprint race)

·         Strength - the extent to which your muscles can exert force by contracting against resistance

·         Strength Endurance – your muscle's ability to perform a maximum contraction time after time

So now that you know what fitness is and the components that are involved, how do you know how fit you are – or if you’re even fit at all?

I’ve found a few simple tests that will help me to determine my fitness level. If you want to know just how fit you are, try them out too!

The 3-Minute Test (Measures (cardiovascular) fitness level based on how quickly your heart rate returns to usual after exercise.

What you’ll need:

•  Stopwatch
• 12”-step
•   Metronome (www.metronomeonline.com)

What to do: Set the metronome to 96 beats per minute. Stand facing the step. When ready to begin, start the stopwatch and march up and down on the step to the metronome beat (up, up, down, down) for 3 successive minutes. (You can rest if you need to, but remain standing.) When time is up, stop immediately, sit down and count your pulse (use your wrist or neck) for one full minute.

Results:

Chicks	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Excellent	52-81	58-80	51-84	63-91	60-92	70-92
Good	85-93	85-92	89-96	95-101	97-103	96-101
Above Average	96-102	95-101	100-104	104-110	106-111	104-111
Average	104-110	104-110	107-112	113-118	113-118	116-121
Below Average	113-120	113-119	115-120	120-124	119-127	123-126
Poor	122-131	122-129	124-132	126-132	129-135	128-133
Very Poor	135-169	134-171	137-169	137-171	141-174	135-155

Dudes	18-25	26-35	36-45	46-55	56-65	65+
Excellent	50-76	51-76	49-76	56-82	60-77	59-81
Good	79-84	79-85	80-88	87-93	86-94	87-92
Above Average	88-93	88-94	92-88	95-101	97-100	94-102
Average	95-100	96-102	100-105	103-111	103-109	104-110
Below Average	102-107	104-110	108-113	113-119	111-117	114-118
Poor	111-119	114-121	116-124	121-126	119-128	121-126
Very Poor	124-157	126-161	130-163	131-159	131-154	130-151

The Crunch Test (Measures abdominal strength and endurance)

What you’ll need:

•  Stopwatch
•   Ruler

What to do: Lie on your back with your knees bent.  Your feet should be flat on the floor and your heels are about 18 inches away from your butt. Place your arms at your sides with your palms facing down. Place a ruler next to your fingertips in this position and measure 6 inches further. Put a piece of tape to mark the spot.

Throughout the test, your hands must remain on the floor. Lift your head, neck and shoulder blades off the floor, using your abdominal muscles, and allowing fingers to slide to the 6-inch marker.  Return to the floor for one rep. Do as many as you can for 60 seconds but only counting the reps that your fingers actually reached the marker.

Results:

Dudes	< 35 years	35-44 years	> 45 years
Excellent	60	50	40
Good	45	40	25
Marginal	30	25	15
Needs Work	15	10	5

Chicks	< 35 years	35-44 years	> 45 years
Excellent	50	40	30
Good	40	25	15
Marginal	25	15	10
Needs Work	10	6	4

The Push-Up Test (Measures Muscular strength and endurance)

What you’ll need:

•  Stopwatch
•  Friend

What to do: Dudes can assume a traditional push-up position and chicks can use the modified version (where you’re on your knees). Push yourself up with arms fully extended and then lower yourself until your chest is about three inches from the floor. Do as many as you can in one minute.

Results:

Dudes	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
Excellent	> 54	> 44	> 39	> 34	> 29
Good	45-54	35-44	30-39	25-34	20-29
Average	35-44	24-34	20-29	15-24	10-19
Poor	20-34	15-24	12-19	8-14	5-9
Very Poor	< 20	< 15	< 12	< 8	< 5

Chicks	20-29	30-39	40-49	50-59	60+
Excellent	>48	>39	>34	>29	>19
Good	34-48	25-39	20-34	15-29	5-19
Average	17-33	12-24	8-19	6-14	3-4
Poor	6-16	4-11	3-7	2-5	1-2
Very Poor	< 6	< 4	< 3	< 2	< 1

My Results:

For the step-up test, I came in at disappointing “below average”. I guess my cardio fitness has plenty room for improvement. Fortunately for me, the others tests were a bit more heartening. I completed 35 reps which put me somewhere between “marginal” and “good” and considering I’m not a gal for crunches (Hey, there are way more fun and interesting ways to engage my abs than the standard crunch exercise), I think I did pretty well. And, last but not least, I completed 27 reps for the push-up test which puts me at “average”.

            I’m not too thrilled about my overall results because I know I can be much stronger if I only push myself a little more. Now I know where to focus on in order to improve my overall fitness.

Let me know just how fit you are by leaving a comment.

Until next time, keep it tight.

Say Bye-Bye to Shine (Finally)!

One of my biggest pet peeves about my skin has always been the fact it can start looking like a well-greased frying pan even in an air-conditioned room. It has always been that way since childhood up until now. As a self-declared “girlie-girl”, I’ve always been really conscious about it. Whereas other kids were busy frolicking their youth away, my friends and I were trying to achieve and maintain the “cool face”.  We tried everything to no avail. Washing our faces multiple times before the end of lunch break in primary school, we desperately hoped that if we washed enough times, our sebaceous glands would subsequently cease to exist. This habit continued with us throughout high school and was quite popular among other groups of girls. Heck! Even the boys used to line up at the wash pipes outside to achieve the enviably “cool face”. However, unlike my friends, they used to use cake soap a.k.a Blue Bomber, made popular by Vybz Kartel. Even before the stigma attached to the cake soap arose, I just never thought it was a good idea to use something made to whiten your whites on my face.

Fast-forward to the present, I was pretty much given up on the idea that my oily skin would ever make it through a day shine-free. I’d use primers under my foundation but in a tropical climate, my face would be on a one-way trip to Grease-ville by mid-morning. That was all until my makeup artist for my wedding cued me in on a little secret. During my consultation session, she applied a white liquid on my face and let it dry. To my surprise, she told me that it was milk of magnesia and she always uses it to keep her brides oil-free on their big day. I was like, “No way!” I knew milk of magnesia was used for indigestion and upset stomach. But I would never have thought that this inexpensive product was the answer I’d been searching for. This drug store staple attributes its success to its ability to fight the acids in your body, which produce that shiny t-zone.

Other uses for Milk of Magnesia:

1.    Antiperspirant - The compound Magnesium Hydroxide creates a harsh environment for microorganisms that cause smelly under arms.

2.    Dandruff reliever - natural ingredients in milk of magnesia restricts the growth of yeast, the underlying source of seborrhea. Apply it your scalp and nape and let it sit for 20 to 25 minutes before rinsing.

3.    Fights Redness - Milk of magnesia soothes and restores the pH-balance in skin; and, as a result, does away with any discoloration.

4.    Acne Fighter - Its drying action can eliminate or at least reduce the occurrence of pimples.

Can You Trust Food Labels? Part II

So  we learned that even though some labels say products are low fat or fat free, they make still contribute to a considerable amount of fat when the servings are added up and they may contain a lot more sugar than the full-fat versions. “Hydrogenated” oil equals trans fat no matter what the labels say. This installment of the Nutrition Files, I’ll be addressing the biggest craze since low carb: Gluten-Free

Gluten-Free



At the start of the new millennium, carbs was the nutrient everyone loved to hate. It got blamed for everything - from weight gain, acne to even cancer. If something bad happened to you, it could somehow be traced back to the bread and rice you’d been eating. Popular celebrity diets like Atkins and the Zone – made famous by celebs like Renee Zellweger & Jennifer Aniston – didn’t help to put the public’s mind at ease either. Rather, it fostered a love-hate relationship with the nutrient that has transcended time. Yes, it may not look exactly the same but our disdain for the idea of eating carbs is still clearly evident when we see the latest villain in town: gluten.  Although it’s a protein, its mainly found in wheat barley and rye – in other words, carb foods.  Gluten-free products have been on the rise. Sales of gluten-free products have increased from $4.8 billion to $6.1 billion from 2009 to 2011, jumping by 27 percent (SPINS, 2012). Yes, carb-hate is here to stay. But does gluten really deserve all this bad press? Not unless you have celiac disease or gluten sensitivity which result in diarrhea or migraines when you ingest this protein. Otherwise, its just a lot of money down the drain as gluten-free products can be quite expensive. And as with the previously mentioned label buzz words, gluten-free doesn’t always mean its going to help you lose weight or is even healthier. To compensate for the lack of gluten (it helps give processed foods its spongy and stretchy texture, as well as thicken sauces and soups), these products are usually reinforced with more calories, fat, starch and sugar to make them more appetizing. They are also lower in fibre and lack the vitamin enrichment such as iron and B vitamins that gluten containing products have. So unless gluten gives you a bad vibe, I suggest you steer clear of these products.