With every new client our staff perform health and fitness assessments to determine a starting point for one of our individually-tailored exercise programs.
Below are descriptions of the different health assessments we perform.
1. Health Screening
A Par-Q stands for Physical activity readiness questionnaire; this is used to test an individual to see if they are capable of performing at least a minimum level of low to moderate exercise safely and healthily, without a large risk for injury. Resting heart rate is the amount of beats per minute that occur while an individual is at rest, prior to exercise. This is important because you can determine if the individual has heart issues or blood pressure issues based on resting heart rate. Blood pressure is the determined by the amount of pressure of blood within the circulatory system. This can be altered by blood count, viscosity, plaque levels, and other factors. Blood pressure is an important tool because it can determine whether or not an individual has a chance of developing valve issues within their heart, as well as hypertension, and a multitude of other conditions. BMI or body mass index is a measure to determine where an individual sits on a body composition scale. For the majority of the population BMI is effective and determining an individual’s body composition, but for individuals who are heavily muscled it can determine they are overweight, thus it can yield false positives, but not false positives.
2. Body Composition Assessment
Body composition is a better determinant of health risk than body mass because it expresses fat distribution combining Body Mass Index (BMI), waist circumference and skin fold assessment. Height and weight are measured to calculate the BMI, which is displayed as kg/m2. Both height and weight are measured in bare feet, standing erect and motionless and measured to the nearest 0.5cm for height and 0.1kg for weight.
To measure waist circumference, the measuring tape is placed flat against bare, unclothed skin, parallel to the top of the hipbones. Under normal breathing, the tape measure is held snug without depressing the skin and a reading is taken. For men a healthy waist circumference is considered less than 102cm, and 88cm for women.
Skin folds are taken to further determine fat distribution by taking skin folds at the triceps, biceps, shoulder blade, hip, and calf. Body composition assessment is important because fat storage around the abdominal region implies an increased risk of chronic disease, namely diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Skin fold measurements are taken using an instrument called calipers by first marking the midpoint of the area to be measured, then the tester pinches the skin with their fingers, and taking the caliper to the skin fold to measure width of each fold. The values for all 5 sites are added together to determine body composition and health risk.
3. Aerobic Assessment
Aerobic Fitness is an indicator of the health and function of one’s heart, lungs, and blood vessels (the cardiorespiratory system). It is well known that the maintenance of aerobic fitness can improve health and wellbeing and protect against many chronic diseases. The mCAFT test is a simple step test conducted by following a recorded cadence that measures submaximal aerobic fitness by reaching pre-determined levels in the recording. Using age to predict maximum heart rate, an upper limit is found that once the participant reaches this limit the test will finish. The exercise intensity will not exceed 85% of their maximum heart rate and will be measured by a heart rate monitor, or can be palpated at the wrist. The test will also end if the participant experiences any discomfort, is out of breath, dizzy, nauseous, or experiences any leg or chest pain. The mCAFT test is an indirect measure of cardiovascular or aerobic fitness and has participants reach a submaximal intensity, which makes it suitable to non-exercisers, sedentary individuals, or minimally active individuals. For active individuals, a more vigorous test should be conducted, and those who are obese or have leg injuries may opt for an aerobic fitness assessment technique that doesn’t require support of their body weight.
4. Musculoskeletal Fitness Assessment
The ability and efficiency of your muscles or your musculoskeletal fitness is an essential aspect to sustaining a happy and healthy lifestyle. The protocol being followed assesses 3 major categories of musculoskeletal fitness. Muscular strength, muscular endurance, and muscular power are the 3 protocols that are followed. To test muscular strength a one rep maximum is often used were the individual contracts are hard as they can for 1 rep. A hand grip dynamometer is used via the CPAFLA protocol. This can prove to be beneficial when someone is faced with having to move something very heavy over a short distance. Muscular endurance is tested to determine how many times an individual can accomplish a repeated task using their bodyweight before fatigue occurs. The push up and partial curl up tests are used to assess the upper body muscular endurance of the subject. This is beneficial to test for every day physical life events. Muscular power is the final tested measure. This is tested by maximum vertical jump. Power assessment tests are often very valuable when testing athletic individuals where athletic performance is often decided by such miniscule differences in performance.
5. Back Health Assessment
Back health is comprised of the strength and flexibility of the musculoskeletal system that makes up and supports the spinal column. Back problems are among the most common chronic conditions in Canada (Schultz, et al., 2003). Back pain can occur at any point in the spine and is characterized by a range of symptoms including pain, muscle tension, or stiffness or weakness in the legs and feet (Statistics Canada, 2006). Factors that contribute to back pain include poor muscle tone, muscle imbalance, a sedentary lifestyle, obesity, poor posture, and in particular improper heavy lifting technique (Kopec, et al., 2004). The purpose of this assessment is to determine low-back health according to the Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness, and Lifestyle Approach (CPAFLA) protocol. Flexibility of the lower back is assessed by a sit and reach test, where the individual is seated with straight legs and hinges forward at the hips to reach to the toes and beyond. Endurance of the back extensor muscles is measured by the participant lying on their stomach, and extending their upper body off the table with their legs secured to the table surface. Abdominal strength is measured by partial curl-ups, which is all combined with the score from physical activity participation questionnaire, and waist circumference to determine back health. Individuals who may require adaptations to these back health assessment protocols would be people with a back injury or recovering from back injury