Top 10 Ways to Gauge Your Fitness

It may be difficult to measure your fitness level if you wish to understand how healthy you are, or if you are starting a new workout regimen. Everyone's fitness level is different, and are personally based on factors in a few different categories including aerobic fitness, muscular fitness, flexibility and body composition. Fitness is more than how fast or long you can run, how much weight you can lift or what your body looks like in a bathing suit. If you want to know how healthy and fit your body is, try assessing your fitness level with these tests:

- Resting Heart Rate (RHR)- Your resting heart rate can be a good, simple indication of your overall fitness level. The number of times your heart beats each minute, asses your aerobic fitness capacity. When your body is at rest and relaxed, count the number of heart beats you feel in a 60 second time period. A lower RHR corresponds to a stronger cardiovascular system and higher aerobic fitness level.

- 1 Mile Run (or brisk walk)- This test indicates the level your cardiovascular fitness is at. Using a flat and measurable route, see how long it takes you to complete 1 mile running, or if you have to, walking quickly. If you don't get winded or dizzy you are in a good fitness position; if you do, you need to work on improving your cardiovascular fitness. Ideally, you should be able to complete one mile in 9 minutes or less.

- Push Ups- Push ups are a great exercise for overall fitness, and can be a good indicator of upper body strength and endurance levels. There are many people that have trouble performing even one proper push-up. This exercise involves the shoulders, chest, triceps, abdominals and some legs, and are a great way to asses your upper body fitness. See how many you can do in row; women should aim for 12 and men should aim for 20.

- Wall Sit- This exercise is used to asses lower body and leg strength and endurance. "Sitting" in an invisible chair with your back up against a wall for as long as possible, is a good way to gauge your lower body fitness, as well as the endurance in your leg muscles. With your knees at a right angle, breathe freely while seeing how long you can hold the position.

- Flexibility- Fitness is also a measure of how flexible your body is. To asses flexibility, sit on the floor with your legs stretched out, and then try to reach and touch your toes. If you can't touch your toes this does not mean you are not fit, many people can't reach this far. However, you definitely need to work on this area of fitness if you can't reach much further than your knees. Flexibility is important to overall health, so work on stretching each day to improve flexibility and fitness.

- Balance- Like flexibility, balance is also an important factor in good fitness. An overall healthy body relies heavily on being well balanced, and the risk or injury and broken bones from falls increases drastically with age. To asses your fitness level in this area, try standing on one foot with your arms at your sides for a period of one minute. If you feel as if you may fall, stand close to a wall, table or chair. Work on improving fitness levels in balance, try practicing exercises that focus on and promote good balance like yoga or Pilates.

- Plank- This is a great exercise to asses your core strength and stability. Your fitness level relies on those deep, stabilizing muscles that are in the trunk of your body. Your core strength and fitness can be assessed by practicing holding the plank position for as long as you can. Proper planks are held with the forearms on the floor, toes curled under, and your back straight and parallel to the floor. Doing this exercise each day will increase core muscles and overall fitness.

- Vertical Jump- As kids, this part of our fitness level was certainly up to par, and used often. However, when you get older it is a much looked over part of overall health that can indicate the power exertion your body possesses as well as the power in your muscle fibers. See how high you can jump with markings on a wall or a 2-foot tall box.

- Waist to Hip Ratio- This fitness test is used to asses body fat distribution. The waist to hip ratio indicates the proportion of fat stored around the waist compared to hip girth. Those who hold more weight in their midsection as belly fat, are more likely to experience health problems like heart disease and diabetes, as well as a lower fitness level. To calculate your waist to hip ratio, measure the circumference of the widest part of your hips, and smallest part of your waist. Then divide the waist measurement by the measurement of your hips. For women, a healthy ratio is less than .8, and for men it's less than .9.

- Burpees- This full body exercise is a good way to indicate your fitness level if you can do even a few in a row. A burpee is an intense workout that challenges your muscular fitness, cardiovascular fitness, endurance and body power. Perform as many as possible in one minute to really test and push your fitness level.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Kelly_L_Wade/1229530

Mental Fitness: The Missing Link for Wellness?

Recently, we experienced another tragic event: a mass stabbing at a Pittsburg-area high school. Just one week prior it was yet another mass shooting at Fort Hood. And before that a long line of devastating and preventable tragedies of the kind that are seemingly becoming more common by the day. The Navy Yard, Aurora, Newtown, Virginia Tech, Columbine: once names that simply brought to mind placid locations across our great nation that, sadly now, conjure devastating memories of unspeakable heartbreak.

In the midst of all of this, a national dialogue has again begun to emerge. It's one that, given the questionable mental stability of a great many of the shooters in these events, involves discussions revolving around our nation's attitudes and policies regarding mental health.

~ Are we doing enough to treat the mentally ill?

~ How can we better screen people for mental illness?

~ How can we keep guns out of the hands of those with histories of mental instability?

And so on...

But here's a question I've yet to hear: "What can we do to prevent mental illness to begin with?"

Seems logical. And truthfully, if we were dealing with an epidemic of flu, obesity, or some other physical malady, prevention would be at the top of this list. But strangely, our culture's attitudes and habits pertaining to mental health differ significantly from those toward physical health.

Consider this.

In the realm of the physical, it's universally recognized (albeit not always practiced), that if you want a healthy body, you've got to do preventative maintenance: brush your teeth, eat reasonably healthy food, exercise, get enough rest. Day in and day out we engage in a host of chores designed to help enhance the well-being and longevity of our physical selves.

In other words, we understand that physical fitness is a precursor to physical health. Yet, in matters pertaining to our mental and emotional selves, we find a different story.

Developing habits to nourish and exercise our mental and emotional selves is not something regularly considered by most Americans. On the contrary, most of our effort aimed at attending to our mental and emotional needs are more about coddling than fitness. Feeling stressed? Grab a beer with friends. Sadness got you down? Go see the latest blockbuster movie. Anxious about work? How about a round of golf?

Rather than increasing our mental capacity, we medicate ourselves. We engage in activities to make us feel better in the short run, but without really addressing the root problem which revolves around an insufficient ability to absorb and cope with life's difficulties. It's like addressing your weight gain by removing all the mirrors in the house. Sure it may make you temporarily feel better, but what does it do to solve the problem?

The truth is it's an approach that all too often produces what can only be described as free-range, feral minds.

Mental Fitness Defined

To be clear, in this context Mental Fitness does not refer to the development of knowledge or even mental acuity. This is an important point. Many of the mental activities we undertake to develop our minds have very little to do with Mental Fitness, as referred to here. Examples of activities that DON'T dramatically increase our Mental Fitness levels include:

~ Digesting data as part of the learning process

~ Exercising one's cognitive facility to make the mind more nimble

~ Participating in activities that soothe and nurture the agitated mind and emotions

This is not to say that these activities aren't worthy and valuable, for they obviously are vital in our development as productive and happy human beings. Even so, for the most part, they are not helping to increase our ability to synthesize a relatively ease-filled experience in the most challenging of circumstances. And cultivating that ease-filled experience is heart of Mental Fitness.

The key to the understanding Mental Fitness is the notion of capacity. Mental Fitness is the measure of one's capacity to weather life's challenges without being thrown unduly off balance. It's the capacity to withstand a layoff, to bear a health diagnosis, or to endure a financial challenge with grace, élan, and a sense of confident calm.

We all know people like this, who never seem to be ruffled. A layoff? No problem. IRS audit? Fine. A traffic accident? No biggie. While everyone around them is sent into tailspins, these folks stay calm, cool, and collected no matter what life throws at them. So what is it about these people that makes them so well-equipped to cope artfully with life's challenges?

You guessed it: they have a level of Mental Fitness that allows them to artfully ride out such things. The greater your Mental Fitness level, the greater your mental and emotional capacity, and the greater your capacity for living happily-despite the curve balls life throws your way.

Clearly, this immunity to being buffeted by life's ups and downs seems to be more naturally developed in some people than others. And it's true, some people seem to be born with a natural ability to artfully weather life's challenges-that is to say, they are endowed with a higher than average Mental Fitness level. But-and this is crucial-this in no way is to say that one's Mental Fitness level is fixed.

Again, we can take clues from the physical realm. For the same is true of our innate physical fitness levels. Some of us are natural born athletes, others are anything but. Despite the fact that we humans come in shapes and sizes and physical abilities, no matter what one's natural level of physical fitness is, we ALL can benefit from exercising our physical selves-and improve our physical fitness and live healthier, happier lives.

And so it goes with Mental Fitness.

This means that we are not victims of our natural level of mental fitness, nor of our circumstances. Remember, the greater our Mental Fitness, the easier we can remain undisturbed by the inevitable difficulties that life throws our way. So it paves the way for more happiness and contentment-in good times and bad.

And just as importantly, developing ourselves in this regard can serve as an important component in the health of our communities. Physical fitness aids to stave off physical illness. Mental Fitness aids to stave off mental illness. It's a simple means to enhance the well-being of us all.

With this understanding, the problem becomes one of increasing our Mental Fitness - our capacity to remain mentally and emotionally undisturbed in more and varied circumstances, especially in situations that have historically thrown us off balance.

How do I increase my Mental Fitness?

So, this all begs the question: "How do we increase our Mental Fitness level?" Surprisingly, it's more simple and straightforward than you might think, and truly is not all that different from the way we build more physical fitness!

Think about it. To build our physical capacity, for example your capacity to lift weight, you physically challenge yourself. To lift more weight, you need to lift more weight. Strength builds as you deliberately lift just a bit more weight than you're comfortable with. If you can easily lift 80 pounds, lift 85; once you can lift 85 without difficulty, move up to 90; and so on. You're expanding your capacity for weight lifting by always lifting just a bit more than is comfortable and by staying with the burn.

The same principle applies when you're working to expand your mental and emotional capacity. Here, too, the invitation remains the same: do a bit more than is comfortable and stay with the burn. But for the expansion of our mental and emotional capacity, rather than needing physical weight to provide the resistance needed for growth, we need difficulty or challenge.

Here's the thing: life's challenges, the ones that typically throw us into a tizzy, are for our Mental Fitness, like the weight is to our physical fitness. They are challenges that can be used to increase our capacity to calmly weather life's challenges-but only if we see the opportunities for what they are.

I confess. There is much more nuance to effectively increasing our Mental Fitness levels than is presented in this simplistic explanation. Nevertheless, the premise remains sound. And this I know from experience.

You see, helping people cultivate optimum mental and emotional fitness is my life's work. Over the years I've seen thousands upon thousands of people forge lives of great equanimity and fulfillment even amidst torrents of disappointment and challenges. My chosen tools are drawn from the ancient wisdom of yoga (tapping the lesser-known mental and emotional aspects of the practice beyond mere yoga postures and breath), but that is not to say these are the only tools that can be used to this end.

Is this orientation toward Mental Fitness a silver bullet? Will it end mental illness and completely stave off future killings and other such tragedies? Not by a long shot. For the truth is that Mental Fitness can't completely eradicate mental illness any more than physical fitness can totally end physical illness.

We will always have a need for treatment modalities, facilities, and trained professionals to address the needs of those who have slid into mental illness. Just as we do for those who are physically ill.

But if we could take steps to reduce the incidence of such illness even 5 or 10 or 20 percent, wouldn't it be worth it?

The invitation here is to look at the tremendous impact that forging greater physical fitness has had on reducing physical illness. And then orient toward employing those same principles as a means to increasing our Mental Fitness to help reduce the incidence mental illness as well.

While the true impact of such a movement is uncertain, it seems clear from where I sit that we owe it to the victims and families of these senseless tragedies to at least give it a try.

Eric Walrabenstein is the founder of Yoga Pura, and is one of the most sought-after authorities on the application of yogic technology for self healing and empowerment in the nation. As an author, speaker, and master teacher of mind/body health, E is famous for making yoga's ancient wisdom practical and relevant for people from all walks of life.

A former U.S. Army officer and corporate leader, E is the creator of the BOOTSTRAP yoga program for military members and veterans, a free program specifically designed to help heal the psychological wounds of war. Learn more about the program or register to become a Bootstrap USA instructor at http://www.bootstrapUSA.com.

Learn more about Eric at: http://www.yogi-e.com.

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How Will I Benefit From Working With a Personal Fitness Coach?

You hear about personal coaches a lot recently. Many famous people work with them, Fortune 500 companies hire them to improve the work quality of senior managers, mothers hire them for their children to learn how to be organized. They are not cheap to hire; often they charge you $200-$300 an hour, and corporate coaches charge upward of $1,000 per hour. Are they worth the cost? Well, it depends. If you are not ready, it is a total waste of money, but if you are ready, you will get 10 times more than what you paid for. You really need to think about it before working with a coach.

A personal fitness coach is a coach specialized in fitness, areas such as changing an unhealthy life style into a healthy one, weight control, improving your physical fitness, or even running your first marathon. How is a personal fitness coach different than a personal trainer? A personal trainer teaches you the technical side of the training, such as how to do weight training. A personal fitness coach works with you so that you will be able to find a way to achieve your goal yourself. Many personal fitness coaches are a hybrid between a traditional personal trainer and a personal coach; they can coach you with a large amount of technical knowledge.

So how do you know whether you are ready to work with a personal fitness coach? Personal coaching is known to be very effective when:

* The client is willing to grow and put their mind to it.
* The client knows what she or he really wants, or at least has strong ideas about it.
* There is a significant discrepancy between where she is now and exactly where she would like to be.

If you are clear about these three points, you and your fitness coach can start designing and implementing a plan of action, solve difficulties, and step to a new stage of life.

What are the benefits of working with personal fitness coach? There are quite a few benefits, but the main ones are:

1. You will achieve far more, without being consumed by the process.

When you have someone it is possible to trust and can comfortably talk about what you have in mind, you'll achieve much more due to the fact you afford to.

2. You will take action more often and make smarter choices, since you set the goals and processes that you definitely want.

People are proactive only when they believe they are doing things their way, and doing what they want to do. Helping you to define that path is the very first task of this coach. A fitness coach will work with you to identify what is in your heart in an effort to set up an objective that truly resonates with who you happen to be. Once you develop the ideal goal, you're much more likely to take natural and consistent actions to attain that target.

3. You will possess a balanced existence which operates smoothly, simply because you designed it for yourself!

If you do not have balance in all aspects of your life, something will break at the weakest spot. It is very important to consider yourself first, not your job, not loved ones, and not companions. Consider yourself first; not being egotistical, but self-caring. A personal fitness coach will work with you so that you can be self-caring yet dependable. How can you give your very best to others, if your personal needs aren't met? If you are not healthy, how can you give 100% of your capacity to the the job, or to take care your loved ones? You need to be at your best before you can do your best for others. Balance your living very first.

4. You will increase all aspects of your everyday living, simply because they're all interconnected

For anyone who is thinking of using a personal fitness coach just to increase your wellness, reconsider. You cannot boost just one part of this existence without it affecting other aspects. For example, let's assume that you wish to go to a health club regularly to increase your fitness level. If your have a job and loved ones demand a large chunk of time, you might discover it hard to allocate sufficient time to go to a health club. So you might need to improve your time management skills very first. Of course in case you boost your well being, it will enhance your efficiency at your job, and also the quality of your home life, too.

5. You will make much better decisions for yourself, since your focus is crystal clear

People working with personal coaches are intelligent; yet, they still use a fitness coach. Why? Due to the fact that they know the value of sharing ideas and talking aloud with an individual who understands them without bias, but is honest enough to give their opinions without reservation. You can't do that with most of your friends, or even with your family members. They are willing to give their opinions without actually listening what you are saying. Just talking about your alternatives with somebody who can listen is usually sufficient to have it all become really clear. That is the fitness coach you really want to work with.

And if you get all of this, naturally you will have far more energy, love your life, and live every minute fully. What a benefit! No wonder successful people love to work with a personal fitness coach, and you should, too.

Takashi Isobe is a personal fitness coach [http://fitnesscoachesboston.info] in Boston area. He is an Aikido instructor, ACE certified personal trainer, Coach U graduate personal coach, and avid tango dancer.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Takashi_Isobe/587629

What Is A Life Fitness Coach?

To clarify the role of a life fitness coach is, it is important to understand the purpose of a Life Coach. Regardless of what you believe today, your world and everything and eveyone in it, is dictated by the choices you make every moment of everyday, consciously and more importantly unconsciously. An expert life coach will help you achieve higher awareness of your personal and professional thought patterns, choices, behaviors and resultant outcomes. There are laws which govern your life and everyone elses. These laws are irrefutable, unbreakable and applied equitably to everyone. Yes, everyone, no ifs-ands-or-buts, period. These laws are not subject to human interpretation, governments or anything else. They are the Universal Laws of life.

Ignorance of the laws doesn't mean that they don't apply to you. A life coach guides you and helps you in learning and applying these Universal Laws to achieve what you want in your life. Your coach may not openly define and describe these laws to you, but the techniques used to apply these laws are also universal in nature. So if you learn to use the tools and techniques for harnessing the power of the Universal Laws, you grow in the knowledge and power that you can control all aspects of your life. As a natural by-product of consciously using knowledge and power comes mental, spiritual and physical health, wellness, balance, power and age-less vitality. All of which create peace and harmony in your life.

The major stumbling block to manifesting what you want in your life are your beliefs. Unless you clear yourself of destructive limiting beliefs, you will not be able to harness and unleash your true potential. A good coach become your partner and helps you identify your limiting beliefs, clarify who you are and what you want and then helps you develop a new beliefs blueprint for your life which enables you to shift your focus from what you don't want to what you do want to achieve in your life. Once you are crystal clear on what you want, then your and your life coach partner to create a success plan, including setting goals, developing action plans and identifying potential obstacles. Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, a life coach provides continuous guidance, mentoring, motivation, support and unsurpassed accountability.

Much like a life coach, a life fitness coach guides you through a personal growth process by teaching you the tools and techniques to put the Universal Laws into action as you chose by helping you clarify exactly what you want to accomplish specifically in the area of your overall fitness, while also training you on the proper techniques to achieve your desired fitness goals. A life fitness coach incorporates more than just creating training routines and recommending nutritional plans. A life fitness coach takes a holistic approach to your fitness. You will learn how to overcome life long obstacles and limiting beliefs about your level of fitness, discover that anything is possible, and gain complete clarity of your fitness goals. Your life fitness coach will also help you develop a training and nutritional program that is in complete alignment with your fitness goals.

Finally, a good life fitness coach is your fitness partner and is there to provide you with unsurpassed guidance, support, training, mentoring, motivation and accountability every step of the way along the path to achieving your desired fitness results. To ensure that you are receiving the best possible fitness coaching, it is suggested that you look for a life fitness coach that is both a certified personal trainer through a reputable organization and a certified life coach.

Dawna Miller is a Certified Life Coach through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a Certified Life Coach through the Life Coach Institute. Dawna is the founder of Unplugged Empowerment, LLC [http://unpluggedempowerment.com] a personal and professional life coaching and life fitness coaching [http://myjacksonvillepersonaltrainer.com] company. Unplugged Empowerment's mission, the realization of a life long dream of Dawna's, is to inspire each client to break the bondage of surviving day to day to create a life masterpiece and to achieve and expect excellence in all aspects of their lives.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Dawna_R_Miller/837982