By Katie Albert, PT, DPT
With the start of a New Year, we naturally start thinking about those resolutions! However, thinking back on previous years, how many have we actually met? Without having something to hold us accountable, resolutions often go by the wayside within a few months, despite our best efforts. What if it were easier to measure the effects of your fitness efforts, as well as your progress towards a healthier you?
Introducing The Fit Factor, a physical therapist designed, easy-to-use questionnaire designed to determine your fitness level by answering simple questions and completing simple movements and tasks in your own home! When you repeat the Fit Factor over time, you will be able to easily assess your fitness progress and feel empowered to reach your wn health and fitness goals. In addition, your Fit Factor results will help you focus your fitness efforts on the activities that will help you the most.
After logging into the survey, The Fit Factor took me a mere 5 minutes to complete from beginning to end, and by the final question, I had a good idea as to how my physical fitness compared to others of my same age and gender. With a score of 73%, I was placed in Level 5, the Silver Level, and they explained why based on my answers. Every question is followed by educational videos that provide you tools to improve. For example, since I am recovering from my own episode of back pain, I answered that I was not able to sit or stand for longer than 1 hour without slouching and without pain. I was able to watch the following videos for posture tips and strategies to change my workstation. Optimizing one’s workstation is key to decreasing pain for back and neck problems, so I appreciated that the suggestions were personalized to me and at my fingertips!
One example of an assessment to determine fitness is determining how many push-ups you can perform in 1 minute. Did you know that guidelines exist for the number of push-ups, based gender and age? Do you meet the criteria below?
Age | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60+ |
Males Military Push-Ups | 35-44 | 24-34 | 20-29 | 15-24 | 10-19 |
Women Modified Push-Ups | 17-33 | 12-24 | 8-19 | 6-14 | 3-4 |
If not, complete The Fit Factor, and the program will give you step-by-step tips to follow in order to improve this aspect of your fitness! After a few weeks, take The Fit Factor again to see how your efforts have changed your fitness status! Take The Fit Factor today to help you establish achievable New Year’s resolutions, and who knows what level you might reach by 2018!
If after completing the Fit Factor you print or email your scores to you physical therapist, he or she would be happy to review your results and provide even more personalized recommendations!
Katie Albert, PT, DPT, is a physical therapist at PhysioPartners in Lakeview. She can be reached at katiealbert@physiopartners.com