I modified the tests to fit my fitness goals.

Body Fat:
Girth Measurements:
Hips: 105cm
Upper Arm: 33 cm
Wrist: 15.3 cm
Waist: 94 cm
Forearm: 27 cm
Thigh: 59cm

I used the website www.brianmac.co.uk/fatgirth.htm to calculate my body fat. The calculator is based on "Essentials of Excercise Physiology by W.D. McArdle M.D. et al."

My body fat is 32.4% which is consistent with measurements done in previous years. I weigh 165.8 lbs and am 5'9". I did a test in high school (now 9 years ago) with a little machine and I had 31% body fat and weighed 168 lbs. (I used the weight room a little bit more back then)

My body fat/weight goals are: To reduce my body fat by 2% - 5%. (Since I started this quite late that gives me about 6 weeks to accomplish this.) I would like to reduce my weight by 13 lbs. This summer I weighed 153 lbs, and gained about 13 lbs in 3 months (oh those cold winter months.) So losing 13 lbs in the same amount of time seems reasonable. I would like to try an average loss of 2 lbs a week. (Which would mean that in 6 weeks I could lose 12 lbs.)

Comments:
I do walk and run quite a bit more now than I did in high school, and consider myself to be in much better shape than I was then. I think this is a classic case of of the weight 'moving' to different areas. I have much stronger legs at this point, but I am fighting a bit of a tummy and my arms aren't exactly what they used to be. So my general fitness goals will involve work in those particular areas.

Cardiovascular test:
I can run a mile and a half in 10 min making my VO2max at 51.1

Goals:
There was about a month and half where I did no regular walking or running at all so my ability has slipped. I would like to work toward a 9.0min run. (My muscles are capable, its that my lung capacity has gone down substantially - and the only way to increase that is practice.)

Muscular Strength:

I modified this a lot for several reasons. One is that I don't have a whole lot of muscular strength, particularly in my arms and torso. (11 modified push-ups and 28 bent leg curl ups.) I do have a lot of strength in my legs, but that has always been true. Even at my heaviest I was always at the top of the class when it came to the leg press.

Goals:

I modified this test to fit my own goals. I wanted to focus on exercises I could do regularly and with out help from someone else. I read an article about a woman who decided to do push-ups 1 min a day. She lost seven lbs. So my goal is to do push-ups 1 min a day, and sit ups 1 min a day and see what happens. This will be in addition to strength training at my gym.

Comments:
I do have access to weights and equipment - but I haven't actually made it all the way to the weight room yet (I have been on the elliptical machine) so my goal is to do that on monday, go through a variety of exercises and see how I do. Then at the end of the class compare results.

The Muscle exercises I feel I can do and have access to are:
Arm curl and Heel Raises (pg. 233)
Bench Press (235), Leg Press (236), Bent-over lateral raise (237), Lat Pull Down (240), Triceps Extension (241), Shoulder and Chest Press (243), Stability Ball exercises (248)

I'll also be working on flexibility exercises from pages 272 - 278.

Other:

My goal is basically to get to the weight room 3 times a week, which seems impossible since I made it to the gym only once last week. I do walk every morning anywhere from a half mile to three miles, and run about once a week. So the basic focus is to improve my running time and to improve my strength by doing strength exercises 3 times a week.

Hannah