Work out every part of your fitness to achieve any goal

In the last blog I spoke about what a clapped out mess you most probably are. I also spoke about the fact that this is pretty much all about me so when I say “you” I really mean “me”….

Let’s get to it. We want a great body. Aesthetically, athletically, holistically and functionally. But where is the starting point for this body? What is our body capable of at this exact moment?

Use as many of these metrics below as you can to answer this question:

1. Body fat percentage
2. Visceral fat level
3. Lean mass in kg
4. Bone density
5. V02 max score
6. 1 rep max for bench, deadlift, squat and strict overhead press
7. Dead hang time in minutes/seconds
8. Calisthenics scores for push ups, chin ups, pistol squat, plank
9. Flexibility – tests range from standard sit and reach to just seeing if you can squat all the way to the floor without falling over.
10. 1.5 mile, 100m ski erg or 500m row time or the equivalent.
11. Metabolic efficiency scores such as PNOĒ

Think of these markers as your body’s MOT scores. There’s no such thing as a perfect score and you don’t need to measure them all but if you are thinking about how to improve all of these metrics then you will be on the right track.

If you look at your health using points of reference like this then it never becomes emotional and you can always see what you need to do to improve. This puts you in control and that feels good. You get to decide what you want from your body.

When your car needs a service you don’t get upset about the fact your right side tire is balding, you just change it and apart from the cost you don’t feel all emotional about needing a new transmission. You just get it sorted. This is no different.

To make it even more simple you can take a select few metrics which focus on your main goals. However in pursuit of becoming the total all round package the more metrics you track and improve the better.

Here are a few really basic goal categories and what metrics to use to score yourself:

GOAL

Aesthetics: Dropping fat and building muscle. Looking like a powerful athlete
1, 2 & 3

Strength: 6, 7 & 8

Sporting improvement: 6, 8, 9 & 10

Flexibility and freedom of movement: 8 & 9

All of our programmes target and track all metrics because we should be ready for anything. Wherever you are on your fitness journey don’t carry on without incorporating some of these tests into your training as you’ll only be flying blind.

To make it easier we have a whole ebook of the fitness tests that we use with all of the scores and what you should be able to achieve as a beginner all the way up to the level of an absolute machine. If you want a copy just drop us a line and we shall send it straight over.

I want you to be great and you want you to be great so lets make the first step and see where you are now as it may be better than you think.

Here is the link to our testing PDF to see where you are at the moment. Let me know how you get on or if you just need a little help.

Tim