Today, I want to explore how you can focus on your pulse, physical ability, and exercise tests to assess your health. All of these can be excellent ways to measure your fitness.
I recently stumbled across a New York Times article reminding me of problems with relying on weight as a fitness measure.
Physical ability, heart rate, and exercise tests often tell you more about your health than the scale ever could.
And these alternative measures don’t carry all of the emotional baggage that comes with the scale.
Weight Is A Problem
Please don’t get me wrong; the United States has a weight problem. The statistics are troubling:
A pie chart showing 40 percent of Americans are obese (and 60 percent non-obese). More than 2 in 5 adults (42 percent) have obesity. Moreover, about one in 11 adults (9 percent) have severe obesity.
More than two in 5 adults (42 percent) have obesity. Moreover, about one in 11 adults (9 percent) have severe obesity.
Among adults ages 20 and over, there are no significant differences in the prevalence of obesity by sex or age.
I want to talk about three alternative measures of health.
Activity to Measure Your Fitness
I write about exercise more than any other topic.
A quick correction: My focus is on physical activity; many mistakenly believe that activity needs to be vigorous to count as exercise.
For me, walking is key to my non-resistance training workout.
Moving is one of the most important ways to optimize physical and mental well-being.
Fitness versus Body Mass Index (BMI)
I prefer measuring my exercise capacity more than weight because muscle is denser than fat. As I prepare for a Master (read: over 60)…