For a person to lose weight effectively, it is mandatory to set goals. They will provide a milestone that needs to be reached, thereby ensuring a person will follow through with their workouts and fitness lifestyle. Setting them alone will not be sufficient; a person’s progress will also need to be tracked. Personal trainers can help an individual to do both by doing in-depth body assessments. In this blog, we will examine how they do it and what type of tests are used.

What are in-depth body assessments?

They are also known as fitness assessments and are completed with clients to determine their health and body condition. Most people tend to look at only their weight to determine how much they have lost. While weight is a decent indicator, it does not encompass all facets of a person. It is common for people to lose other metrics more prominently, especially in the beginning. Therefore, if they only look at weight, they may feel discouraged.

However, personal trainers will assess other metrics, giving a person a more accurate reading of their body’s condition. This will ensure that an individual will set goals that are more achievable and suitable for them and track progress more accurately.

What are the types of assessments?

To assess a person’s body, a personal trainer will use different types of tests. Let’s look at what they are.

Anthropometric measures (body composition)

These are measurements that aim to identify what an individual’s body composition is. Individuals can also do the more fundamental aspects of this test at home, as they are quick and easy to measure. They include weight, height, resting heart rate, blood pressure, hip circumference, and weight circumference.

Hip and weight circumference can be used to identify an individual’s waist to hip ratio, which is an indicator of health risk. Suppose the ratio is above 0.86 in women or 1.0 in men. In that case, it indicates a high level of risk, and a person will need to undergo an immediate lifestyle change.

Body Mass Index, also known as BMI, is a calculation made using a person’s weight and height measurements. Trainers can manually calculate the number, use online tools or a chart to determine their client’s BMI. While it is easy to calculate and does not require special equipment, it is not as accurate as other measurements. It also does not take into account lean body tissue, fat tissue, and muscle.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness

It is a specialized test that is mainly done in laboratory settings. Cycle ergometer tests or treadmills will be used to measure an individual’s VO2max. The latter refers to how much oxygen is absorbed by the body of a person during exercise. The most accurate way to measure this requires special equipment and should be carried out by only a professional. However, if this is unavailable, other methods can be used.

The Cooper Institute developed a twelve-minute run test. After a quick warm-up, a client runs for twelve minutes, and then the distance run is used to estimate VO2 max. There are other methods, but this has been prevalent for the longest time and is used by even the best personal trainers.

Muscular strength and endurance (muscle fitness)

This test aims to measure the amount of force generated by an individual’s muscles (strength)and how long they can repeat a specific exercise (endurance). The assessment used for muscular strength is one repetition maximum (1RM). It measures the heaviest amount of weight an individual can lift with the correct form.

Muscular endurance is tested by measuring the number of times a person can repeat a specific exercise and then comparing the results to other people of similar gender and age.

Suppose you wish to have an in-depth body assessment carried out. In that case, you can visit a personal trainer. They will be able to measure your body and help you track your fitness level and progress accurately.