Dr. George L. Dixon - "Talking Fitness"

WHERE I AM??

Do you ever wonder how physically able you are? Well, sure, we all do, especially as we demonstrate ocasionally that we aren’t as strong, quick and able to persevere as long. So we begin a physical activity plan of any sort and then we wonder how to go about measuring progress.

I have just sent away for a splendid book, "Exercise: A Guide from the National Institute of Aging". You may do the same, see below.

Try these tests to measure your present abilities and your progress:

1. Endurance. See how far you can walk in exactly 6 minutes. Write down how far you walked (in feet, blocks, laps, miles, number of times you walked down a long hallway, or whatever is convenient for you). Do this every month. As your endurance improves, you will find that you can walk farther in 6 minutes.

2. Lower-body power. Time yourself as you walk up a flight of at least 10 stairs as fast as you safely can. Record your score. Repeat the test on the same stairs, one month later. It should take you less time.

3. Balance. Time yourself as you stand on one foot, with minimal or no support, as long as possible. (Near something sturdy to grab if you need to do so). Record your score. Repeat standing on the other foot. Test yourself again in one month. The time should be longer.

If you test yourself more often than monthly you will not be encouraged as your scores will vary widely. Weighing yourself too often has a similar variability.

You see that I did NOT put any "normal" values in for you to latch onto, although there are some for these examples. That is not my message. It is that you may start at ANY level of physical ability and as you persist in physical activity, these will improve, encouraging you to continue. You may also have recognized these tests as previews of beginning exercise activities. Some of you might not be able to complete these tests, but do a bit of them daily and try again in a month.

How to get the wonderful book mentioned above? Call 800-222-2225 and ask the nice folks to send Publication No. NIH 99-4258. They will do so, free, along with a catalogue of other very interesting offerings of NIH. It is YOUR tax money and this has been well spent.

More help is available in "Exercise a la Carte", here, at your bookstore or call 800-624-4952.