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Another Diet Forum > General Discussions > General Discussions > Fitness tests to Assess Fitness and Health Risks |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member 
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This article has some interesting fitness tests. If you scroll down there is one that determines your longevity by how well you can get up off of the floor from a sitting position without using your hands or knees. I have improved on this one since doing squats. Above that one is a test stating that a person should be able to hold the plank position for 2 minutes. That one I cannot do. I need to work on it. The world record of being able to hold the plank for 1 hour and 20 minutes is impressive! http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2014/02/14/3-fitness-tests.aspx?e_cid=20140214Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140214Z1&et_cid=DM39372&et_rid=427675646 |
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Nancy_in_GA Moderator 
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With some trial and error I figured out how to get down and up from the floor without even a knee. The trick for me was where I put my feet getting up (but it wasn't pretty). So I got a 10! That was fun. Anyone else try it? |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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My balance is a bit off and I have to put my arms out to do it. From now on every time I get up off the floor I am going to be mindful of this. Doing the plank is especially a hard one for me. I have a little scoliosis and I've never had a strong back, but I should work on it. When I exercise I usually do a couple of sessions of holding the plank for 30-40 seconds, but it is unpleasant! I don't like doing it.  I should get a stop watch because I just count the seconds and that has got to be unreliable, especially when I feel weak and just want to hurry through it. The benefits of increasing your core strength are suppose to be pretty good...an increase in energy and overall tasks should be easier so I really should make an effort to work on this. |
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Nancy_in_GA Moderator
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I managed the plank for an even 60 seconds. The first 20 seconds were really hard and then it was like I got a second wind for 30 more seconds, the last 10 were downright painful. |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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That is pretty good Nancy! I did 4X Plank at 40 seconds each. with my other exercises this morning. Now my back hurts and my muscles are shaky. Hopefully someday I will get better at it. |
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mollymoo24 Distinguished Member 
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I don't seem to have any difficulty getting up and down. The rest of the tests...well...not so hot. Very interesting, thanks. |
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Nir Senior Administrator 
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I'm not sold on this. I can get a 10 on getting up and down but it seems safer for me to use assistance. For me it is not about strength but about balance. I believe that I have dyspraxia traits (I don't know if they qualify for a diagnosis or not) and/or that my sense of balance (balance is one of the 7 senses) is impaired. Such clumsiness is generally quite common with autism so it might be entirely explainable with my primary diagnosis and not merit a second diagnosis. Being a sense, it is hard/impossible to improve. I think it makes more sense to work on adaptations to avoid falling down than to pursue a potentially dangerous activity. |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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I tend to be a fairly skeptical person in general and I think about the information that is presented to me before just accepting it. I think a little skepticism is healthy. I posted this article mainly as a fun thing to think about. I certainly do not like to have someone else's ideals placed on me. Especially about my own mortality. I am surprised to hear of your suggested diagnoses of both the autism and the dyspraxia Nir. I had to look up dyspraxia. http://www.ncld.org/types-learning-disabilities/dyspraxia/what-is-dyspraxia I know it is hard to get to know people online and it is far different than getting to know someone in person, but gosh I have not come across any hint of you having any kind of functional impairment. You are certainly extremely intelligent. I can be clumsy too. I've always been a little self conscious about it. |
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Nir Senior Administrator
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I was 'walking funny', people making fun of me when I was in my 30s. My body is somewhat unsuitable for running (it wasn't long after I started that I became rather injured and I had to desist from running for twice as many weeks before I was back to normal). In general though being rubbish at movement has prompted me to work twice as hard at it "just to show them" and that applies to both exercise and dance. Sometimes it is helpful to understand that I'm different - for example when instructors think that they WILL get your feet to be more parallel to each other, or get you to balance on one leg, when you know that this just isn't going to happen... |
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Sassykat Distinguished Member
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That is awesome that you are so determined and you keep persevering to strengthen your abilities. That takes a lot I think, in mental strength and will power. Sometimes I don't care what other people think of me and then other times I probably care too much. I don't like to fail or feel like a failure. I had a very strict step father and he constantly criticized me and compared me to his daughter. It has affected my life a great deal. Some people have suggested that I go to the Zoomba exercise classes and I feel much more comfortable exercising at home. I kind of don't want to be out of breath and out of shape around everyone else. I'm too self conscious. I'm also self conscious about my home and whether or not it looks shabby to other people who have nicer homes, but I'm beginning to care somewhat less about that particular issue. It's just not that important in the grand scheme of life. In fact the only thing that is truly important is how we treat each other. Having this little talk with you Nir, has helped remind me of that. Thank you. |
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