Fitness Assessment in more detail

Health and fitness tests in your Fitness Health Assessment

Fitness measures Hide

Fitness score: The VO2 max (also known as maximal oxygen uptake) measures how efficient your body is at taking in, delivering and using oxygen. The test involves cycling on a stationary bicycle or running on a treadmill (selected locations only^{^}) with gradual increases in workload.

Body metabolism during exercise: We monitor your respiratory responses throughout exercise using a mouthpiece that shows the amount of fat and carbohydrate used. This allows us to identify your ideal training levels.

Advice on exercise: We’ll help you develop the right exercise routine to help you to meet your health and fitness goals, based on the results of a cardio respiratory fitness analysis, your medical questionnaire and health assessment test results.

Strength assessment: Strength is a core element of fitness, so we estimate your overall strength through our grip dynamometer test.

Flexibility test: A measurement of your flexibility through a trunk flexion assessment. We then compare your results to population averages and advise you on ways to improve flexibility. If you take further health assessments, we can monitor your flexibility over time.

Body composition measures Hide

Body fat percentage: We work out how much of your body is made up of fat and how much is lean tissue, such as muscle and bone. Combined with a Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement, this can indicate your ideal healthy weight.

Height and weight measurement: We combine and compare these measurements with other tests.

Waist to height ratio: This is a measurement of fat stored around your middle, which can indicate whether you’re at a higher risk of developing heart disease and diabetes.

BMI: This is a ratio of your height to weight, which helps to indicate if you are at a healthy weight. People with a BMI of 25 and over can have a higher-than-average risk of health problems like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.

Heart and lung tests Hide

Blood pressure and pulse rate: We check for higher-than-normal blood pressure (hypertension) as this means that the heart has to work harder to push blood around your body. Over the long term, this is associated with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and kidney failure.

Read more about blood pressure

Electrocardiogram (ECG): This measures the electrical activity of the heart while you are at rest. An ECG can help identify problems with the heart such as coronary artery disease, an enlarged heart or disturbances in the electrical control of the heart (arrhythmia).

Read about how an ECG works

Lung function tests: Measurement of the flow of air through your lungs, the size and volume of your lungs, and how efficiently they work. Results can indicate early signs of lung disease and conditions such as emphysema, chronic bronchitis and asthma.

Measurement of heart and lung efficiency: We monitor your heart rate, oxygen uptake and lung response during exercise. Efficient heart and lung response is important for good levels of cardiovascular fitness.