makeqfit

Here are couple of documents I did a while back. They are standard fitness strength test, that are used in many gyms.

female fitness test.

male fitness test.

Getting fit and staying in shape is not just a physical thing. Obviously there is the aesthetic that drives one on, seeing your body change, dropping weight, the feeling of health and mobility. But, at times, everyone, even we who are in the sports and fitness industry, do not feel like putting the effort to stay fit or improve in our chosen sport. This of course is your mind messing with you. Your body will put in as much effort as you are prepared to push it through. To that end I have found if you want to get better at anything, it is best learn from those who do well, if not brilliantly, what ever they turn their hand to. Below is an excerpt from a question and answer session given by Sir Alex Ferguson - the multi trophy winning manager of Manchester United. It shows how one particular "winner" thinks.

Sir Alex said : I think there are three elements to developing sport.
The first one is practice. He said people have got to be given the time to practice. That's the most crucial element. He said if you haven't got the work ethic to practice, you've got no chance.
And he told the story about Eric Cantona after his first day at training. When they finished, Eric said, "Can I borrow a couple of lads, a couple of players?"
"Yeah, what for?" said Fergie.
"I want to practice," said Eric.
So Fergie went over to another part of the Cliff and got two young lads. And Eric said, "I need a goalie as well." So he went and got him a goalie .
And Cantona spent the rest of the afternoon practicing volleys. And Fergie said that the next day, after training, he found some the first team players were hanging around. One player completely changed the culture. From then on, everybody stayed on for extra training. He said : Eric completely changed my training routines. Before that my training routines had been a getting a bit of everything done in a limited period of time.
So that was the first thing : practice !
Then Fergie went on to talk about coaching and said that coaches weren't sufficiently respected. He said coaches were very, very important. Without them you're not gonna get anywhere - but, frankly, coaches are disrespected. Coaches get sacked on whims, don't get proper time, proper support.
And the last thing is the winning mentality. It's all very well encouraging kids, parents can do that. But when it comes to coaching, you've got to instil the winning mentality. And there's no excuse for not doing that, for saying they're too young. You've got to foster a winning mentality.The coaches have to demand a winning mentality.

Though this is related to a team activity, it is wholly applicable to an individual, after all a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

As the golfer Gary Player once said, "The more I practice the luckier I get."

A couple of months ago, the Karate instructor at our club was looking in at the class, the lads were half through forty-five minutes of sparring, and mentioned that he felt his boys would give mine a good fight. From that brief conversation, we decided that we should let the guys show what they got. There was some trepidation amongst all concerned; what rules would we fight by, how hard would people hit; "they hit to the face?!" Karate guys, "what do you mean they all compete?!" my guys - so there were some reservations. On Friday the 13th - really - we finally got it on! As it turned out it was quite an even contest, no major injury (there was some blood...) and nobody embarrassed themselves. We are of course going to have a rematch, probably end of summer. Look out for....the Showdown 2!

Don't forget my shop...

    Most people seem to treat inanimate objects and personal possessions better than they treat the one thing they cannot replace; their body. One would not put diesel oil in a petrol engine car, so should not the same apply to one's body? In a previous blog I highlighted the detrimental effects of alcohol, here I would like to draw attention to a certain ingredient found in many fizzy drinks: E211 - sodium benzoate.
   It has been long suspected that E211 could, in some children, increase hyperactivity, a charge levelled at many E number additives and preservatives. E211 was also found to be carcinogenic when mixed with vitamin C additives. Most worryingly, a recent study found that E211 had a negative effect on the body at a molecular level, apparently causing the bodies "power cells", mitochondria, to become inactive. Mitachondria is neccesssary for just about every function in the body, powering the cells in the body.
    Generally speaking, fizzy drinks have no nutrional value whatsoever, in fact they are the "diesel in a petrol engine car" equivolent of liquid ingestion. There are many additives which possibly do more harm than good to the human body, but the popularity of fizzy drinks probably makes the additives in them more harmful, being a liquid they are absorbed more quickly and readily by the body. In our fast moving and living society, it is difficult to know what to eat and drink and takes less than an hour to prepare! But a little time looking at your intake and its ingredients could prevent wasted hours in the doctor's surgery in the future.

For more info on food and drink ingredients and additives check this great link.

Don't forget...check my shop!