It is a couple of weeks since I last blogged. Life has got in the way again. The most significant in terms of my fitness goals is successfully completing the fitness assessment module of the Personal Training Diploma that I am undertaking.

There were nine of us undertaking the three day module, six women and three men. We came from a range of backgrounds and ages. Not surprisingly I was the oldest participant on the course with the next oldest being a 44 year old policeman. The only time reference that was made to my age was when one of the women questioned why at the age of 34 she was putting herself through the demands of the course so couldn’t understand why I was doing it.  She was clearly stressing herself out as passing the assessment was an important step towards a much wanted change of career. Whilst for me no such pressure exists. I am just loving doing the course and if at the end I can pass on what I have learnt to one or two clients then I will be one happy woman.

But back to the course. The aim  was to equip us with the knowledge and skills to undertake a fitness assessment on a client the results of which then inform the development of a training programme. Two days of teaching and practical application followed by an assessment on day 3.

As we didn’t have clients to practice on we needed to practice on each other. So I had my blood pressure taken numerous times and my fat pinched into submission.  I also had my cardio, strength and flexibility fitness assessed. One of the cardio assessments is the Rockport Walk Test where you walk as fast as you can for a mile. At the end your time, heart rate,weight and age is fed into a complex calculation to give you a fitness rating. Out of the nine of us I did the fastest walk resulting in a superior rating. Very useful for my walk into work last Thursday during the Tube strike.

Where I didn’t excel, in fact it was a poor show, was flexibility.

I have previously identified this with my Personal Trainer as an area that I needed to work on so we do do more flexibility work in our sessions but I need to do more.

Whilst many of us look upon exercise as the step towards fitness challenges (10k and Spartan) the true definition of being physically fit is having a set of attributes that allows the individual to participate in day to day activity be they work, rest or play. The attributes include cardio fitness, strength and flexibility. The latter is particularly important for the older adult. It is little consolation to complete a marathon if you can’t get your knickers on.

And why this may sound flippant the ability to undertake day to day tasks many of which will be personnel could be the difference between being independent and the nursing home.

I am determined to keep control of my knickers into old age.