More than one-fourth of the world's population is unfit. This 25% of people aren't physically fit enough to be considered healthy.
But how can we tell if we're a part of that population? How do we measure our fitness level, and do we need to keep track of things like muscular endurance and body mass index (BMI)?
If you're asking any of these questions, you need a fitness health assessment. Fitness tests can help you and your healthcare providers understand what level of fitness you're at. With this information, you can plan to improve your fitness and lower your health risk.
To learn more about fitness lab tests and fitness in general, keep reading.
What Is a Fitness Health Assessment?
A fitness health assessment includes various exercises and tests that help evaluate your current level of health. To cover different kinds of health, it's important to assess different areas of the body and different abilities.
A fitness health assessment will include many different stages. Here are some examples:
- General health evaluation
- Body composition measurements
- Cardiovascular endurance testing
- Muscular endurance testing
- Flexibility testing
- Fitness lab tests
Each one of these categories is essential in determining the condition of your health. So, it's important not to skip any areas.
Since it's the least physical part of the evaluation, many people skip blood testing. It may not seem like an indicator of endurance or strength, but it still allows you and your healthcare team to determine how well the insides of your body are doing.
It's important to note that - just because you work out and/or eat right - doesn't mean that you're healthy on the inside. This is why we need to get a good look at the whole picture before your healthcare provider can truly say whether or not you fall within normal limits for your age.
Benefits of Getting a Fitness Health Assessment
The results of your fitness health assessment can tell you and your healthcare providers a lot about your health inside and out.
First, it gives your healthcare team a baseline. By knowing where your health levels and physical capacities are now, you and your healthcare provider can make better decisions about your health in the future.
For example, your healthcare provider may note some hypertension and high blood glucose during your exam. With this information, they now understand what your future goals need to focus on. Even better, they know how to help you improve from these numbers.
Next, a health assessment can be great for people already struggling with chronic illness or those starting to develop signs of something more serious. For these individuals, fitness tests can act as an incentive.
Fitness health assessments are concrete, and they provide exact numbers. From this objective data, patients can begin bettering themselves and improving their overall health. Seeing those numbers improve acts as a sort of incentive for these individuals.
Lastly, we should highlight the importance of fitness tests in training. Whether you're an athlete who's in conditioning or someone who likes going to the gym with their personal trainer, fitness tests can make it easy to set goals. Your trainer can test your current physical condition and help you figure out what your future goals are.
Overall, fitness health assessments are good for anyone and everyone. Even if you're not an athlete, fitness tests can help better your health overall and keep you more mindful about your body's condition.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Poor Fitness?
Since your fitness level has to do with the condition of your entire body, the signs and symptoms of being unfit are plentiful. Also, these signs and symptoms exist all over the body.
Here are some examples of the most common signs and symptoms of poor fitness:
- Labored breathing
- Shortness of breath after light activities
- Mood swings
- Weak or aching muscles after minimal activity
- Insomnia or other sleeping problems
- The development of health-related chronic diseases
This last sign is worth talking about. Notice how we're referring to health-related chronic diseases rather than all of them.
It's important to note that some people are predisposed to form these kinds of diseases due to genetic or environmental factors. So, we're not including congenital diseases or genetic predispositions here.
Rather, we're talking about some of the most notable chronic illnesses that have formed in individuals because of their eating habits, exercise habits, and other lifestyle choices. This could include hypertension, type II diabetes, coronary artery disease, and the like. Although these conditions have a genetic component, they can be exacerbated by poor diet and activity choices.
When in doubt, talk to your healthcare provider about your health and your goals.
How Is Fitness Monitored With Lab Tests?
Before wrapping up, we should talk about fitness lab tests. As we said, this is the most underrated part of the fitness health assessment. However, it can tell you the most about your actual health.
Just because someone isn't obese doesn't mean that they're healthy on the inside. Likewise, just because someone is obese doesn't mean they're unhealthy.
Since you cannot determine someone's health by looking at them, you should get lab testing. Here are some common tests that healthcare providers order to evaluate fitness level and health risk:
Fitness lab tests will include all of these basic tests, along with several others. This gives you a bigger picture of your fitness levels than you'll see from recorded training sessions.
Our fitness lab panels contain important tests that can provide you insight into how your body is actually doing. Fitness lab tests will include all of these basic tests, along with several others. This gives you a bigger picture of your fitness levels.
The fitness lab panels will include all of these basic tests, along with many others, to provide you a larger picture of your fitness levels and overall health. Here are your options:
- Fitness - Basic - The basic fitness test includes 4 different tests that examine 62 biomarkers.
- Fitness - Basic Plus - This test includes all of those included with the basic test. It also will give you aldolase results to provide insight into cardiovascular health.
- Fitness - Advanced - The advanced option includes 16 tests, including 80 biomarkers for the athlete looking to get serious.
- Fitness - Comprehensive - The comprehensive option is the best choice for those looking to become professional athletes. You will get back results from 25 tests including 116 biomarkers.
- Performance - Basic - If you are focused on performance, you may wish to start with the basic package that includes five tests showing 66 biomarker results.
- Performance - Basic Plus - The basic plus option provides 16 tests with 105 biomarkers.
- Performance - Advanced - If you are getting serious about your performance, take a look at the advanced package. It includes 20 tests with 112 biomarkers.
- Performance - Comprehensive - You'll get the most out of the comprehensive package. With 40 tests for 142 biomarkers, you can figure out everything you need to know about improving performance.
Get Your Fitness Lab Tests at Ulta Lab Tests
If you haven't gotten a fitness health assessment recently, you should get one as soon as possible. With fitness lab tests, you'll be able to tell if you're developing any chronic illnesses. If you catch them early, you can turn them around before it's too late.
Check out our fitness lab tests to see what your health risks are. Ulta Lab Tests offers highly accurate and reliable tests, so you can make informed decisions about your health. Benefits of using Ulta Lab Tests include:
- 2100 patient service centers across the nation
- Secure and confidential results delivered to you in 24 to 48 hours for most tests
- No insurance required
- No doctor’s referral required
- A 100% satisfaction guarantee
Take control of your fitness health with Ulta Lab Tests today!
