As mentioned, Cindy drove up to Idaho Falls last week so we could run some tests Les is using in writing her program. I got really busy after she left, so just now getting the numbers up for everyone to see what we tested.
Fist test was a Metabolism test done on a Metachek machine.
This is the best way to determine a person's actual energy (calories) needs then a nutrition program can be designed on a good foundation instead of guessing (average metabolism varies +/- 10% so a few hundred calories per day which can add up).
Metachek uses oxygen consumed measure via Douglas Baggs Method and is very trustworthy. It reported average metabolism for Cindy, which is always good news (don't want to be low and she's not.)
Cindy tested at 1483 calories per day Resting Metabolism Rate or 10.5 calories per pound per day based on her weight of 145 w/clothes.
So at Cindy's current weight of 145 pounds, she requires 1483 per day to maintain weight. She'll require 10.5 less calories for every pound she loses.
We weighed her in shoes/clothes, so her actual weight is closer to 140, but the 10.5 calories/pound/day doesn't change regardless of her weight, so whatever her weight is, we multiply by 10.5 to get her max calorie intake to maintain her weight. Obviously we want to have a deficit below the 1483 to lose, and I'll leave that up to Les to determine. In very active people who track intake accurately, we let them eat the 1483 from mostly clean sources and let the exercise be the deficit. Everyone's different, so we usually follow the numbers for a few weeks making adjustments as needed.
Next test we ran was Body Fat %, determined by pinch caliper, three site method- tricep, supraillium, and mid-thigh, two samples each site, so pretty accurate.
She didn't score too bad (29.1) compared to other women her age, but would need to drop about 5% to get in the excellent category which is where most athletes need to score to maximize performance. High Country Archery Mule Deer hunting is an athletic sport and any extra body fat just slows us down.
The test recommended her to get to 25% body fat which would occur at 137 pounds or 132 adjusted for clothes. Plenty of time between now and the hunt to hit that 8 pound weight loss IF Cindy really gets after it, exercise AND diet wise (go Cindy!).
Once Body Fat was determined, I ran a battery of other fitness tests on a Microfit machine: VO2 Max (cardio system efficiency), Resting Heart Rate & Blood Pressure, strength, flexibility. Determining these numbers is important for focus. So many people want to "get in shape" but really have no idea where they are starting from. This usually results in wasted time working on something that doesn't need the attention at the expense of something else that does. Fitness testing brings a focus to a program AND can motivate with future tests as the client knows exactly what she is aiming for.
Cindy is unique in that she either scores excellent or fair, not much in between like a lot of people do.
Her Cardio system is in good shape already and test tells me that she will respond well to training as she wasn't really hitting the gym regularly before we tested, but still has great VO2 and resting heart rate. Think what regular, properly designed workouts would do for her! VO2 max is a number representing how much oxygen an individual can deliver to working muscles. The higher, the better. Cindy scored above 11 METS (meaning she can deliver 11x the amount of oxygen as she can at rest.) That is pretty good, but should be higher. I'd like to see her in the mid-teens for her hunt. Most cardio sport athletes will be in the mid-teens. For reference, super athletes like Armstrong are in the 30's, but they are genetic freaks.
Her Flexibility is bad due to her back issues, but still could and should be improved. I recommended her seeing a good Physical Therapist if she really wants to improve flexibility due to her injury/surgery, then moving on to a good Pilates program that she really needs to stick with for life to get the most out of her back.
Her strength, like cardio is great and will improve accordingly with training.
All in all, Cindy has a good fitness base and with a long term approach changing her lifestyle accordingly, she could achieve top numbers in all areas and be in excellent condition given time and hard work. Best of luck to Cindy and Les.
Cindy, her daughter Katelyn, and yours truly. Thanks for coming up Cindy!
Robby Denning
Director of Personal Training & STOTT PILATES
Apple Athletic Club,
Idaho Falls, Idaho.
I'm all over it!!! Remember to breath and remain patient with the back tension. I know that it is overwhelming at first but it will make you a better and a stronger shooter.
Can't wait to try it on and see how it performs in the field.
