Chapter 5
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There are ways to tell when it's
time to move ahead in your activities, and we have mentioned some of them
in the preceding chapter. For example, when you can lift a weight more
than 15 times, you know it's time to add more weight in your strength
exercises. And when endurance activities no longer feel somewhat hard to
you, it's time to exercise a little longer, then to add a little more
difficulty, like walking up steeper hills.
As you progress, you can do some simple tests, shown in this chapter,
that will tell you just how far you have come. These tests also can help
you assess how fit you are before you start exercising. After that, try
them again every month. Record your scores each time, so you can see your
improvement the next time you test yourself.
You might be interested in doing these tests for a couple of reasons.
For one, most people make rapid progress soon after they start exercising,
and you might find the improvement you see in your scores after just a
month encouraging.
For another, these tests are a good way of letting you know if you
really are progressing. Although it's normal for your improvement to slow
down at times, your test scores should get better overall (unless you have
reached your goal and are maintaining your current level).
If you are not in condition to do these tests right now, keep working
on your current exercises and activities until you are. Whether you are
testing or actually exercising, your pace should never make you feel
dizzy, lightheaded, or nauseated, and you shouldn't feel pain. If you have
a chronic medical condition, or are at risk of developing one, follow the
guidelines in Chapter 2 before testing yourself.
1. Endurance 2. Lower-Body Power 3. Strength 4. Balance
See how
far you can walk in exactly 6 minutes. Write down how far you walked (in
feet, blocks, laps, miles, number of times you walked up and down a long
hallway, or whatever is convenient for you). Do this test every month. As
your endurance improves, you should find that you can walk farther in 6
minutes.
Time yourself as you walk up a flight of
stairs (at least 10 steps) as fast as you safely can. Record your score.
Repeat the test, using the same stairs, one month later. It should take
you less time.
Each time you do your strength exercises, use the
chart in the back of this book to record how much weight you lift and how
many times you lift that weight. Another chart shows how much more weight
you can lift, and how many more times you can lift it, compared to the
month before.
Time yourself as you stand on one foot, without
support, for as long as possible (stand near something sturdy to hold
onto, in case you lose your balance). Record your score. Repeat the test
while standing on the other foot. Test yourself again in one month. The
amount of time you can stand on one foot should increase.
Chapter
Summary Be sure to use the safety guidelines listed for the exercises shown in
Chapters 2 and 4 when you do these tests.
You might not be able to complete the tests shown in this chapter, at
first. That means you aren't ready yet. Try again after a month of
exercises and physical activities.
This
chapter describes simple tests to see how you are progressing. They
measure endurance, lower-body power, strength, and balance. Do the tests
before you begin increasing your physical activity, to establish a
baseline measurement. Repeat the tests each month. If you test yourself
more often, you are not likely to see improvement, and that may discourage
you. On the other hand, watching your scores improve every month can be
very encouraging.
Until he was 48 years old, Ron Ekovich, of Leesville, South Carolina, smoked a pack of cigarettes every day. Looking to the future made him decide to quit.
"I figured I had to make some changes in my life if I was going to enjoy my retirement," he told us.
Needless to say, Mr. Ekovich, who is now 61 years old, no longer smokes. He works out with strength-building equipment 3 days a week, and he carries his own bag of clubs on the 3 days a week that he plays golf.
And he stretches. "If I had to choose the most important thing you can
do as you get older, it would be stretching. It helps keep you
self-sufficient," he said. Mr. Ekovich was only half-joking when he gave
an example: When his back itches, he said, he's able to just reach back
and scratch it. 
This example might seem funny...unless you aren't able to scratch your own
back.
"The more physical activity you get the better you feel. The achievement makes you feel great emotionally, and it makes you feel good physically," he said.
Mr. Ekovich also cites a person's outlook as an important component of physical activity and exercise. "The only thing that limits people's ability to achieve their goals is themselves," he said. He recently finished shoveling about 10 tons of earth -- that's 20,000 pounds -- to make a new garden for his wife.