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The Fitness Calculator includes the following health and fitness calculations:

• Blood Pressure
  • High blood pressure is a major risk for coronary heart disease, stroke, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease and renal failure.
  • High blood pressure is more likely to develop among people who are overweight or physically inactive, or have high dietary salt intakes.
• Body Fat Percentage
  • Your body fat percentage is simply the percentage of fat your body contains. If you are 150 pounds and 10% fat, it means that your body consists of 15 pounds fat and 135 pounds lean body mass (bone, muscle, organ tissue, blood and everything else).
  • A certain amount of fat is essential to bodily functions. Fat regulates body temperature, cushions and insulates organs and tissues and is the main form of the body’s energy storage.
  • Knowing your body fat percentage can also help you determine if your weight loss goals are realised. Remember, weight loss doesn’t always mean fat loss.
• Heartrate Zones
  • Heartrate zones and percentages based on your actual resting and maximum heartrates are the most useful for training purposes.
  • Determine the intensity level at which you would like to exercise. A sedentary person may want to begin an exercise regime at 60% level and work up gradually to the 70-80% level. Athletes and highly fit individuals must work at the 85-95% level to receive the benefits of exercise.
• Measure Heartrate
  • Measuring the work-rate of the heart is the most accurate method of determining how much benefit you are deriving from your workout.
  • The fitness of the heart is the key to one’s aerobic endurance – sometimes called ‘cardiovascular respiratory endurance’.
• Ideal and Optimum Weight
  • People choose to lose weight for many reasons – looking better and feeling more energetic are two popular reasons. Improving or keeping your health is the most important reason.
  • Being overweight, eating poorly and being physically inactive all increase your risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and some forms of cancer.
  • If you are overweight, losing just 5 to 10 percent of your weight and keeping it off lowers your risk of developing most of these diseases.
• Risk of Chronic Disease
  • Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, cancer and diabetes – are the leading causes of death and disability in Australia.
  • Although chronic diseases are among the most common and costly health problems, they are also among the most preventable.
  • Adopting healthy behaviours such as eating nutritious foods, being physically active and avoiding tobacco use can prevent or control the devastating effects of these diseases.

RECOMMENDED LINKS:

www.body-mass-index.org
www.fcs.uga.edu
www.nutritionaustralia.org
www.cdc.gov