Many youngsters and adults
are attracted towards building their muscles unconsciously and involve
themselves in gymming without assessing their fitness level. This could lead to
some dissatisfaction and inviting various sports injuries indirectly.
Before starting any fitness
program like that of muscle building, assessment is the very first step
required. You can assess your fitness level and pre-exercising state by:
BMI(Body Mass Index) – The BMI is one way to
determine whether or not an adult is overweight. BMI assesses height and
weight; muscle mass is not a part of the equation.
BMI is calculated by dividing a person's weight (in
kilograms) by his or her height (in meters, squared). BMI can also be
calculated by multiplying weight (in pounds) by 705, then dividing by height
(in inches) twice.
What Is a Healthy BMI?
A person with a BMI of 18.5 to 24.9 is considered to be at a
healthy weight. A person with a BMI of 25-29.9 is considered to be overweight.
A BMI over 30 is considered obese. A BMI of 40 or above indicates that a person
is morbidly obese. This can increases a person's risk of death from any cause
by 50% to 150%.
photo credit : http://getfityou.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/89-1.jpg
But this is valid only for those who are not working out at gym. If you are looking to build muscle your BMI could be higher as weight is increased due to high muscle density (muscle is heavier than fat). Muscle building means increasing Lean Body Mass (muscles, bones, blood, blood vessels, organs, and water but not fat in the body comprise lean body mass). So do not worry if your BMI after or during muscle build goes up. You should be muscular but not obese, should be in shape but not shapeless.
Body Fat% - Body Fat% can be calculated
approximately only as methods for evaluating Body Fat% are difficult and not
compatible such as hydro-densitometry or Body Fat Caliper measurement method.
You can check your body fat% with the help of the calculator on the lower right hand column of this blog.
Basal Metabolic Rate - Basal metabolic rate (BMR), and the closely related resting metabolic rate (RMR), is the amount of energy expended daily by humans and other animals
at rest. The body's generation of heat is known as thermogenesis and it can be measured to determine the
amount of energy expended. BMR generally decreases with age and with the
decrease in lean body mass (as may happen with aging). Increasing
muscle mass increases BMR, although the effect is not significant enough to act
as a weight-loss method. Aerobic fitness level, a product of cardiovascular exercise, while
previously thought to have effect on BMR, has been shown in the 1990s not to
correlate with BMR when adjusted for fat-free body mass.
You can check your BMR with the help of the calculator on the lower right hand column of this blog
Heart disease – Heart is the
main machine in your body, it pumps the nutrient carrying blood throughout the
body to feed cells or tissue for growth. If the machine is not working
properly, the growth is hampered. Some medical assessment is required to be
done such as acute coronary syndromes, angioplasty, vulvular surgery and vulvular
dysfunction, angina pectoris, hypertension, high cholesterol levels, etc.
Cholesterol Levels
LDL 100 mg/dl – 190 mg/dl
LDL (low density
lipo-protein) is bad cholesterol and should not be higher in the blood as it
can cause various heart diseases.
HDL < 40 mg/dl low
> 60 mg/dl high
HDL(high density
lipo-protein) is good cholesterol and should not be lower in the blood as it
reduces the LDL levels in the blood and good for heart.
Total Cholesterol < 200 mg/dl desirable
200-239 mg/dl borderline
high
>240 mg/dl high
Triglycerides < 150 normal
150-199 borderline high
200-499 high
>
500 very high
Uric Acid Men 4.0
– 8.9 mg/dl
Women 2.3
– 7.8 mg/dl
Calcium 8.5-10.5
mg/dl
Protein 6.0
– 8.5 mg/dl
Blood Pressure Normal 120/80 mmHg
Pre-Hypertensive 120-139/80-89
mmHg
Stage-1 140-159/90-99
mmHg
Hypertensive
Stage-2 >160/>100 mmHg
Stage-2 >160/>100 mmHg
Hypertensive
After assessing yourself, if
your fitness level comes optimal (pre-exercising level) then in my next post I will be discussing about the exercise and diet required for building muscle.
So stay tuned.