How I joined the fitness elite

I HAVE reached an age where I feel as if my body is beginning to fall apart. There are aches and pains where I’ve never had them before, as well as the odd malfunction.

Having had five children, my energy levels aren’t what they were. In the evenings, I’m ready to go to bed by about 9pm, and during the day I drink far too much tea and coffee to keep me going.

So I had mixed feelings about having a full body health MOT – including checks on blood pressure, cholesterol levels, body mass index, aerobic fitness, resting heart rate and glucose levels.

The pioneering new health club which offers this service free to all members twice a year even offers me a 12-page print-out on the state of my health at the end of it.

Of course, it can only be a good thing to be offered this information.

But it’s a bit scary too.

Harrogate Fitness and Wellbeing Centre manager Ceri Morgan recognises my reticence. He’s seen it all before.

“It’s a case of ignorance is bliss, I suppose,” he says. “And younger people tend to think ‘I am okay’ but it’s free and the majority of people do it. It makes a real difference to the way our clients take care of themselves.

People can start to take their health and well-being into their own hands.

“The first step is to have a health assessment to see where you stand.

Then we can help you work out an exercise and lifestyle programme.

This will allow you to increase your fitness at a sustainable rate,” he says.

RUN by Nuffield Health, the UK’s largest healthcare charity, better known for its network of hospitals, the Harrogate centre was one of the first in the country to start doing full body MOTs a year ago.

It is a new type of health club that combines the usual gym, pool and spa with a range of health services, including lectures offering up-todate information on everything from sleep problems to fad diets, and stress and workshops and seminars with highly-qualified health specialists, such as cancer and diabetes experts.

It is a timely venture. Despite the Government’s £75m anti-obesity campaign, it appears that all attempts to get the country fit and healthy are failing, with obesity rates soaring and diabetes on the increase.

And a nationwide survey carried out by Nuffield recently showed that more than 60 per cent of people admit not getting enough exercise.

Wellbeing advisor Richard Vanson, who has helped carry out about 1,500 assessments in Harrogate over the past year, instantly puts me at my ease. We start off with a basic health questionnaire, covering diet, alcohol consumption and exercise routine – the sort that I have participated in at other health clubs. The only difference is, if I’m not totally honest, the truth will out during the next set of tests.

Richard reveals that in about five per cent of cases these checks have flagged up concerns and alerted people to the fact that they should go and see their family doctor before exercise.

In one case, someone who was unaware he had a heart problem was fitted with a pacemaker as a result and is now back at the gym exercising again.

But those with less serious conditions have benefited too, says Richard. “Almost every other person has something flagged up. Blood pressure may be slightly high, or they need to watch their cholesterol, or would benefit from physiotherapy.”

My BMI is calculated using my height and weight, along with my hip to waist ratio, to see if I am carrying any excess body fat. This is important as there is a strong correlation between chronic diseases such as diabetes and excess fat stored in the midsection.

My result, a BMI of 22.4, is good, in the “healthy” category, but I am under my usual weight at the moment, having lost about a stone because of stress, not dieting.

My blood pressure and glucose levels are normal too. My cholesterol level is good but, as Richard points out, I should try to reduce it even more and keep it as low as possible.

What surprises me most is how good my heart and aerobic fitness levels are. Having been diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat after the birth of my first child, I was told not to worry about it unless I developed dizziness or fainting. But it had always niggled at the back of my mind.

My results – rather surprisingly – put me in the “elite” category, something I know my teenage sons will find laughable. Although I am, it must be stressed, “elite” in my age category which may, perhaps, be more of a reflection on the poor level of fitness in most 45 to 49-year-olds.

Still, Richard does seem to be impressed and puts my scores down to the 40-minute runs I do round the lanes three or four mornings a week.

When all the tests are over, we discuss my 12-page print-out. My typical alcohol intake – very occasional glasses of red wine – is shown to be beneficial. But Richard has discovered my biggest weakness – about ten cups of tea or coffee a day – so we discuss caffeine addiction.

Suddenly, the headaches and the early evening tiredness start to make sense. “Each cup of coffee you drink affects your body for ten hours. It will take its toll on your sleep, affect your energy levels and hydration and you will get headaches,”

explains Richard.

So I’m cutting out caffeine and upping my water intake. But sometimes we need to have the blinking obvious pointed out to us, to spur us into action.

I will now have a personalised action plan and fitness programme drawn up to give me something to work towards. Having developed two small hernias after childbirth, this will include specific exercises to strengthen my abdominal muscles.

Then I can come back in six months and see if my full body MOT readings have improved.

Most people do get better, says Richard, although he admits that one recent check-up on a couple who had returned from a round-the-world cruise was very revealing. They were shocked by how much their blood pressures and cholesterol levels had shot up. “It shows the effects of eating and drinking too much and not getting enough exercise over just a few months,” says Richard.

So that’s me warned. Before I leave, I ask him if he would mind highlighting my “elite” status on my 12-page health report with a bright marker pen. I think I might frame it.