Stuart Showalter Law Blog: The 15 Minute, 5-step Easy Fitness Quiz

As Americans continue to demand higher sick care costs, those who want to avoid these elevated expenses are more concerned about their fitness and well-being. So with that I give you a fitness quiz in which anyone can take just a few minutes to assess their physical fitness using these five easy steps.

The first is the simple and literally is a measurement. Using a string or tape measure determine the circumference of your hips and waist. Divide the waist number by the hip number to get your abdominal ration. For women it should not exceed .80 and for men .85.
Step two is to determine flexibility. Sit on the floor with your legs outstretched. Hold the heels of your feet and allow yourself to lean forward while focused on a point on the wall commensurate with the level of your head. Allow this stretching position to naturally pull your head towards the floor for about half a minute. Then tilt your head down. Your forehead should come to rest on the floor. I do this shortly after awakening but you may want to wait until later in your day after you have be mobile for awhile.
The third measure includes some mental processing as well as general muscular coordination. For this you will be in the yoga pose Mountain – standing with heels together, reaching overhead with palms pressed together and back curved convex. Rise to your toes and while breathing deeply close your eyes and maintain the pose for 10 seconds or so.
The fourth, a simple standing exercise. Sit on the floor, outstretch your legs, press the bottoms of your feet together then pull them close to you. Now rise to a standing position quickly. Take particular note of any feelings of dizziness or being lightheaded. These are signs of cardiovascular stress.
Finally, the easiest. Find your favourite foods or those you eat most often and start checking in descending order for any that contain artificial colours or flavours, high fructose corn syrup [HFCS] of hydrogenated oils. The first one you come to take it and any additional that you have and toss in the appropriate receptacle for what it is, garbage.

There are no set correlations between these and any measures of fitness that a medical professional would provide such as nutrient levels in blood, vital signs or stress test. These are just some simple measures that I have composed to give you an overview of your fitness. Your particular circumstances may vary but special circumstances aside a generally fit person should be able to meet these measures.

Your abdominal ratio may not meet what I recommend but you can use that as a relative measure. If your head doesn't touch the floor you can still get a relative measure of your fitness. Are you an inch away, maybe three? If more, you have some work to do. Can't stay balanced for 10 seconds with your eyes closed then try with them open for awhile. If you can't easily rise to your feet then go ahead and give yourself a little boost with your hands. If you get lightheaded and have to sit immediately then you have a blood circulation or oxygenation problem that could be a sign of a serious cardiac issue. You may go through less than 20 products to find the garbage. You should not be able to find those ingredients amongst anything you consume more than one serving per week of though. If you didn't through it out then you certainly need to examine why you are eating garbage instead of food.

While you may not be preparing for a contested child custody matter those of you who are will want to maintain optimal fitness, especially if you are self-represented. In closing of Being set up for failure, disappointment and self-defeating beliefs again I said child custody is not a legal decision but a judgment made upon the parenting behaviours and skills of the parties involved. To effectively advocate for your parenting responsibilities you should be in the best condition you can.

I say it here again because of its' importance.

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