This Reliable and Easy Way to Test Your Clients’ Fitness Level Is a Must-have for All Fitness Coaches

Whether it’s a new client or one that you have been working with for a while, it’s essential to get a real understanding of their fitness levels – particularly cardiovascular fitness and VO2 max.

The Firstbeat Life Fitness Level feature is an easy and near-laboratory accurate tool for estimating cardiovascular fitness. But before we dive into this further, let’s examine why it’s important to have a realistic understanding of your client’s VO2 max if you want to offer truly individualized, responsible, and successful coaching.

VO2 Max Tells You How Much Load Your Client Can Handle

Maximal oxygen consumption (VO2 max) is the defining metric of cardiorespiratory fitness; it tells us how well the heart and veins deliver oxygen to one’s muscles. It’s the best single measure for overall fitness and performance – not just in sports and exercise but in everyday life.

In addition to this, research reveals that good cardiovascular fitness promotes well-being and performance because it improves recovery and stress management. This means that if a client’s VO2 max is poor, you need to take it easy with the training intensity to make sure that they are able to recover from the training and all the other stressors of their daily life.

Understand Your Client’s Starting Point to Avoid Dropout

As you know, the first training sessions have a huge impact on the client-trainer relationship and whether the client will decide to continue training at all.

Therefore it’s extremely important that these initial training sessions are conducted correctly, requiring you to have a real understanding of your client’s current fitness level. If the sessions are too rough in the beginning, they might want to give up immediately. On the other hand, if the first sessions are way too light, the lack of challenges might have a negative effect on motivation.

It’s important to note that VO2 max is not only essential for endurance training. Even if the focus of the coaching is building strength or losing weight, it’s important to be aware of the client’s cardiovascular fitness. Only this way will you be able to take care of their overall stress and ensure adequate recovery.

Monitor Development on a Regular Basis and Adjust Training If Needed

Since the purpose of training is to bring about some change, it is essential to monitor with reliable tools if the desired changes really happen. We can’t change what we can’t measure, therefore it’s worth taking Fitness Level measurements every few months. This way you can adapt the program with small adjustments if needed.

As said earlier, even if the main focus with your client is strength training, it’s responsible to also monitor their VO2 max regularly. This way you can be sure that strength training isn’t taxing their aerobic exercise too much, which would eventually cause a decrease in their cardiovascular fitness, affecting their overall health and well-being.

Check out how different health and wellness professionals enhance their wellness services with physiological data→

The Firstbeat Life Fitness Level Feature Is Near-Laboratory Accurate and Works for Everyone

The Firstbeat Life Fitness Level feature is a simple yet highly accurate way to measure a client’s VO2 max.

Using Firstbeat Life you can easily find out your client’s cardiovascular fitness level: simply attach the measuring device and let the client walk on a treadmill or other flat surface for 30 minutes.

After the walk, let the client continue taking Firstbeat Life measurements for a few days (at least if it’s their first measurement). This way you will receive valuable data about their stress & recovery levels too.

It’s not enough to trust a client’s opinion when it comes to their fitness levels. “Poor fitness” and “good fitness” mean totally different things to different people. If you don’t utilize some fact-based data regarding their fitness level, there is always a risk that the base of your training program is distorted.

For many, a direct VO2 max measurement in a laboratory may be challenging to conduct and access. This test requires one run (or cycle) on a laboratory treadmill with a face mask. The performance is continued till total exhaustion while the volume and the gas concentrations of inspired and expired air are measured to determine VO2 max.

However, as recent research confirms, the Firstbeat Life Fitness Level feature is nearly as accurate as these lab tests and way more approachable.

Find New Customers With Firstbeat Life Fitness Level

Firstbeat Life Fitness Level is proven to be an effective way to bring in new customers and increase ROI. Many people are curious to get some concrete data about their fitness, and Firstbeat Life Fitness Level is an excellent way to increase interest with a simple 30-minute walking test.

In addition to this, prospective clients can get a comprehensive stress and recovery analysis of their daily life (3-day Firstbeat Life measurement). Based on these results, it’s easy for you to offer a suitable training program and monitor their development regularly with Firstbeat Life.

Remind the client about all the positive aspects of cardiovascular fitness and VO2 max. It’s not only exercise and performance but also overall health and well-being, recovery, sleep, and even cognitive functions.