At the heart of Altheus is our signature assessment -a personal, unequaled in-depth quantitative and qualitative profile determined to assess your health, performance, weight management and sport specific goals.
The assessment takes approximately 2 hours. Clients should dress comfortably and be prepared for a light workout.
There are three parts to the Altheus assessment.
PERSONAL INVENTORY
The Personal Inventory collects and combines your health and fitness history with your goals. You will work with our team of Altheus coaches to answer questions on health, exercise and any past injuries.
THE PHYSICAL ASSESSMENT
The full assessment is a full evaluation of your physical condition. It includes the following:
- Cardiovascular Fitness + Metabolic Profile
- Blood pressure, height, weight, heart rate, VO2 max are measured to give us indicators to all the factors associated with your overall fitness
- Postural Photographic Assessment
- Our photographic assessment will give us a detailed picture of the relationship and alignment of body parts to one another. With proper body posture, all joints are less susceptible to restriction and strain, less effort and energy are required to maintain balance, and muscular efficiency and overall appearance are improved.
- Body Composition
- Body composition is integral to your fitness routine. High body fat increases your risk for health problems and your body composition can be improved through cardiovascular, muscular conditioning and proper nutrition
- Range of Motion
- By increasing your joint mobility and range of motion, you can avoid injury and improve your fitness performance.
- Muscular Strength + Endurance
- Resistance training maintains integrity of muscles, which is related to risk of injury, weight gain and risk of obesity. Push-ups and sit-ups are performed to assess muscular endurance.
- Gait + Balance
- Digital video of gait and movement patterns delineate compensation issues and strength and flexibility deficits
- Speed, Agility and Power
- We will measure your aerobic, anaerobic capacity and running mechanics and incorporate strength, flexibility and agility, and plyometric exercises.
RESULTS/ CONSULTATION REVIEWS
After reviewing the results of the testing, you will work with the Altheus coaches to establish lifestyle and fitness goals to ensure your program is realistic, motivating and results-oriented. Our Altheus coaches use collective wisdom to create, fine-tune and monitor your program.
Altheus Assessment System
The first step is to analyze your body—your framework. Then, we assess the way you move your body to determine your mobility. Your body framework assessment consists of five categories:
- Health History & Medical Clearance
- Injury History
- Body Composition & Anthropometrics
- Posture
- Joint Range of Motion
- Health History alerts the ALTHEUS team to any potential medical concerns that could arise during participation in the program. This may include, but is not limited to, a discussion of your current medications and their possible impact on your exercise regime, recent injuries, or “red flags” raised by your personal physician. Our goal is to adapt your program to these pre-existing conditions (if any) and strive to eliminate or ameliorate them.
- Injury History treats the subject of any traumas your body may have endured and how they may be linked to deviations in your posture. Your posture is often the first evidence of muscular and skeletal weakness and imbalance in your body. Our goal is to reduce the possibility of any further trauma occurring in the course of your activity, as well as preventing future injuries. We will maintain a record of your injuries (type, date of occurrence and recovery status) to identify patterns in repeated or linked injuries.
- Body Composition refers primarily to the distribution of muscle and fat in the body, and its measurement plays an important role in both sports and health. Excess body fat may lead to obesity and increases the risk of onset of many kinds of disease. In sports, excess fat hinders performance by inhibiting muscular force production and requiring additional energy for movement. The science of Anthropometrics extends the scope of body composition by considering body size and structure. Body size refers to the volume, mass, length and surface area of the body; body structure refers to the distribution or arrangement of body parts such as the skeleton and muscle-fat distribution; while body composition refers to the overall composition of these elements within your body. Unless otherwise indicated, our main goal will be to increase your muscle and decrease your body fat.
- Posture promotes the most efficient movement of the body. Correct posture reduces the potential for muscular skeletal injuries and trauma, and increases ease of movement with less energy expenditure. Overall, correct posture can enhance both the quality and the longevity of your body’s framework. Our goal is to reestablish correct posture.
- Joint Range of Motion reveals how much “true” movement you have at specific joints. Multiple joints are involved in everyday activities. Therefore, it is useful to isolate specific joints in specific movement patterns to precisely identify any limitations. We accomplish this in the course of our assessment by preventing your body from compensating for any limitations via a shift in posture or a dependence on other muscles during these movement measurements. Our goal is to have your joints move with ease within a “normal” range without any strain on the soft tissue or skeletal system. All joints on both sides of your body should be able to move within “normal” ranges. However, on occasion, one side will have greater than normal range due to the special demands of your sport, playing position, or activity.
Your Mobility is comprised of seven categories:
(Some of these tests may not apply to your goals.)
- Active Flexibility
- Biomechanics (gait analysis)
- Aerobic Capacity (cardiovascular endurance)
- Anaerobic Output (power & speed)
- Muscular Endurance
- Muscular Strength, Power & Stabilization
- Agility (balance & coordination)
1. Active Flexibility consists of careful observation and measurement as you move your body in specific patterns to determine joint and muscle imbalances that could lead to injury or pain. Our goal is to correct any limitations and minimize any pain involved during these movements
2. Biomechanics is the science of movement. We will conduct a video analysis of your walking, running or sport-specific movements. You will be asked to exert yourself by repeating these movements to observe changes in your form at or near the point of fatigue. It is at this fatigue point that you may be at risk for injury or accidents on the playing field, and/or chronic orthopedic conditions. These breakdowns can be linked to muscle tightness, weakness or other nervous system patterns that we seek to identify and correct.
3. Your Aerobic Capacity will be scrutinized through a variety of assessments which may include VO2 Max, anaerobic threshold (fatigue threshold) and metabolic profile. Oxygen is the essential fuel and the more you can absorb, the better your endurance and performance. Your VO2 Max is the volume of oxygen your body can absorb. Your fatigue threshold is the highest level of work (exercise intensity and duration) that your body can tolerate before it begins to accumulate lactic acid (muscular fatigue). Your metabolic profile is the amount of calories your body burns during each minute of activity. Our goal is to increase your ability to exercise continuously for extended periods of time without tiring easily.
4. Anaerobic Power is the ability to perform short powerful bouts of activity. Peak power, average power and fatigue rate are recorded. Your peak power represents your explosiveness, which usually occurs within the first 10 seconds. Your average power correlates to your overall strength and power throughout a 10 , 30 , or 90 second sprint. Fatigue is equal to how much your power declines. Our goal is to increase your power while avoiding injuries.
5. Muscular Endurance is your ability to perform repeated activity without experiencing excessive fatigue, at the same time maintaining the proper form while you exert yourself. Various tests are available depending on your activity or sport needs. Our goal is to increase your ability to maintain optimal levels of participation without losing form or accuracy.
6. Muscular Strength is the ability to carry out work in the face of resistance. Muscular Power is the ability to exert maximum force in as short a time as possible, like that required for jumping or throwing a ball. Stabilization is the ability to maintain a solid base for power to be generated. We use tests that examine your upper, middle (core) and lower body strength and stability. Our goal is to teach proper form while you increase strength, so you can exert force without incurring excessive fatigue, strain or injury.
7. Agility is the ability to change body position or direction rapidly. It is measured with running tests that require quick turns, starts and stops. Agility is also influenced by balance, coordination, center of gravity, acceleration, deceleration and skill. It is a core element in a healthy active lifestyle. Agility can significantly impact performance levels and help prevent unnecessary injuries. Our goal is to enhance your agility during exercise or sporting events that require sudden changes in direction and other rapid responses.
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