Health

Fitness Review: The Smart Tool That Tells You Exactly What Your Body Needs

We all know the health drill. We’ve been told we need eight hours sleep a night, exercise regularly and take time out to relax and recharge. But how do we know it’s good advice? How do you know you are getting enough sleep for YOUR body? How do you know you are doing the right things for YOUR health?

Fortunately, a new program that measures all this and more can give you a clear and personalised snapshot on how your body reacts to various activities in your life and how these affect your energy, sleep patterns, stress and overall health. Patrick Khoo of Livewell Assessments conducts a simple three-step process that tracks your heart rate, gives you feedback on the data collected and then finally a health coaching session to suggest changes that might be made to help you achieve a better balance.

This is all done wearing a professional heart rate monitor which tracks your heart’s movements like your personal ECG. The small, tear drop-shaped device is worn under the clavicle on the right side of your body, then a small wire runs diagonally across to under the chest on your left side.  It’s not uncomfortable to wear; after a short space of time you virtually forget it’s there. The device generally can’t be seen under your clothing unless you wear something particularly fitted or low cut. You wear the device continually for three days, except when showering, and record what you did each day on an easy to use online diary.

The next step is to upload the data the monitor has collected. Patrick then analyses the data and presents it to you in a series of personalised graphs connected to your daily diary events; stress is recorded in red, exercise from light to dark blue depending on the intensity and recovery and relaxation time in green. You can literally see in colour how your body reacted to different activities throughout the day, how much of your sleep was effective and if you had enough relaxation time to counteract your stress reactions. Patrick painstakingly analyses the graphs with you to point out what events trigger higher levels of stress or what you were doing when you were most relaxed.

Patrick explains that when the body is continually run down extra stress hormones are produced to help us cope, which is fine short term, but over time can lead to more complicated health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. In the health coaching part of the assessment, Patrick suggests simple, practical strategies to assist us in achieving a good balance. “Daytime recovery helps night time recovery,” he says. “It’s like keeping your phone charged in small bursts all day instead of waiting until its totally run down. Small moments during the day like mindfully siting and eating lunch outside or reading for half an hour can help maximise the impact of sleep, even if we are getting a little less.” The assessment can be repeated after changes have been implemented to chart their effect.

And it’s all about balance. The tailored nature of the Livewell Assessment shows you exactly what you need to do for your body to achieve that balance for yourself. Patrick doesn’t preach the benefits of an obsessively healthy lifestyle. “You can’t control what life throws at you,” he says. “But if you have a couple of particularly stressful days or a big weekend, try and have a few days where you do some moderate exercise, take some small moments out during the day for recovery and read before you go to sleep to counteract it. Your body will thank you for it.”

Livewell Assessments is a three-day heart monitor assessment, followed by analysis of results and a lifestyle coaching session and costs around $400. Patrick Khoo is based in Los Angeles, but is in Adelaide from 16th March til the 9th April. He is happy to come to your home or workplace or set you up for the Lifewell Assessment via Skype.  Check out these links for more information or enquiries.

For more information:

Website – www.livewellassessments.com

Facebook – www.facebook.com/livewellassessments

Email – [email protected]

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