The internet is full of methods for testing your fitness and charts to see if you fit in to the guidelines for your height, weight and age.  You can't see a GP without being slotted on to some scale to see if your normal.

The thing they all miss is that we are all different.  We all feel good at different levels of fitness and fatness.

So how do we know if we are generally in good health?

I regularly speak to couples who want to improve their health to increase their chances of becoming pregnant.  I have a very basic measure to see what our starting point is and test general health.

Men - Do you wake up with 'wood' most days?  If your hormones are working well and your body is producing a good amount of testosterone you should wake up in a tent at least 3 mornings per week.

Women - Do you have a regular menstrual cycle?  The human body works on cycles, particularly the female system.  Your menstrual cycle should be regular, a fixed amount of days each month, ideally to follow the moon phases of 28 days.  Obviously this only counts as a measure if you are not taking a contraceptive pill which regulates your cycle.  It don't matter if your cycle is a little shorter or longer than 28 days as long as it's consistent.

Simple, something you can check straight away.  No fancy labs needed or expensive instruments, just does your body perform it's most basic of functions.

We then look at basic human movement, I'll go in to that in more detail next week.

If you want to improve your health based on your results to the above, get the basics right first.  It's pointless taking lots of supplements (pharmaceutical or natural) to address hormonal balance if you aren't addressing the basics.

In my opinion in order of importance, these are:

1. Your thoughts.

2. Your breathing.

3. Your hydration.

4. Your nutrition.

5. Your ability to move pain free.

We address each of these with our Achieve Bootcamp members, our next camp starts this Monday 29th September.  You can apply to join here - http://achievebootcamp.com/application/

Darren "a camping trip most mornings" Checkley