Sports Medicine Center holds fitness test May 18

MANILA, Philippines - Peak Form, the country’s first sports recovery center, headed by Dr. Edgar Michael Eufemio, is launching its first Fitness Challenge May 18 at the Atrium of Fisher Mall along Quezon Avenue in Quezon City.

Created by Eufemio (also called Gar), the Peak Form Fitness Quotient or FQTest can be used by people of all ages to gauge their overall fitness level.  

Strength and explosiveness, speed and agility, coordination, balance and flexibility, endurance and recovery and even mental strategy will be tested and measured using 10 different stations.

The stations are: vertical rope pull, box jump, suspension cable push up, balance board, horizontal rope pull, gang plank, sand bag throw, cone run, sit up shot and ball up, ball down.

All participants will be given a numerical score after completing all stations in the one-day event supported by Chris Sports, the official fitness and sports equipment partner, MelMac Sports Management, Spectrumed Inc., Sonya Trading and GNC.

“We all know about the IQ or Intelligence Quotient Test.  There is also the EQ or Emotional Quotient, which tests a child’s ability to delay gratification,” explains Dr. Gar, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine and arthroscopy.  

“Just like an IQ test, we were looking for a way to objectively measure one’s fitness level.  We wanted a test that measures all aspects of fitness, not just strength, speed and endurance.  More importantly, we wanted it to be personalized to one’s physical dimensions.  This has never been done before…”

According to lawyer  Edson Eufemio, Dr. Gar’s brother and partner, around a hundred participants are expected to attend the May 18 event, which starts at 11 a.m. All participants will first undergo a preliminary check up before doing the test.

The FQ stations incorporate only basic functional movements like pushing and pulling, throwing and lifting, twisting and turning, running and jumping – things that any individual can do, regardless of fitness level.

The test uses both specially fabricated equipment (designed by the team headed by partner FD Santos) as well as standard gym gearlike kettle bells, sand bags, medicine balls, suspension cables, battle ropes, trampolines, balance balls and pads (from Chris Sports).

All the stations are adjusted to one’s height, weight and even wingspan so the FQ score of a shorter, lighter female athlete can be compared to a taller and heavier male.  Thus, it is effectively a “pound-for-pound-inch-for-inch” measure to find out “who is the fittest of them all!

“The FQ Test is not biased for any particular sport or fitness activity; the different components are well-distributed and even the upper extremity and lower extremity activities are equal in number. Don’t worry, even couch potatoes will survive this,” says Eufemio.

Eufemio devised the test to be like a move-system type examination in anatomy class –  similar to speed-dating.  

“Contestants will occupy a place each and will move to the next location until they accomplish all 10. Each of the 10 activities takes one minute.  Then there will be two minutes in between – for the group to rest and the marshals to prepare the items for the next competitor as well as calculate the totals.”

According to Dr. Gar, “the participant with the highest total score is crowned the fittest athlete, similar to being the valedictorian.  The top marks per station and component will also be noted, like being best in math or English.”

Once all the figures are in, athletes can be classified into categories ranging from ay-dol (meaning elite), astig (superior), hanep (above average), puwede na(average), pasangawa (below average), lampa (poor) or buhay ka pa? (very poor).

Why do we need to come up with an FQ test?  Dr. Gar answers this…

“1. At the very least, individuals may check their fitness levels before and after starting an exercise schedule.  

2. Different workout routines can now be pitted head-to-head to settle, once and for all, who can produce the best results.

Since we will be able to identify which components are tested by each station:

3. We can now start asking who scored well in explosiveness, agility, coordination or balance. Certainly, there are sports and events that have positions that need those elements highlighted.

The data can benefit the country’s sports development program.  All the grade school, high school and college students screened will be followed throughout their athletic careers. Some will reach crème de la crème status.  Others will excel at certain aspects of their sport (for example – best rebounder in basketball or hardest hitter in boxing or most accurate kicker in soccer).  

4. We can backtrack and find out which stations they excelled in and determine if there are any trends.  They can now truly serve as prognosticators for what is yet to come.

5. Students who perform well in this test may now be placed in a training pool where more specialized training will be made available to them.”

After the launch, everyone can be tested at Gold’s Gym Sheridan in Pasig City, the official Peak Form FQ Testing Center.

Celebrities as well as elite and professional athletes will participate in the event.  It will also be open to the public. Registration will be at all Chris Sports outlets - Fisher Mall, SM North EDSA main SM Annex, SM Megamall, Glorietta and SM Mall of Asia.