Discovery Health - Vitality & Team Vitality plus everything else you need to know

[SeaBee]

No. What I do is not called running. 

 

 

Run > Jog > Plod along > me > walk

 

 

edit: but I will become a runner, one day - 5Km (10Km max).

That's what I also said two years ago... (both of those!) 

Now, 3 Marathons later and entered for first Oceans Ultra with more (mostly trail) running k's in 2016 than riding k's... 

 

Slippery slope, as somebody else said! 

[Vetplant]

For anyone curious on the new Fitness Assesment, this is what goes down during the assessment:

 

1.You do a full squat facing the wall, feet 10cm away from the wall, feet shoulder width apart facing outward. Your hands will be on the wall above your head. They just want to see that you can squat deep enough that your hips pass your knees.

 

2. Next is a lunge on each leg, making sure your knee touches the ground.

 

3. Pushup, pole lying on your back forcing you to keep everything straight.

 

4. Lie on your back, arms outstretched to either side and twist the hips to each side with knees bent, ensure the legs stay together through the motion.

 

5. Check shoulder mobility by checking how close your fists get to each other when putting them behind your back, one from the top with the other hand from the bottom. Similar to previous years.

 

6. Wattbike increasing ladder. You start at about 75W and your target increases with 25W every minute, so you either need to speed up your cadence or increase the resistance to match the target. You continue on this ladder until you either cannot sustain the wattage for the required minute or your Heart Rate goes above the pre-determined limit. The heart rate limit is calculated something like: Limit= 220bpm - (age*0.6). The Wattbike calculates your VO2 max at the end by taking all the relevant info into account and you get scored on that VO2 max score, not your top Wattage reading when the test was ended.

 

My perception of the test:

Step 1 to 5 are very simple to do if you are even slightly active.

 

Step 6 is where you can test your limit and really push hard to wee what you are capable of.

The highest step I clocked was 375W, there was no way I was doing the 400W step for a whole minute after that. VO2max came back as 56, which is significantly different from my Garmin Fenix 3 stats that sit at about 46 for both running and cycling.

 

I am very interested to hear what all of you dedicated cyclists can do on the wattage tests. The guy who administered the test mentioned the highest he has seen is 425W, so there is a target for you guys to try and beat

[Pure Savage]

For anyone curious on the new Fitness Assesment, this is what goes down during the assessment:

 

1.You do a full squat facing the wall, feet 10cm away from the wall, feet shoulder width apart facing outward. Your hands will be on the wall above your head. They just want to see that you can squat deep enough that your hips pass your knees.

 

2. Next is a lunge on each leg, making sure your knee touches the ground.

 

3. Pushup, pole lying on your back forcing you to keep everything straight.

 

4. Lie on your back, arms outstretched to either side and twist the hips to each side with knees bent, ensure the legs stay together through the motion.

 

5. Check shoulder mobility by checking how close your fists get to each other when putting them behind your back, one from the top with the other hand from the bottom. Similar to previous years.

 

6. Wattbike increasing ladder. You start at about 75W and your target increases with 25W every minute, so you either need to speed up your cadence or increase the resistance to match the target. You continue on this ladder until you either cannot sustain the wattage for the required minute or your Heart Rate goes above the pre-determined limit. The heart rate limit is calculated something like: Limit= 220bpm - (age*0.6). The Wattbike calculates your VO2 max at the end by taking all the relevant info into account and you get scored on that VO2 max score, not your top Wattage reading when the test was ended.

 

My perception of the test:

Step 1 to 5 are very simple to do if you are even slightly active.

 

Step 6 is where you can test your limit and really push hard to wee what you are capable of.

The highest step I clocked was 375W, there was no way I was doing the 400W step for a whole minute after that. VO2max came back as 56, which is significantly different from my Garmin Fenix 3 stats that sit at about 46 for both running and cycling.

 

I am very interested to hear what all of you dedicated cyclists can do on the wattage tests. The guy who administered the test mentioned the highest he has seen is 425W, so there is a target for you guys to try and beat

Wonder if 425W was a cyclist

[Cheese]

I activated my Shoe Booster on Monday evening, after eventually finding my perfect¹ pair of running shoes. Purchased them yesterday evening.

 

I haven't done the Vitality fitness tests, as both the wife and I need to complete it before getting the 25% cash back through the HealthyGear card. So it has effectively cost me R2300 + R300 to buy the shoes. We don't shop at SWH, so the card is only there for once-off purchases.

 

15% cash back = R345 (as a family, we're capped at R4000 per month), so I get 15% on the full price of the shoes.

 

75% cash back for the next 12 months should be R2300 x 0.75 = R1725 (max limit is R2k for the shoe booster) - I hope I have understood it correctly.

 

So I expect to get back R1725 / 12 = R143.75 each month - let's see what they say.

 

In the end, the total outlay was R2600, and I expect to get back R345 + R1725 = R2070. It will cost me R530 for the shoes². Had we both done the Fitness test, and got an extra 10% cash back, then I would have spent R520 more.

 

¹perfect is defined as, the best I could get out of what was available.

²assuming I meet 4 goal per month for 12 months.

Also activated the shoe booster as I achieve the points and like you have the apple watch anyway.

Is there anything specifically you need to do when buying the shoes? Send them the info or do they only go on the card statement?

[Frosty]

Also activated the shoe booster as I achieve the points and like you have the apple watch anyway.

Is there anything specifically you need to do when buying the shoes? Send them the info or do they only go on the card statement?

I don't actually know. They haven't said anything much except in the email sent once the benefit is activated.

 

Use your HealthyGear card to get the 10-25% discount from SWH, and buy the shoes. I paid with my DiscoCard, and it shows Vit on the till slip like at PnP. I assume there is a link from the HealthyGear card.

[Christofison]

For anyone curious on the new Fitness Assesment, this is what goes down during the assessment:

 

1.You do a full squat facing the wall, feet 10cm away from the wall, feet shoulder width apart facing outward. Your hands will be on the wall above your head. They just want to see that you can squat deep enough that your hips pass your knees.

 

2. Next is a lunge on each leg, making sure your knee touches the ground.

 

3. Pushup, pole lying on your back forcing you to keep everything straight.

 

4. Lie on your back, arms outstretched to either side and twist the hips to each side with knees bent, ensure the legs stay together through the motion.

 

5. Check shoulder mobility by checking how close your fists get to each other when putting them behind your back, one from the top with the other hand from the bottom. Similar to previous years.

 

6. Wattbike increasing ladder. You start at about 75W and your target increases with 25W every minute, so you either need to speed up your cadence or increase the resistance to match the target. You continue on this ladder until you either cannot sustain the wattage for the required minute or your Heart Rate goes above the pre-determined limit. The heart rate limit is calculated something like: Limit= 220bpm - (age*0.6). The Wattbike calculates your VO2 max at the end by taking all the relevant info into account and you get scored on that VO2 max score, not your top Wattage reading when the test was ended.

 

My perception of the test:

Step 1 to 5 are very simple to do if you are even slightly active.

 

Step 6 is where you can test your limit and really push hard to wee what you are capable of.

The highest step I clocked was 375W, there was no way I was doing the 400W step for a whole minute after that. VO2max came back as 56, which is significantly different from my Garmin Fenix 3 stats that sit at about 46 for both running and cycling.

 

I am very interested to hear what all of you dedicated cyclists can do on the wattage tests. The guy who administered the test mentioned the highest he has seen is 425W, so there is a target for you guys to try and beat

The Bio I saw at Virgin Active was very strict with her marking, perhaps because she is the Bio for the Sharks Team. I scored half marks for a 5 of the 7 strength & flexibility movements.

 

Also, she couldn't figure out how to get the Wattbike to do 25W steps, so I had to do 15W steps and only got up to 285W before my heart rate was at 85% of my age max.

 

In the end I scored 4/5 for the fitness assessment, which I'm pretty bleak about. I consider myself pretty fit and I finish 45km MTB races in around 2hrs flat, in hilly KZN nogal. Me thinks something went wrong. Next year I'll go straight for the High Performance test see how that goes.

Edited January 27, 2017 by Christofison

[Frosty]

For anyone curious on the new Fitness Assesment, this is what goes down during the assessment:

 

1.You do a full squat facing the wall, feet 10cm away from the wall, feet shoulder width apart facing outward. Your hands will be on the wall above your head. They just want to see that you can squat deep enough that your hips pass your knees.

 

2. Next is a lunge on each leg, making sure your knee touches the ground.

 

3. Pushup, pole lying on your back forcing you to keep everything straight.

 

4. Lie on your back, arms outstretched to either side and twist the hips to each side with knees bent, ensure the legs stay together through the motion.

 

5. Check shoulder mobility by checking how close your fists get to each other when putting them behind your back, one from the top with the other hand from the bottom. Similar to previous years.

 

6. Wattbike increasing ladder. You start at about 75W and your target increases with 25W every minute, so you either need to speed up your cadence or increase the resistance to match the target. You continue on this ladder until you either cannot sustain the wattage for the required minute or your Heart Rate goes above the pre-determined limit. The heart rate limit is calculated something like: Limit= 220bpm - (age*0.6). The Wattbike calculates your VO2 max at the end by taking all the relevant info into account and you get scored on that VO2 max score, not your top Wattage reading when the test was ended.

 

My perception of the test:

Step 1 to 5 are very simple to do if you are even slightly active.

 

Step 6 is where you can test your limit and really push hard to wee what you are capable of.

The highest step I clocked was 375W, there was no way I was doing the 400W step for a whole minute after that. VO2max came back as 56, which is significantly different from my Garmin Fenix 3 stats that sit at about 46 for both running and cycling.

 

I am very interested to hear what all of you dedicated cyclists can do on the wattage tests. The guy who administered the test mentioned the highest he has seen is 425W, so there is a target for you guys to try and beat

I did the high performance test in 2015, and it wasn't on a watt bike but something out of last century - a "sort of smart-enabled" bike with the resistance automatically increasing every 4 seconds.

 

The resistance increased by 1W every 4 seconds until the cadence drops below 70rpm, or you give up. I also had the mask on so they could measure the VO2max. 

 

Although you describe the basic fitness test, the high performance one I did is not much different to what you did. Do they give you anything else besides max Watts and a VO2max figure?

 

• Height
• Weight
• BMI
• Sum of 7 skin folds
• Predicted body fat
• Fat mass
• Lean body mass
• Absolute VO2max
• Relative VO2max
• Peak RER

 

Power Data

• Peak Power Output
• Peak Power-Weight Ratio
• LT Power-Weight Ratio
• Composite Score
• Lactate Threshold (LT) Power
• LT as a % of Maximum Power
• Crossover Point Power

Heart Rate Data

• Lactate Threshold HR
• LT as % of Maximum HR
• Crossover Point HR
• Peak Heart Rate

[Vetplant]

 

I did the high performance test in 2015, and it wasn't on a watt bike but something out of last century - a "sort of smart-enabled" bike with the resistance automatically increasing every 4 seconds.

 

The resistance increased by 1W every 4 seconds until the cadence drops below 70rpm, or you give up. I also had the mask on so they could measure the VO2max. 

 

Although you describe the basic fitness test, the high performance one I did is not much different to what you did. Do they give you anything else besides max Watts and a VO2max figure?

 

• Height
• Weight
• BMI
• Sum of 7 skin folds
• Predicted body fat
• Fat mass
• Lean body mass
• Absolute VO2max
• Relative VO2max
• Peak RER

 

Power Data

• Peak Power Output
• Peak Power-Weight Ratio
• LT Power-Weight Ratio
• Composite Score
• Lactate Threshold (LT) Power
• LT as a % of Maximum Power
• Crossover Point Power

Heart Rate Data

• Lactate Threshold HR
• LT as % of Maximum HR
• Crossover Point HR
• Peak Heart Rate

 

I did the basic Fitness test at the Discovery Store in Menlyn Maine. I really wanted to do the high performance test but after speaking to almost every single Bio in Pretoria and with someone high-up in Vitality I was told it will only be launched in Feb/March or later. I need to get my Shoe Booster fully activated because my current running shoes are at their end-of-life. I do find the feedback from the previous tests were much more comprehensive with suggestions to improve your fitness etc, nothing to that effect this time round.

 

Will look to do the High performance once it is launched.

 

Regarding the feedback, he just told me I scored full points for Vitality.

 

Height: Yes

Weight: Yes

BMI: Yes

Sum of 7 skin folds: No

Predicted body fat: No

Fat mass: No

Lean body mass: No

Absolute VO2max: No

Relative VO2max: No

Peak RER: No

VO2Max(don't know which specific one of the top two you mentioned) : Yes

 

Power Data: No

Peak Power Output: No(I just remembered where I stopped)

Peak Power-Weight Ratio: No

LT Power-Weight Ratio: No

Composite Score: No

Lactate Threshold (LT) Power: No

LT as a % of Maximum Power: No

Crossover Point Power: No

Heart Rate Data: No

Lactate Threshold HR: No

LT as % of Maximum HR: No

Crossover Point HR: No

Peak Heart Rate: No

[shaper]

You do not need to do the high performance test to get the full benefit of the shoe booster!!

 

See step 1, Activate healthy gear, complete online vitality age and do the standard fitness test... to get your 25% back

 

https://www.discovery.co.za/portal/individual/vitality-news-oct16-run-your-way-to-new-shoes

Edited January 27, 2017 by shaper

[Vetplant]

You do not need to do the high performance test to get the full benefit of the shoe booster!!

 

See step 1, Activate healthy gear, complete online vitality age and do the standard fitness test... to get your 25% back

 

https://www.discovery.co.za/portal/individual/vitality-news-oct16-run-your-way-to-new-shoes

Agreed.

 

My thoughts were that I need to do one of the two fitness assesments as a minimum,  and the high performance one seemed like the best bang-for-buck, so wanted to rather do that one if at all possible. But alas, I could not, so decided to do the standard one just to get the full 25% discount active on the SMW healthy gear perk.

[shaper]

Agreed.

 

My thoughts were that I need to do one of the two fitness assesments as a minimum,  and the high performance one seemed like the best bang-for-buck, so wanted to rather do that one if at all possible. But alas, I could not, so decided to do the standard one just to get the full 25% discount active on the SMW healthy gear perk.

My bio said I could arrange to do the higher assessment anytime if I wanted to, having just done the standard one (as you need to do the standard one to get enough points allocation and then meet other certain time criteria)... if I needed the points I said I would be back which I don't .... If you are active, healthy and do all the other points allocation... none of us will need to do the high performance assessment to get the points and get to gold.  To me is just a waste of money paying for it.

 

EDIT: have just rechecked the criteria and they have changed since first published, one of the criteria was to run a half marathon in 2:30hrs (easy enough to do and which I would have qualified with)... now it has changed to 1:40hrs   (even the marathon has changed from 4:30hrs to 3:30hrs)

 

https://www.discovery.co.za/discovery_coza/web/linked_content/pdfs/vitality/vitality_high_performance_fitness_assessment.pdf

Edited January 27, 2017 by shaper

[wolver]

 

I did the high performance test in 2015, and it wasn't on a watt bike but something out of last century - a "sort of smart-enabled" bike with the resistance automatically increasing every 4 seconds.

 

The resistance increased by 1W every 4 seconds until the cadence drops below 70rpm, or you give up. I also had the mask on so they could measure the VO2max. 

 

Although you describe the basic fitness test, the high performance one I did is not much different to what you did. Do they give you anything else besides max Watts and a VO2max figure?

 

• Height
• Weight
• BMI
• Sum of 7 skin folds
• Predicted body fat
• Fat mass
• Lean body mass
• Absolute VO2max
• Relative VO2max
• Peak RER

 

Power Data

• Peak Power Output
• Peak Power-Weight Ratio
• LT Power-Weight Ratio
• Composite Score
• Lactate Threshold (LT) Power
• LT as a % of Maximum Power
• Crossover Point Power

Heart Rate Data

• Lactate Threshold HR
• LT as % of Maximum HR
• Crossover Point HR
• Peak Heart Rate

 

 

I think you are referring to the "elite" fitness test that you did in 2015, which was a peak performance/output test. From my understanding the new "high performance" test is very different from the old "elite" test (although i would be stoked if i'm wrong!). The old elite test was R1500 and the new high performance is R375, surely an indication that it isn't the same test?

Edited January 27, 2017 by wolver

[Cheese]

My bio said I could arrange to do the higher assessment anytime if I wanted to, having just done the standard one (as you need to do the standard one to get enough points allocation and then meet other certain time criteria)... if I needed the points I said I would be back which I don't .... If you are active, healthy and do all the other points allocation... none of us will need to do the high performance assessment to get the points and get to gold.  To me is just a waste of money paying for it.

 

EDIT: have just rechecked the criteria and they have changed since first published, one of the criteria was to run a half marathon in 2:30hrs (easy enough to do and which I would have qualified with)... now it has changed to 1:40hrs   (even the marathon has changed from 4:30hrs to 3:30hrs)

 

https://www.discovery.co.za/discovery_coza/web/linked_content/pdfs/vitality/vitality_high_performance_fitness_assessment.pdf

 

I agree, used to do the fitness assessment but will not anymore the cost do not justify it.

It is R350 for me and my wife meaning R700 if I remember correctly to get 10% extra at SMW. So I then need to buy at least R7000 worth of stuff from them, which I will not normally.

[HdB]

I bought a used Tomtom Runner 2 Cardio to use with Vitality, received it on Wednesday afternoon. Registered an account that evening and linked it on the Vitality website.

 

Yesterday's workouts have not synced yet, but I'll give that until Monday. What I find more odd is that the Vitality site says: Last sync 02:05 05 Apr, 2016

My non-existant-at-the-time Tomtom account synced to Vitality nine months before I got the device? Suuuuuure, Discovery..... whatever you say.

Edited January 27, 2017 by HdB

[Frosty]

I think you are referring to the "elite" fitness test that you did in 2015, which was a peak performance/output test. From my understanding the new "high performance" test is very different from the old "elite" test (although i would be stoked if i'm wrong!). The old elite test was R1500 and the new high performance is R375, surely an indication that it isn't the same test?

Yes, it was the Elite Fitness Test.

 

However, after reading Rookie85's post about what was measured/tested at the the normal fitness test, it wasn't much different from the Elite Fitness test I did in 2015. The measurements were similar (excluding fat measurements), but also includes a ramp test.

 

Based on that, I was wondering how different the High Performance test would differ from the normal fitness test.

 

Essentially, they did a similar test with a lot less data.

[Frosty]

I agree, used to do the fitness assessment but will not anymore the cost do not justify it.

It is R350 for me and my wife meaning R700 if I remember correctly to get 10% extra at SMW. So I then need to buy at least R7000 worth of stuff from them, which I will not normally.

That's exactly what I have decided. 

 

To get an extra R230 discount on the shoes I bought this week, I have to spend another R750 (R375 * 2).

 

And with the points included in the 30k for fitness, we'll get that if we meet our weekly goals (if we only do 900/week) in 34 weeks.