3 Weeks to HSE medical - Fitness update

[Garf]

if your BMI is over 30 then they may do further body fat checks by measuring skin thickness in several body areas. However, they may also just bin you on the spot as as BMI of greater than 30 is considered in the guidelines as a criteria for possible rejection. And- they may just ignore it if the weight is muscle mass rather than blubber.

That was my problem, i had a BMI of, well, more than you, and it wasn't muscle mass . It'ss not an unsurmountable problem, but book the medical for a couple of months in advance and plan how you are going to get your weight into line. I aimed for a BMI of 28 and hit it three days before the medical.

Bear in mind that the guidelines are only guidelines, and the doc has a bit of leeway, but if you are realistically unfit, they he/she won't pass you, and nor should they.

Get on an 18" step at a fast pace for a full 5 minutes. If you are still alive and not wishing you were dead at the end of it, then your well on the way.

The official guide can be found here..

https://www.hse.gov.uk/forms/diving/ma1.pdf

[Dr T]

ok. i get the hint....no more late night pasties etc...

i think most of it is muscle....ha ha...

cheers for the guidelines...just printing them off and that will nicely ruin my comfy night in tonight when i get to read them !!

ash

[Chardy]

My Ar$e ! Fat Boy, stop eating pies and get of Ur backside and do some exercise! You can start by carrying my kit on sunday !!!

[Chardy]

Fancy giving me a red blob (IT WAS FUNNY THOUGH) and you owe me money ! that's it the price is going up!!!!! Might be NDC Sunday if blown out tomorrow, give you a call,

Paul

[Dr T]

Cripes. 7.30 monday morning HSE medical......yikes...

[ChrisP]

Originally Posted by Garf

The official guide can be found here..

https://www.hse.gov.uk/forms/diving/ma1.pdf

This guide is being revised and the new copy is available to HSE Doctors but not on the web yet - but it will be in due course. The obesity guidelines have been clarified a little. As Garf says they are guidelines and individual doctors have some leeway in applying them.
We are being asked to use the new guidelines from now rather than await their formal publication later in the year.
On obesity the current view is as follows:
BMI >27 - offer dietry and fitness advice in the hope of "pre-empting restriction when BMI 30 is reached".
Where BMI is 30 or over, estimate fat content and if in excess of 30% this "may be considered a reason for rejection until weight has been satisfactorily reduced".
"Use of restricted duration of certification (such as 6 months) may be appropriate if used to warn the diver of the significance of the current BMI".
"Discretion is appropriate if the elevated BMI is associated with increased lean body mass".
I think most current HSE Doctors will interpret this to mean restricted certification for renewal medicals if the BMI is over 30 and if changes are not made then to fail.
At a first HSE medical I think most will interpret this as requiring a BMI <30 (unless it is due to high lean body mass, which in most it certainly is not!).
Other changes include things such as getting a medical form (supplied by the HSE Doc) signed by your GP before the first medical, no sickle cell blood test required unless the doctor thinks it is necessary, no post exercise ECG, no chest x-ray unless the doctor thinks it is necessary.
Cheers

[Dr T]

woo hoo....all passed !!

now i am officially medically certified !! (people have been telling me i am for years!)

[ratcliffe]

There has to be some irony between what Garf has achieved here, and the fact he's now in hospital... but he's done very well, and started early on his road to recovery I would think!
I can relate bigtime to the improvements noted by Garf in his opening comments. 13 months ago, I weighed over 25 stone and hadn't dived for 8 years purely because of the weight. Last weekend, I got in the water for the first time in all that time, weighing in at a smidgen over 15 1/2 stone.
Its amazing what I can do now, that I hadn't even necessarily realised that I couldn't before. The simple things like walking half a mile to the shops etc.
It just shows that there is always time to help yourself....

[Chardy]

You must have slipped the Doc a fiver !

Congratulations,

Paul