How do you know if you are fit? Or, at least, does it fit well enough? And how can you tell if your fitness is improving?
You have to prove yourself. And while most people haven’t taken a fitness assessment since their high school presidential physical fitness test, it’s good to check in on your progress every now and then.
“It’s very important to know that what you’re doing is working,” said Matt Fitzgerald, coach and author of “Run Like a Pro (Even if You’re Slow).” Then you can correct if what you’re doing isn’t working. .”
In fact, some experts say that testing yourself every three to six months can tell you more about your fitness than looking at day-to-day performance, which often varies significantly. While fitness can be measured—and expressed—in many ways, here are three tests designed to track strength and cardiovascular fitness that can be done with little or no equipment.
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• The Dead Hang for grip strength
• Cooper test for cardiovascular fitness
• Plank for core strength
Hanging of the Dead
Greater grip strength is associated with lower rates of heart and respiratory disease, cancer, and a reduction in all-cause mortality. The link is so strong that a group of experts recently called for it to be considered a way to measure overall health, like blood pressure or heart rate.
Grip strength is not only important for countless daily tasks, like opening jars and holding groceries, but it’s a good measure of your overall strength. “As you train and improve the rest of your muscle capacity, your grip strength should move with it,” said Luke Baumgartner, an expert in exercise testing at the University of Memphis.
To perform the test, all you need is a pull-up bar and a stopwatch.
How to interpret your results
For men, anything from zero to 30 seconds should be considered an entry level, said Mathias Sorensen, an exercise physiologist at the Human Performance Center at the University of California, San Francisco. Between 30 and 60 seconds can be considered intermediate and more than 60 seconds advanced. For women, Mr. Sorensen said, zero to 20 seconds for beginners, up to 40 seconds for intermediate and more than 40 seconds for advanced.
How to improve your grip strength
If you can’t hang from a pull-up bar at all, or don’t have access to one, you can also test your grip strength with a farmer’s cart, which involves taking a dumbbell or kettlebell in each hand and going for a walk Start with whatever you can hold for 90 seconds – and increase the weight as you get stronger. A very good result, for men and women, Mr. Sorensen said, is to hold 70 percent of your body weight for 90 seconds.
Because your grip will improve with your overall strength, you can also develop it by training with free weights, using dumbbells, barbells or kettlebells.
Cooper’s test
Aerobic fitness has been linked to longer life and lower rates of cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality, and cancer.
The best way to measure this is by testing your VO2 max, or how much oxygen your body uses during exercise. This generally involves going into a lab and exercising to exhaustion.
But you can get an idea of this yourself with the Cooper Test.
How to interpret your results
Getting your VO2 max estimate requires a bit of math. Take your distance (in miles), multiply it by 35.97 and subtract 11.29. This is your VO2 max rating. You can also plug your distance into an online calculator and compare your results to those in your age group.
For example, 1.5 miles in 12 minutes corresponds to a VO2 max of about 43. This would be an excellent result for a 65-year-old man, good at 45 and average at 25. For a woman, a score of 35 would be excellent at 65, good at 45 and average at 25.
To find out more about your age group, check here.
How to improve your cardiovascular fitness
If you want to improve your results, Mr. Fitzgerald recommends a slight increase in what experts call your training volume, or the number of workouts in a typical week. For example, run four times a week instead of three, but at low intensity instead of moderate. Then, about once a week, work up to a shorter, high-intensity run. Spending more time training at a slower pace means your body can fully recover before the next run, resulting in better overall performance, he said.
That way, when it’s time to pick up the pace, “you just have more to give and so you get more out of that session,” Mr. Fitzgerald said.
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A strong core can prevent injuries, reduce back pain and help you play sports better. One of the easiest ways to test your core strength is a simple timed plank hold.
To perform the test, all you need is a flat surface. But a yoga mat can make it more comfortable.
How to interpret your results
A good goal for men and women of any age, Mr. Baumgartner said, is a plank hold of at least one minute. More than three minutes is exceptional.
If you can’t hold a plank for a minute, it’s a good idea to start working on your core strength, Mr. Baumgartner said.
How to improve your core strength
To build your core, start by determining your maximum holding time. Then do two to three sets of planks a few times a week, adding 5 to 10 percent of that time to each until you consistently reach one minute, Mr. Sorensen said. Then continue to slowly increase the time to further increase your strength.
You can also incorporate squats, push-ups and bridges into your workouts two to three times a week to improve your core strength, or try activities such as cycling, kayaking, dancing, bar classes or swimming.
Whatever your score, it’s important not to obsess over your score, Mr. Baumgartner said. The point is to constantly challenge yourself to pursue improvement.
“The result is not a judgment on you,” he said, “it’s a snapshot in time.”
Hilary Achauer is a freelance writer covering health and fitness.
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