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Measuring Beyond the Weights: How Can I Assess My Fitness Level? |
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Written by Matt Lindsay
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Measuring Beyond the Weights: How Can I Assess My Fitness Level?
Your age, genetics, lifestyle, daily activities and diet are a few of the components that add into your fitness level. If you want to make sure that you are at the right fitness level in every area of your life, than you will want to find a way to measure your overall health. If you are working towards finding a way to assess your fitness level, you can perform a variety of simple tests to make sure that you are on the right path towards health.
Making sure that you assess your fitness level is not about seeing if you can lift a large amount of weights. Finding that you are in shape also includes examining every area of your physical health. This means that every part of you should be balanced and should have the ability to perform to the best of your ability. Following are some tests that can be used to find your fitness level.
1. Check-up. This will help you to figure out what the complete science of your fitness level is. If you are over 35, it is recommended that you get a check-up and regular physical examinations to make sure that all of your internal and external physical features are still functioning properly. If you are under this age, and can't see your doctor at the time, you can perform a few simple routines to see if you are at your optimum health.
2. The one mile test. This assessment is done by simply measuring how far and how fast you can walk. Begin by finding a one mile track. You will then see how far you can go in 12 minutes. Make sure that you walk or run, but don't go too fast. This will measure the volume of oxygen that you use while you are exercising.
The assessment you make will be measured as follows:
0.5 miles – poor fitness level
0.5-1 mile – good
1-1.5 miles – very good
1.5 and up - excellent
If you want to do this more accurately, you can contact a physician for what is known as a VO2 test.
3. Heart rate. Measuring your heart rate will help to determine your cardiovascular level. This is something that you should work on every day.
- subtract your age from 220. This is your desired heart rate.
- Try to reach a heart rate between 60-80% for a 20-30 minute period.
- Do this three times a week.
If you can't reach your average heart rate, you know that you need to work on circulation and cardiovascular exercises.
4. The Push-up test. This will determine the strength factor of your physical fitness level.
- lie on the floor with your face down and hands over your shoulders
- keep our legs straight and parallel to the floor
- push up to a 90 degree angle
- perform as many repetitions as you can without repeating
The push-up test is measured as follows:
30 push-ups – average strength level
50 push-ups (or more) – excellent strength level
Some will use this same technique for pull ups and sit-ups to measure various other areas. For pull-ups, average is eight and thirteen is known as excellent. For sit-ups, the average is 44 and excellent is 55. After you know this, you will know which areas of your body to concentrate on for strength and weight lifting.
5. Sit and reach – used to text flexibility levels.
- find a box or crate that is twelve inches high
- Place a yardstick or ruler on the top of the box
- make sure that the nine inch mark is hanging over the box
- Place your feet against the box
- Keep your legs straight and bend forward
- stretch your palms to your feet
- repeat this a few times
- place your hands on the ruler and record the number that your hands reached
The assessment is measured by:
15.5 inches – average flexibility
18.6 inches – excellent flexibility
These easy exercises are great ways to assess your fitness level. If you want to find what areas of your body to work on and find the best methods for exercise, this is a good place to begin. Doing these few simple assessments will give you the ability to reach your goals easier and to work towards a well-rounded and healthy lifestyle. |
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