Have you ever wondered how fit (or unfit) you actually are? Well, wonder no more, because here are four simple tests you can perform to finally get an answer to this ever-burning question:
- Bench press – If you cannot bench press your current body weight, you aren’t very fit. Press your weight plus half of it again and you’ve got an okay level of fitness. If you can lift more than 1.5 times your total weight, you are more fit than a majority of the people on this planet.
- Leg press – Although the standard for a bench press is 1.5 times your weight, it is slightly higher for leg presses because your lower body is generally stronger than your upper. That means that if you cannot lift at least 1.8 times your total body weight via a leg press, you better work on your thigh, hamstring, and calf muscles. However, press more than 2.2 times your weight and you’ve got some solid fitness. Anything in between is just so-so and open for improvement.
- Pushups – You can also test your fitness level by the number of pushups you’re able to complete with proper form and without resting. If you can do more than 40, you’ve got a superior level of fitness, 25-40 and you are okay but nothing spectacular, and less than 25 means that you have a lot of work to do
- Running – Another great fitness test is how fast you can run 1.5 miles on a track or other relatively flat and even surface. If it takes you 12 minutes or more, you’ve got subpar fitness levels. Anything between 12 and 10 minutes is pretty good, but faster than 10 minutes and you’re doing rather well.
These are just four ways to determine if you are relatively fit or if you need to kick your workouts up a notch to get your body in better shape. If you’re not where you want to be, don’t let it discourage you. Use it to fuel your drive and next time you take these tests, you’ll get much better results!