How fit are you? Assess your Personal Fitness Level and Find Out!

WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW HOW FIT YOU ARE 

How fit are you?  How many of you know?  If you want to find out how to learn your level of fitness, keep reading! 

Before beginning a new fitness plan, it’s important to know where you are on the fitness scale. And as most experts will tell you, it’s wise to consult with your doctor before starting any fitness regime.

While your age, weight and health history can give you an indication of your general state of health, these factors are not clear indicators of your level of fitness. 

 

HOW TO EVALUATE YOUR OWN FITNESS LEVEL – How Fit Are You?

 When you set out to assess your personal fitness level, you’ll want to evaluate these four key areas:

• Aerobic Fitness
• Body Composition
• Muscular Strength and Endurance
• Flexibility

 

Now it’s time to put together your “testing kit” which should include the following items:

• Pen/Paper To Record Scores
• Stopwatch/Timepiece With Second Hand
• Yardstick
• Heavy-Duty Tape
• Scale
• Cloth Measuring Tape
• Person To Help If Possible!

 

Make sure you record your current scores in a personal fitness journal, electronic recordkeeping system OR, download and print my “How Fit Are You?” Fitness Test Results Log.  

 

HOW TO ASSESS YOUR AEROBIC FITNESS LEVEL – How Fit Are You?

For most healthy adults, a fit heart rate is in the range of 60-100 beats per minute.  This is your Resting Heart Rate, which is generally a good measure of your overall fitness level, and should decrease as your fitness improves.

Your resting heart rate (RHR) represents the number of times your heart beats each minute when you are at rest. Since a strong cardiovascular system allows your heart to pump more blood with every beat, a low RHR indicates a higher level of aerobic fitness.

There are several simple ways to measure your aerobic fitness level.

CHECK YOUR RESTING PULSE RATE 

• CAROTID: Place your index and middle fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe OR
• WRIST: Place two fingers between the bone and tendon over your radial artery which is located on the palm side of your wrist just below the thumb.
• Once you feel your pulse, look at your watch and count the number of beats in 15 seconds.
• Multiply this number by 4 to get your heart rate per minute.   (21 beats/15 seconds x 4 = 84 beats per minute)

 

RUNNING / JOGGING AEROBIC TEST – How Fit Are You?

Another simple method of testing your aerobic fitness is to time yourself on a 1.5 mile / 2.4 kilometer run or jog. 

To see where you fall on the Aerobic Fitness scale, here’s the general guidelines based on your age and gender.

Keep in mind that a faster time indicates a better aerobic fitness level. 

If your results are on the high side, there’s room for improvement.

After performing both of these tests of your Aerobic fitness level, you’ll have a good idea of your personal level of aerobic fitness.

 

ASSESSING YOUR BODY COMPOSITION – How Fit Are You?

Two of the best indicators of your body composition is your Waist Circumference and your BMI score.

If you carry more weight above the hips, or your waist circumference is greater than your hips, you are in the group with a higher risk of heart disease and Type 2 Diabetes.

 

The risk jumps even higher for women with waists of more than 35 inches. That’s why it’s so important to keep an eye on your waistline if you want to stay this side of healthy!

HOW TO MEASURE YOUR WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE

• Using your cloth measuring tape, place it just above the hipbones. Keep the tape straight and hold it firmly by not tightly to take your measurement.

 

YOUR BODY MASS INDEX (BMI)

Your body mass index (BMI) is a calculation that tells you whether you have a healthy amount of body fat for your height and weight.

The easiest way to determine your BMI is to use an online calculator… LIKE THIS!  Just click on the link and find out your BMI index score.

FREE BMI CALCULATOR

But, if you’d like to calculate your BMI yourself, just do the math!

• Divide your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared and multiply by 703.
• Or divide your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. (To determine your height in meters, divide your height in centimeters by 100.)

 

Personally, I just clicked on the link and voila!  My BMI is 19.5 and is in the HEALTHY range.  Yeah! 

 

MUSCULAR STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE 

Your level of fitness also depends on how you score in the Muscular Strength and Endurance category.  I can hear some of you moaning…

PUSH UPS

No more running or jogging, I promise!  Actually, doing Push-Ups is one of the best indicators of your upper body strength.   Or rather, push ups truly are more a measure of your muscular endurance than your pure body strength.

This test is based on how many push ups you can do in a specific period of time, not how heavy a dumbbell you can lift.  But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good measure of your upper body strength.  

Each time you perform a push up with good form, you challenge the chest, shoulders and upper arm muscles.  Plus, the extra benefit is they also work your abdominal (core) muscles too.

 

HOW TO PERFORM A PUSH UP CORRECTLY

• Get into the push-up position on a flat surface.
• If you can’t perform a push up safely, use a modified position with your knees and lower legs on the floor.
• Each repetition must be executed with good form. Your body remaining in a straight line, with your head in line with the spine, and arms bent at a 90 degree angle.

 

Here’s how to score your results:

• 30 or more for men / 25 or more for women = Excellent
• 25 to 29 for men / 20 to 24 for women = Good
• 20 to 24 for men / 15 to 19 for women = Not bad
• 19 or less for men / 14 or less for women = Needs work!

 

NEXT IT’S TIME FOR GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED SIT UPS

Doing sit ups measures the strength and endurance of your abdominal muscles and core. It’s also a great exercise to include in your fitness workout once you’ve assessed your personal level of fitness.

But it’s important to learn how to do the with good form to get the most benefit from the exercise.

 

• Lie on the floor with knees bent at a 90-degree angle and feet flat on the floor with a partner holding your feet to the floor, OR
• Place your feet on the wall so your knees and hips are bent at a 90-degree angle. Cross your arms across your chest, in the starting position. 
• Raise your head and shoulders off the floor without lifting your buttocks off the floor.
• Return to the down position, and that completes one sit up.
• Do as many sit ups as you can in one minute.

 

Here’s how to score your sit up results:

Age	Women: Number of sit ups	Men: Number of sit ups
25	39	44
35	30	40
45	25	35
55	21	30
65	12	24

And the last area you need to test to help you assess your fitness level is flexibility.  So here’s how you’ll finish up your assessment tests.

 

MEASURING YOUR FLEXIBILITY

Flexibility is a very important part of your overall health picture, and can tell much about your personal fitness level.

Your flexibility level affects your life on a daily basis.  Bending to tie your shoes and stretching to reach the tallest shelf both need your body to be flexible.  So you can see how important it is to include a series of flexibility exercises in your fitness plan.

The Sit-and-Reach exercise is one of the universally accepted ways to test your level of flexibility.  Here’s how to do it correctly.

 

HOW TO PERFORM A SIT-AND-REACH 

The sit-and-reach test is a simple way to measure the flexibility of the back of your legs, lower back and hips.

Here’s how to perform this exercise with good form:

• Put your yardstick on the floor and secure it in place with some adhesive tape at the 15 inch mark. 
• Place the soles of your feet even at the 15-inch taped mark on the yardstick.
• Reach forward as far as you can in a slow steady motion. Exhale as you reach, holding the position for at least two seconds. 
• While you hold the position, check the distance of your reach on the yardstick. 
• Repeat the exercise two more times, noting your distance each time.
• Record the best of your three reach results. 

 

Here’s the measurements that you can use to assess your flexibility based on your age and gender.  Results below these target numbers will show you how much work you’ll need to do to reach that goal.  

Age	Women: Farthest reach	Men: Farthest reach
25	21.5 in. (55 cm)	19.5 in. (50 cm)
35	20.5 in. (52 cm)	18.5 in. (47 cm)
45	20 in. (51 cm)	17.5 in. (44 cm)

 

MAKE IT EASY TO FIND OUT HOW FIT YOU ARE – Printable Test Results Log

It’s really important to note and record your Personal Fitness Assessment Test Results.  And that’s why I created a “How Fit Are You?” Fitness Test Results Log Sheet to make the job that much easier!

 

Use the log sheet to help you determine your overall level of fitness and then start planning your exercise regime to become the best possible you!

If you’re not a member of the Ingredients For A Fabulous Life Community, just head to the bottom of this post and fill out the subscribe form to get instant access to your copy of the Fitness Test Results Log Sheet.

 

ARE YOUR READY TO BEGIN YOUR NEW FITNESS PLAN?

How Fit Are You?  Now you know!   If you’ve found that you’re in good shape and your physician gives you the go-ahead, you can begin a new fitness plan.

 

I hope you feel fabulous now that you know where you rate on the scale of personal fitness.  Even if your results were less than stellar, you now have a firm basis for formulating your new fitness plan.

And now that you are in the right frame of mind, why not decide how to move forward with your plans to become a more fit you this year?

I’ve created four Personal Fitness Trackers, each one focused on a single category of exercise program.  

 

 

The secret to your successful fitness plan lies in the “core” pages contained in each of the Personal Fitness Trackers.  You won’t have to make entries in tons of pages each day to keep track of your fitness plan.  I’ve streamlined the process for you to keep you moving toward your month-end fitness goals each and every day of the month.

You might also want to include starting a few new “fit” habits, setting monthly goals and daily micro-goals while also keeping track of your water and nutritional intake. 

“CORE” PAGES CONTAINED IN THE LIFESTYLE DIVA SHOPPE’S 48-Page Personal Fitness Trackers:

Monthly Fitness “At A Glance” Calendar

Monthly Fitness Goals

Fit Habit Tracker Sheet

This Month’s Body Measurements – Day 1 and Day 31 with Pictures

Weekly Measurement Tracker

Monthly Weight Tracker Calendar

Vitamin & Supplement List

Weekly Meal Planning Worksheet

Weekly Grocery List

Daily Fitness Tracker Sheets that streamline your daily fitness tracking:

• Body Weight Tracker
• Daily Water Tracker
• Sleep Log
• Daily Food Intake Record
• Day’s Schedule & Highlights
• Today’s Micro Goal
• Today’s Must-Do’s
• Fit Habit Plan of Action
• Vitamin/Supplement Check
• Daily Exercise Journal Entry

End-of-Month Fitness Plan Reflections

 

SPECIALTY PERSONAL FITNESS TRACKERS – Yoga, Pilates, Running/Walking & Strength Training

If you want to give yourself the best possible chance of success, you’ll find using a Printable Fitness Tracker can make a real difference in your results and motivation. Your Personal Fitness Tracker will help you to plan and execute a healthy exercise regime, and also make your Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping a snap!

Each Lifestyle Diva Shoppe’s Personal Fitness Trackers have a group of specialty pages especially designed for that type of fitness plan.  There’s a specialty Fitness Tracker for Yoga, Pilates, Strength Training/Cardio and also Running/Walking fitness programs.

So you see, there’s really not a whole lot of reasons why you shouldn’t be considering starting a new fitness plan this year.  

Of course, you’ll want to follow the steps outlines above to assess your current physical level of fitness first.

But don’t let yourself forget the invigorating feeling you have right now after reading this article.  You want to harness that and motivate yourself to make a set of fitness goals and strive to reach them each and every month.

So, don’t wait, click on the link RIGHT NOW and make your fitness a priority this year! 

THE LIFESTYLE DIVA SHOPPE AT ETSY

And don’t forget to download your HOW FIT ARE YOU FITNESS ASSESSMENT RESULTS LOG!

If you’re not an IFAFL subscriber yet, just fill out the form below and you’ll have instant access to the Ingredients For A Fabulous Life Subscriber’s Resource Library to download your log.

 

IT’S THE TIME OF YEAR TO SET NEW GOALS!  Click the link below to find out how to start setting life goals:

Crush the New Year with Your Fab Life Goal Planner

 

IT’S TIME TO DOWNLOAD YOUR OWN TEST RESULTS LOG – How Fit Are You?

You’ll find it in the IFAFL Subscriber’s Resource Library!  Would you love to have unlimited access to all the fabulous printables in the IFAFL Subscriber’s Resource Library?

Then why aren’t you on our list yet? Come join the fun!

Fill out the form below and start enjoying unlimited access to our Resource Library as a thank you for joining the IFAFL Email Subscriber Community.

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