If you’ve been working out, and you are the proper weight for your age, gender, bone structure, and height, you may think that you are in top physical condition. The sad fact is that this isn’t necessarily true. You can never just assume that you are in great shape – you must confirm it. You need to know how to measure fitness in the truest sense.
Tools to Measure Fitness
In order to determine how truly fit you are, you will need some tools to help you determine this. You will need a flexible measuring tape, a hard yard stick, a watch or stopwatch, duct tape, and another person to help you out. You should also have a pen and paper handy for recording information.
Measure Your Aerobic, Muscular, and Flexibility Fitness
To measure your aerobic fitness, take your heart rate, walk one mile as quickly as you can, and then take your heart rate again. This can be done outside or on a treadmill. Write your heart rate before and after the walk down. Count the number of beats for ten seconds and multiply that number by six to get your heart rate. You will also need to note the amount of time that it took you to complete your walk.
For the muscular fitness test, do as many pushups as you can do without stopping to rest. Speed does not matter. Write down the number of pushups that you complete before stopping – and don’t cheat! To record your flexibility, place the yardstick on the floor, and mark the fifteen inch mark with the tape. Sit next to the yardstick with the soles of your feet even with the mark. You must keep your knees from bending, and another person can hold them down for you. Using your arms, reach toward your toes as far as you can, and measure the distance with the yard stick. Write this information down.
Measure Fitness with your Body Composition
When you measure your body composition, you are essentially checking the circumference of your waist and your body mass index. This is done with the measuring tape. Measure your waist at the most narrow point and write this information down. Weigh yourself and divide your weight by your height, using pounds and inches. Square this number and then multiply by 703. You can also use free online tools to determine your BMI. Again, write this information down.
Repeat these steps in four to six weeks to see if you’ve made any improvements. If you have, you weren’t in top physical condition. If your numbers have remained the same, you are probably in the best condition that you could ever be in, assuming that the numbers are good to begin with.