{"id":120188,"date":"2025-09-07T05:55:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/120188\/"},"modified":"2025-09-07T05:55:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-07T05:55:09","slug":"how-fit-are-you-really-three-easy-tests-you-can-do-at-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/120188\/","title":{"rendered":"How fit are you really? Three easy tests you can do at home"},"content":{"rendered":"

A growing array of high-tech devices and machines promises to tell you how healthy you are, and how far you\u2019ve come. But for decades trainers have used simple tests to do roughly the same job: just go carefully and seek advice if anything hurts or feels too challenging. <\/p>\n

1. The cardio test<\/p>\n

The gold standard test for aerobic fitness \u2014 the VO2 max \u2014 measures the maximum rate at which you can consume oxygen. The notorious test involves rigging you up to breathing apparatus while you use a treadmill or exercise bike; the more oxygen you can take in, the better shape you are in.<\/p>\n

A simpler proxy is the three-minute step test. To do the step test, find a solid step about 40cm high (two steps on the average stairs can work). For three minutes, step up and down in time with a metronome set at 96 beats per minute for men (Ed Sheeran\u2019s Shape of You); for women, go for 88bpm (Christina Aguilera\u2019s Genie in a Bottle). After you\u2019re done, immediately take a heart-rate monitor reading (or place your fingers on your neck for 15 seconds and multiply by four).<\/p>\n

\u2022 One minute of exercise a day \u2018could add years to your life\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

The slower your post-test heart rate, the better your cardiovascular health. A pulse of 96 or below for men, or 103 or below for women, is considered \u201cgood to excellent\u201d for people aged 56-65, while a rate of 116 (men) or 127 and above (women) would be \u201cpoor to fair\u201d. Anything in between is \u201caverage to above average\u201d. Pulse count ratings for other age groups can be found here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\u201cTo conquer the stairs we must have strong leg muscles and glutes [buttocks],\u201d says Lex Sharp, my personal trainer at FitFor in southeast London. \u201cThe ankle, knee and hip joints are all used and balance plays an important role. We must also have a good cardiovascular system.\u201d <\/p>\n

Repeat the test every month to track your progress.<\/p>\n

\"NINTCHDBPICT001018787407\"2. The strength test<\/p>\n

There are multiple ways to test strength, from the wall squat (back against the wall, legs bent at 90 degrees, hold for as long as possible) to the dead hang to determine one\u2019s grip strength (simply hang from a bar; 30 seconds is a decent target). Sharp favours the simple press-up, which is, he says, \u201cthe go-to upper-body functional strength movement We push more than we pull, and this fundamental movement will strengthen the muscles of the anterior shoulder, chest and triceps.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp says a proper press-up should involve straight arms at the top, with hands shoulder-width apart. At the bottom your arms should bend to 90 degrees at the elbow. The goal is to go until you can\u2019t squeeze another one out.<\/p>\n

\u2022 The five best power exercises and why you should try them<\/a><\/p>\n

A good result for people in their twenties would be 40 for men and 24 for women, according to Sharp, dropping to 30 and 15 respectively in one\u2019s forties. The Mayo Clinic is more generous, suggesting \u201cgood\u201d targets of 20 down to 10 press-ups for women as they age from their twenties to their sixties, and 28 down to 10 press-ups for men across the same age scale.<\/p>\n

Whatever you can do, the point is that you have your own benchmark. The best way to improve? More press-ups: Sharp suggests dividing your maximum by three and performing that number four times daily with a break in between, increasing your reps per set by a quarter each week and retesting every month.<\/p>\n

\"Illustration3. The balance test<\/p>\n

On paper this test is as simple as they come but it can be tricky to carry out. To start with, try standing on one leg. Before long, balancing for more than ten seconds without letting your raised leg touch the floor should be achievable. The real test is then to do it with your eyes closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cBalance can be a really good indicator of various things,\u201d says Simon Inman, fitness director at Surrenne, a health club in Mayfair, where new members do this test. Poor balance, he says, can be a sign of muscle wastage as well as postural and skeletal issues. \u201cIt might be injury, it might be body alignment or neurological issues,\u201d he says. Your synapses need to be firing fast to instruct the muscles in your feet, ankles and legs to resist gravity in a way that maintains balance (you\u2019ll feel them all twitching frantically before you lose balance).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Seven exercises you should do every week \u2014 at home or in the park<\/a><\/p>\n

Inman says anyone who can stand on one leg with their eyes closed for more than 10 seconds is doing well, and that 30 seconds would be \u201camazing\u201d. Doing exercises to improve balance such as yoga, Pilates or even simple moves such as the tandem stance (feet facing forwards in line, the toes of your rear foot touching the heel of your front foot) should help improve your time and reduce your susceptibility to falls later in life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A growing array of high-tech devices and machines promises to tell you how healthy you are, and how…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120189,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[6647,102,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-120188","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120188"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120188\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}