If you want to get in better shape the first thing you will need to do is assess how fit you are at your current level. There are four different elements that makeup your overall fitness:
- Body Composition
- Aerobic or Cardiovascular Endurance
- Muscular Strength & Endurance
- Flexibility
For each area you will either measure your body or perform a physical activity. Get a notebook, journal or worksheet and record all your results along with the date. From these numbers you will be able to tell if you are healthy, overweight, or obese and also if your strength and endurance is good, average, or below average. You can then periodically, every 4 to 6 weeks, retest yourself to see if you are making fitness gains.
Body Composition
Determining you body composition simply is measuring your body to determine if you are overweight or at risk for health problems. There are several different measurements that help determine your level including BMI (Body Mass Index), height-to-waist ratio, and waist-to-hip ratio.
Body Mass Index
To figure your BMI you will need to know your weight and height. You can do the math yourself by dividing your weight in pounds by your height in inches squared and multiply by 703. Or you can refer to this chart. Just find your height on the left hand column, move over to your current weight, then look up to see your BMI.
BMI results can be summarized like this:
- < 18.5 = Underweight
- 18.5-24.9 = Normal Weight
- 25-29.9 = Overweight
- > 30 = Obese
One problem of the body mass index is that it does not take into account muscle versus fat. Since muscle weighs more than fat, for certain body types or older age groups the BMI may not truly determine if you are overweight especially if you are extremely muscular.
Height to Waist Ratio
To determine your height to waist ratio measure your height and your waist, typically right above your hip bones, with a measuring tape or a string which you can then measure with a yard stick or measuring tape. Ideally you want less than a 2:1 ratio. So if you are six feet tall, or 72 inches, then you should have no more than a 36″ waist.
In other words if you divide height in inches by your waist in inches and the result is over 2.0, you would be considered overweight.
Waist to Hip Ratio
The waist-to-hip ratio will give you a better understanding of the distribution of fat on your body. Since excess visceral fat, the fat that forms in your gut around your internal organs, is far more harmful to your health than subcutaneous fat, which is found right under your skin in your buttocks and hips, this ratio can help determine how healthy you are.
This technique may not work well for some body types like very thin women. That is why it is important to use all of these tests to get a good idea of your overall health level.
To determine your waist to hip ratio just measure your waist and hip circumference. Then divide your waist result in inches by your hip result in inches. Results can be summarized by the following table:
| Waist-to-Hip Ratio Results | ||
| Men | Health Risk | Women |
| 0.8 | Ideal | 0.7 |
| <0.95 | Low Risk | <0.8 |
| 0.96-0.99 | Moderate Risk | 0.81 – 0.84 |
| >1.0 | High Risk | >0.85 |
Aerobic Endurance
In order to test your cardiovascular fitness we recommend the 1.5 mile run/walk test. For this test you need a stopwatch or clock/watch with a second hand and a course that is flat and can measure 1.5 miles. It could be a track, a treadmill, trail, or road. You want to cover the distance as fast as possible by running or walking if you need to pace yourself in order to finish.
Consult the tables below with your results to see how your aerobic endurance rates.
| Women | Superior | Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | Very Poor |
| Age: 18-29 |
11:00 or less | 11:15-12:45 | 13:00-14:15 | 14:30-15:45 | 16:00-17:30 | 17:45 or more |
| 30-39 | 11:45 or less | 12:00-13:30 | 13:45-15:15 | 15:30-16:30 | 16:45-18:45 | 19:00 or more |
| 40-49 | 12:45 or less | 13:00-14:30 | 14:45-16:30 | 16:45-18:30 | 18:45-20:45 | 21:00 or more |
| 50-59 | 14:15 or less | 14:30-16:30 | 16:45-18:30 | 18:45-20:30 | 20:45-23:00 | 23:15 or more |
| 60 and over | 14:00 or less | 14:15-17:15 | 17:30-20:15 | 20:30-22:45 | 23:00-24:45 | 25:00 or more |
| Men | Superior | Excellent | Good | Fair | Poor | Very Poor |
| Age: 18-29 |
9:15 or less | 9:30-10:30 | 10:45-11:45 | 12:00-12:45 | 13:00-14:00 | 14:15 or more |
| 30-39 | 9:45 or less | 10:00-11:00 | 11:15-12:15 | 12:30-13:30 | 13:45-14:45 | 15:00 or more |
| 40-49 | 10:00 or less | 10:15-11:45 | 12:00-13:00 | 13:15-14:15 | 14:30-16:00 | 16:25 or more |
| 50-59 | 10:45 or less | 11:00-12:45 | 13:00-14:15 | 14:30-15:45 | 16:00-17:45 | 18:00 or more |
| 60 and over | 11:15 or less | 11:30-13:45 | 14:00-15:45 | 16:00-17:45 | 18:00-20:45 | 21:00 or more |
Muscular Strength & Endurance
You will use the push-up test to measure your muscular strength and endurance. For men start with a normal push-up position, with your back straight and fingers forward lower your chest to about 2 inches off the floor, then return to the starting position. For women use the modified push-up position in which your body is supported by your hands and knees instead of feet. Do as many as you can without stopping.
Consult the tables below to see how you rate in muscular strength and endurance based on the push-up test.
| Number of Push-Ups | ||||||
| Men | Very Poor | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | Superior |
| Age: 18-29 |
< 22 | 22-28 | 29-36 | 37-46 | 47-61 | > 61 |
| 30-39 | < 17 | 17-23 | 24-29 | 30-38 | 39-51 | > 51 |
| 40-49 | < 11 | 11-17 | 18-23 | 24-29 | 30-39 | > 39 |
| 50-59 | < 9 | 9-12 | 13-18 | 19-24 | 25-38 | > 38 |
| 60 and over | < 6 | 6-9 | 10-17 | 18-22 | 23-27 | > 27 |
| Number of Modified Push-Ups | ||||||
| Women | Very Poor | Poor | Fair | Good | Excellent | Superior |
| Age: 18-29 | < 17 | 17-22 | 23-29 | 30-35 | 36-44 | > 44 |
| 30-39 | < 11 | 11-18 | 19-23 | 24-30 | 31-38 | > 38 |
| 40-49 | < 6 | 6-12 | 13-17 | 18-23 | 24-32 | > 32 |
| 50-59 | < 6 | 6-11 | 12-16 | 17-20 | 21-27 | > 27 |
| 60 and over | < 2 | 2-4 | 5-11 | 12-14 | 15-19 | > 19 |
Flexibility
To test flexibility we will use a simple sit-and-reach test. Before starting you should warmup with some walking and light stretching of your lower body.
To perform this test place a yardstick or other measuring device on the floor and place a large strip of masking tape at a right angle at the 15-inch mark. Sit on the floor with the yardstick between your legs, your feet about one foot apart, and your heels at the 14-inch mark. Then with your fingertips on the yardstick stretch your hands forward as far as you can, noting how far your fingertips reach to the nearest inch. Perform this stretch 3 times with a few seconds of rest between each time and record your best result.
To see how flexible you are see the following table:
| Flexibility Test (In Inches) | |||||||
| Men | Excellent | Good | Above Average | Average | Below Average | Poor | Very Poor |
| Age:18-25 | > 20 | 18-20 | 17-18 | 15-16 | 13-14 | 10-12 | < 10 |
| 26-35 | > 20 | 18-19 | 16-17 | 15-16 | 11-14 | 10-12 | < 10 |
| 36-45 | > 19 | 17-19 | 15-17 | 13-15 | 11-13 | 9-11 | < 8 |
| 46-55 | > 19 | 16-17 | 14-15 | 12-13 | 10-11 | 7-9 | < 7 |
| 56-65 | > 17 | 14-17 | 12-14 | 10-12 | 8-10 | 5-8 | < 5 |
| 65+ | > 17 | 13-16 | 11-13 | 9-11 | 8-9 | 5-7 | < 5 |
| Flexibility Test (In Inches) | |||||||
| Women | Excellent | Good | Above Average | Average | Below Average | Poor | Very Poor |
| Age:18-25 | > 24 | 21-23 | 20-21 | 18-19 | 17-18 | 14-16 | < 13 |
| 26-35 | > 25 | 20-22 | 19-20 | 18 | 16-17 | 14-15 | < 13 |
| 36-45 | > 22 | 19-21 | 17-19 | 16-17 | 14-15 | 11-13 | < 10 |
| 46-55 | > 21 | 18-20 | 17-18 | 15-16 | 14-15 | 11-13 | < 10 |
| 56-65 | > 20 | 18-19 | 16-17 | 15 | 13-14 | 10-12 | < 9 |
| 65+ | > 20 | 18-19 | 16-17 | 14-15 | 12-13 | 9-11 | < 8 |
Continue reading the Complete Guide to Getting Fit Part 2 – Setting Target Goals
