Our fitness coach, Malcolm Hood, takes us through several important fitness tests to check where we’re at, and how to improve our fitness and well-being over time.
You know that exercise does your body good, but your mind is racing ahead of your body while solving everyone else fitness to be a sound citizen. You’re too busy and stressed to fit ‘must-do’ exercise into your routine. Hold on a second — there's good news when it comes to exercise and stress.
Virtually any form of exercise, from aerobics to yoga, can act as a stress reliever. If you're not an athlete, or even if you're out of shape, you can still make a little exercise go a long way toward stress management. Finding out just how fit you are is an important first step, and one of the best ways to motivate and maintain movement.
We’re not talking a police fitness test or PAT (physical appraisal test) here. Rather the advice of Dr Jinger Gottschall, a research scientist and science advisor for the American Council on Exercise, suggests four simple fitness tests that make it easy to assess your fitness and strength and track your successes.
Follow these directions and in just a few minutes you can assess your cardio fitness, upper and lower body strength, core strength, and endurance. Take a quick note of your personal results, better still, do these tests with a friend and keep the record for each other. You will be surprised at just how quickly you can improve.
Cardiovascular aerobic fitness
There are many ways to assess cardiovascular fitness, but one of the most straight forward has to be the one-mile (1.6km) walking test. Take 2,000–2,500 steps — better yet, use the pedometer on your smartphone (free apps are available). All you need to do is find a one-mile (1.6km) flat walking track or neighbourhood route and record the time it takes for you to walk the distance. You can slow down and speed up as you wish, but the goal is to complete the mile as quickly as possible.
Upper body strength
Research shows the simple push-up is an effective functional training option for the pecs, deltoids, and triceps, while also strengthening the muscles of the core. To perform the push-up test, either on your knees or your toes, you complete as many push-ups as you can without stopping. For each full-range repetition, bring your elbows to a 90-degree angle.
Lower body strength
The leg wall sit test is a great way to assess lower-body strength, specifically in the glutes, quads, and hamstrings. And the single-leg version takes into account any difference between your legs. Simply start with your feet shoulder-width apart and your back against a smooth vertical wall. Slowly slide your back down the wall until both your knees and hips are at a 90-degree angle. Lift one leg off the ground and start the timer. When you can no longer keep that leg off the ground, stop the timer. After a period of rest, test your other leg. While this is a beginner’s exercise, it is also a top athlete’s and very effective. You can later compete with the egos of youth in your family.
Core strength and endurance
Research shows that your front, back, and side core muscles are all active in a hover or plank position, compared to isolated core exercises such as crunches or oblique twists. For this reason, the hover (forearm plank) test is a great way to assess your core strength and endurance. You simply need to stack your shoulders over your elbows and hold your body in a perfectly straight line for as long as possible.
Once you have benchmarked your fitness, stick with it. Blended fitness testing with the mobility advice previously highlighted (The new way to beat middle-age spread / Are judges fit for practice: mobility / Are judges fit for practice) and the recipe of functional excellence is close to transformed. Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day. But exercise also has some direct stress-busting benefits. As you begin to regularly shed your daily tensions through movement and physical activity, you may find that this focus on a single task, and the resulting energy and optimism, can help you remain calm, clear, and enduring in everything you do.
It pumps up your endorphins: physical activity helps bump up the production of your brain's feel-good neurotransmitters called endorphins. Although this function is often referred to as a runner's high, a nature hike also can contribute to this same feeling.
It's meditation in motion: after a brisk walk or several laps in the pool, you'll often find that you've forgotten the day's irritations and concentrated only on your body's movements.
It improves your mood: regular exercise can increase self-confidence, it can relax you, and it can lower the symptoms associated with mild depression and anxiety. Exercise can also improve your sleep, which is often disrupted by stress, depression, and anxiety. All of these exercise benefits can ease your stress levels, give you a sense of command over your body, your life, and your courtroom.
Keep fit.