It's a very big ask in our culture expecting
to stay healthy without keeping yourself fit.
There are any number of
compelling reasons to keep yourself fit. For starters aerobic fitness
is the foundation of good metabolic health. It's also a key driver in
supporting good mental health.
Musculo-skeletal
dysfunctions is driven by a lack of strength and flexibility.
Knowing how fit you are is
critical to establishing how healthy you are.
Scoring
There are 8 items in the fitness test. The scores on the aerobic fitness
(20m run) test are given extra weight by multiplying the result by 3.
The pass-mark on each item is 7/10. It is
readily achievable by people of any age up to 80 if they have a regular and
systemic aerobic fitness, strength and flexibility training program.
FITNESS PROFILE
- a good score is a high score
|
1. |
Body
composition
How close are you to
being your ideal weight?
Scores based on the number of kilos of body fat over
what you consider to be your ideal weight.
Current weight ......
Ideal weight ........
Percent body fat
.......
|
%M |
37 |
35 |
32 |
30 |
28 |
26 |
24 |
22 |
20 |
<18 |
|
%F |
47 |
45 |
40 |
38 |
36 |
34 |
32 |
30 |
28 |
<26 |
| |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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2. |
Leg
strength -
squats - to exhaustion
How many squats
can you do? ......... Your bottom must get down to the
crease in the back of your knees. Use a heel raise if you need to.
3 cms is about the right height.
|
<5 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
17 |
20 |
23 |
25 |
30 |
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0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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3. |
Abdominal strength
- sit-ups - to exhaustion
How many
situps can you do, feet held, arms crossed and holding
your shoulders ........
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<5 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
17 |
20 |
23 |
25 |
30 |
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0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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4. |
Upper body strength - press-ups - to exhaustion
Men on toes, women on front of thighs. ........
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<5 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
12 |
14 |
17 |
20 |
23 |
25 |
30 |
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0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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5. |
Hamstring
flexibility
- sit and reach
In a sitting position,
with feet outstretched in front of you, knees flat on
the floor, see how far down
past your toes you can reach with your fingers. Keep
your knees straight.
|
Can't touch |
Fingers |
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Palm |
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Wrist |
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0 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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6a |
Buttock flexibility
- ability to sit up
straight with legs crossed and
hands clasped behind your back. Score each side out of
5.
Left leg under.
|
Fall over completely |
Almost |
Just |
Good |
Excel |
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0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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6b |
Buttock flexibility
Right leg under.
|
Fall over completely |
Almost |
Just |
Good |
Excel |
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0 |
1 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
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7. |
Shoulder function - wall test
Stand with your feet and back against the wall. Place your hands in
the surrender position with elbows, forearms, wrists and fingers
flat back on the wall - and forearms vertical. Score 10 if you can
do this with ease. The further the (vertical) forearms are away from
the wall the lower the score.
|
Distance
(cms) from the wall when forearms are vertical. |
|
>15 |
15 |
13 |
11 |
9 |
7 |
5 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
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0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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8. |
Aerobic fitness -
20m run.
How many
20m laps can you complete in 5 minutes - walk, shuffle,
jog or run.
|
M |
<20 |
20 |
22 |
24 |
26 |
28 |
30 |
34 |
36 |
38 |
40 |
|
F |
<20 |
20 |
22 |
24 |
26 |
28 |
30 |
32 |
34 |
36 |
38 |
| |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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Multiply your answer by 3 |
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Aerobic Training
Record - based on Fitbit zone points per week
- a future possibility.
|
0 |
50 |
100 |
|
120 |
|
150 |
|
200 |
|
240 |
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0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 |
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TOTAL |
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Did you attain more than 70/100 Yes
o
No
o
Did you attain more than 7/10 on all items Yes
o
No
o
YOUR
FITNESS IS ASSESSED AS: -
|
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 Excellent if you scored over 90 |
o |
|
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Very good if you scored over
80 |
o |
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Very good if you scored over
80 |
o |
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Good if you scored over 70 |
o |
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Not bad 60 - 70 |
o |
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Not good 50 - 60 |
o |
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Poor 40 - 50
|
o |
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Dreadful 30 - 40 |
o |
However, the good news is that at any score you can improve tour level
of fitness, providing you keep doing the things that fit and healthy people do
to keep themselves fit and healthy.
Keep in mind that very few people ever got fit and
healthy in a surgery or a pharmacy. Very few people relieved their lower
back pain by having someone rub their back.
Very few people ever got fit and healthy by someone do something to them; sooner or later they had to
do something to themselves.
