What’s up Ya’ll?
Each and every one of my clients through exercise testing to assess current fitness level and as a means of measurement of progression. When it comes to exercise selection, each evaluation is different depending on the individual’s goal and their strengths/weaknesses. Specifically, different patterns (push, pull, squat, step) help me assess how strong you are. In the coming posts, we will run through some normative data and values as well as a Goose-ified description of each test.
This way, you can do it yourself and compare your scores to the scores of people around your age/gender/weight/phyla classification.
First up, that ones we all hated in school growing up.
The president’s push-up test
The ole pushup test. I remember rocking this in gym class, busting out a few pushups and calling it a day. Combine this with the flexed-arm hang and you got yourself a dynamic duo of muscular endurance and base strength.
Two categories of performing this test and a few rules listed below:
1)For men, perform pushups from your toes.
2)For women, perform pushups from your knees.
-Your chest must come within 2 inches of the ground to count each repetition
-You must straighten your arms after performing each repetition while maintaining a rigid torso.
-Perform as many pushups as possible until exhaustion. You are allowed to rest in the ‘up position’ but once you drop from there, the test is over.
So I’ll give you a couple minutes to get this test done (I did over a thousand so it took me a few days).
Real talk, get your number and compare your score to the numbers below…courtesy of the YMCA
Table: Push Up Test norms for MEN
| Age | 17-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | > 56 | > 47 | > 41 | > 34 | > 31 | > 30 |
| Good | 47-56 | 39-47 | 34-41 | 28-34 | 25-31 | 24-30 |
| Above average | 35-46 | 30-39 | 25-33 | 21-28 | 18-24 | 17-23 |
| Average | 19-34 | 17-29 | 13-24 | 11-20 | 9-17 | 6-16 |
| Below average | 11-18 | 10-16 | 8-12 | 6-10 | 5-8 | 3-5 |
| Poor | 4-10 | 4-9 | 2-7 | 1-5 | 1-4 | 1-2 |
| Very Poor | < 4 | < 4 | < 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Table: Push Up Test norms for WOMEN
| Age | 17-19 | 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-65 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Excellent | > 35 | > 36 | > 37 | > 31 | > 25 | > 23 |
| Good | 27-35 | 30-36 | 30-37 | 25-31 | 21-25 | 19-23 |
| Above Average | 21-27 | 23-29 | 22-30 | 18-24 | 15-20 | 13-18 |
| Average | 11-20 | 12-22 | 10-21 | 8-17 | 7-14 | 5-12 |
| Below average | 6-10 | 7-11 | 5-9 | 4-7 | 3-6 | 2-4 |
| Poor | 2-5 | 2-6 | 1-4 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 1 |
| Very Poor | 0-1 | 0-1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Stella Fitness 