How fit are you?

Have you ever wondered how fit you are? Or have you ever wondered what the average fitness level of everyone should be? Of course the fitness level for each of us will be different depending on how regularly and how intensely we exercise. However, even if you don’t exercise at all, it is recommended that you meet this minimum fitness level. Being at this minimum fitness level ensures that you you are decently fit and that you are in the relatively safe zone for chronic illnesses caused by obesity. I am not saying that if you meet this level you will not get ill and that you will live forever. However, you might want to check your own fitness level and see if you meet it. If you are below this fitness level, it just means that you are at a much higher risk for chronic illnesses caused by obesity (such as heart disease) than those who are are in the zone. Being below also means that in terms of strength and fitness, you are below the minimum line… so maybe you may want to do something to ensure that you meet at least the minimum.

How do you find out how fit you are?

Simple. Here is a simple test which will take less than 5 minutes to do and at the end of it, you will know how fit / strong you are. Match your results against the table below and voila… you will know your fitness level.

Knee Push Ups – As an adult, you should be able to do a minimum of 5 knee push ups. How are knee push ups different from normal pushups? Instead of resting the weight on your toes, it will be resting on your knees as shown.

Chin Ups – You should be able to do at least 1 chin up as shown below.




Squats – Without weights, do the squats as shown in the picture. You should be able to perform at least 10 reps. Do it slowly without any jerking.



Sit ups – Get into the position as shown. You might want to put a towel or pillow for the lower part of your spine to protect it against the hard floor. You should be able to do at least 10 sit ups.




Running – Try this in your office or home. Best if the stairs are 2 storeys high and continuous. You should be able to run up at least 2 storeys of stairs without stopping. When I say run, I mean sprint up the steps. If you have to stop in between to catch a breath, it means bad news.

So take some time to try this out at home and see how fit you are. If you can perform all of the above or more, then bravo… you are in pretty good shape. If you can’t, then maybe you need to consider doing some amount of working out to bring up your fitness level.

Let me know and I look forward to hearing your comments.