Home Fitness Test
Have you ever wondered how fit you really are? Health and fitness expert, Dr Garry Egger, says that you can find out without hiring a fitness trainer and spending a lot of money. The following method is very simple, and best of all, you can do it in the privacy of your own home.
You will need: A 40cm step (eg a solid chair or box). Check its stability before attempting any climbing A watch with a second hand To be able to take your pulse (it’s easy: using the fingers – but not the thumb – of one hand, press firmly on the wrist of the other hand, about 2cm or 1″ down from the base of the thumb. There is also a pulse in your neck if you have trouble finding the pulse in your wrist. Practise finding your pulse BEFORE you start the test!)
The test
- Stand in front of the chair.
- Starting with the left foot, step up onto the chair. Step down with the right foot. Continue at a reasonable pace for a minute and a half.
- Without stopping, change legs so you step up with the right foot. Carry on to complete the three minutes.
- Sit down and find your pulse. Count how many times your heart beats in 15 seconds.
- Multiply the number of heart beats you counted by 4, to give you your pulse per minute.
- Check your results below. As you can see from the table, a good level of fitness for a man is less than about 110 beats per minute, and for a woman less than about 116. A very poor fitness ranking for a man is more than about 155 beats per minute, and more than about 160 for a woman.
The 3 minute step test
Rating (Men, Women, Boys, Girls) Very good <110, <116, <120, <124
Good 110-123, 116-130, 120-130, 124-134 OK 125-140, 131-146, 131-150, 135-154
Poor 141-155, 147-160, 151-160, 155-164
Very Poor >155, >160, >160, >165
Garry says that the key to fitness is not vigorous activity – it is simply moving more during your daily life. If you have trouble with this exercise or find it difficult, stop immediately. If you are concerned about the results you get, visit your doctor for more information.