Fitness Assessments
A Fitness Assessment includes a series of measurements that help you better understand your current health status and physical fitness levels compared to the set norms for your age and gender.There are an endless number of possible tests and measures that trainers may use. There are assessments you can take at home to help you to decide if you are ready to begin an exercise program.
Are You Ready?
Take this Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire to see if you are ready to begin an exercise program.
Are You Ready?
Take this Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire to see if you are ready to begin an exercise program.
American Heart Association Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire
If you mark any of the following statements, please talk with your physician or other appropriate health care provider before engaging in exercise.
- __ I have a heart condition and my health care professional recommends only medically supervised physical activity.
- __ During or right after I exercise, I often have pains or pressure in my neck, left shoulder, or arm.
- __ I have developed chest pain within the last month.
- __ I tend to lose consciousness or fall over due to dizziness.
- __ I feel extremely breathless after mild exertion.
- __ My health care provider recommended that I take medicine for high blood pressure or a heart condition.
- __ I have bone or joint problems that limit my ability to do moderate-intensity physical activity.
- __ I have a medical condition or other physical reason not mentioned here that might need special attention in an exercise program.
- __ I am pregnant and my health care professional hasn’t given me the OK to be physically active.
This physical activity readiness questionnaire is part of the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Start Program, http://www.heart.org/start. The questionnaire is used with permission of the AHA, 7272 Greenville Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75231
Just Beginning?New to Fitness and Exercise? Always start out slow with a new fitness program. We want instantaneous results from exercise and we are tempted to overdo it, for seniors it is imperative to start exercising slowly to avoid injury, since a senior body won't recover as quickly as it did when we were younger
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Next Steps
Once you have established that you are healthy enough to begin an exercise program you should consider a more specific assessment to establish a baseline of your fitness. Knowing your baseline will help you establish reasonable goals. It's important to identify what do you want to accomplish. Do you want to lose weight, get ripped, run a marathon, increase strength? Whatever your goal may be make sure you go slowly and carefully. Here are a few examples of different types of assessments.
Adult Fitness TestTake the Adult Fitness Test on the Presidents Challenge Website. Just click the linke below to start. The activities featured on this adult fitness test are provided as a way for you to get an estimate of your level of aerobic fitness, muscular strength and endurance, flexibility and your body composition. The results on each test provide you with a measure from which you can track your progress in each area as you become more physically active.
Click the button to go to the Presidents Challenge Website and take the test. |
Home Fitness TestHere's a simple fitness test you can do at home. This is available at SparkPeople.com
The Pushup Test (measures muscular strength and endurance) The Crunch Test (measures abdominal strength and endurance) The 3-Minute Step Test (measures aerobic fitness) The 1-Mile Walk Test (measures aerobic fitness) |