Fitness Assessments

You can do a quick and easy series of tests to see how strong you are:

What you will need to do is use My New Body's free fitness assessment and do the following tests:  Click the link to go to our assessment page: http://fitness.mynewbody.com.au/assessment/

How many pushups can you do in 1 minute?

How long can you hold a "plank for?  (What's a plank - click here http://fitness.mynewbody.com.au/exercise/abs-and-core/abdominals/plank-34)

How many squats can you do in 60 seconds?

Once you have performed these exercises and entered your results in the free assessment you will get almost instant feedback on how strong you are.  Simple as that.  If you then need some help to improve your strength in certain areas, you can use the site to see what exercises to do to strengthen your weaknesses or get your own mynewbody.com.au program (Click here to go to the info page http://mynewbody.com.au/membership)

There are several versions of the 12 minute run.  Some can determine an estimate of your VO2 max whereas others just give you a ranking based on the population.  By far the easiest version of this is to simply run for 12 minutes (or another similar, but standard amount of time), and see how far you go - this is your baseline.  Then once per month repeat the 12 minute run at the same location/track and see how far you go - if your fitness is increasing you should have gone further than last time.  this is a quick and easy way to check if your fitness and leg strength (endurance) is increasing. 

The alternative to this is to run a known distance (eg a 3km running track or 8 laps of a 400m track, etc...) and record your time. Every month run exactly the same track and see if your time is improving.  If it is, great, once again you are getting fitter, if it's not, your fitness is generally not improving and you need to make some changes if you want to see your fitness/speed increase! 

The multi-stage fitness test, also known as the bleep test, beep test, pacer test, or shuttle run test, is used by sports coaches and trainers to estimate an athlete's VO2 max (maximum oxygen uptake). The test is especially useful for players of sports like football, hockey, rugby, or tennis.

The test involves running continuously between two points that are 20 m apart. These runs are synchronised with a pre-recorded audio tape or CD, which plays beeps at set intervals. As the test proceeds, the interval between each successive beep reduces, forcing the athlete to increase velocity over the course of the test, until it is impossible to keep in sync with the recording.

 The recording is typically structured into 23 'levels', each of which lasts 60 seconds. Usually, the interval of beeps is calculated as requiring a speed at the start of 8.5 km/h, increasing by 0.5 km/h with each level. The progression from one level to the next is signalled by 3 rapid beeps. The highest level attained before failing to keep up is recorded as the score for that test. The procedure is designed to measure the maximum endurance of an individual.

This test is now used by the British Army, Royal Air Force and Royal Navy as one of the basic measures of personal fitness. It is also used in the fitness test when one applies to be a Police Community Support Officer. The minimum level required for Royal Air Force Officers is 9.2, Army officers at selection is 10.2, and Royal Marine Officers at least 11.0. The Royal Navy has no set level, however a maximal effort must be demonstrated. The test is also used by the Australian Defence Force, Canadian Forces, Australian Federal Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and various Australian States.

It was created by Dr.LA Leger in 1982, and was published in the European Journal of Applied Physiology.

Source  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-stage_fitness_test

A really quick and easy way to test your core* strength is to do a plank hold for as long as possible.  People with strong cores are able to hold the plank with good form for over 3 minutes where as people with very weak core muscles may not be able to hold a plank for 30 seconds.  To have a look at how to do a plank, click here  http://fitness.mynewbody.com.au/exercise/abs-and-core/id-34

It is really crucial that during the test you maintain the correct posture (back flat, backside down, back not dipping).

(*The core muscles are the group of internal muscles around your lower spine and abdomen, and are crucial for good balance, good posture and for protecting your lower back from strain)

There are many types of fitness assessments about using various equipment, formula's and the like.  Probably the simplest one you can do to measure your fitness improvement is to do the "12 minute run (or walk)".  Simply, using a sports or athletic oval or any known distance walk or run (or a combination of both)  as far as you can in 12 minutes, and document the distance.  A simple way to test if your aerobic fitness is improving is by doing this every 3-4 weeks to make sure that your distance is improving, if it is than there is a good chance your fitness is improving, so well done, if the distance is not increasing, you may need to look at your training plan!