Measuring fitness progress

[Guest guest]

I'm working on my 2009 goals and one of the things for me is especially to improve my aerobic/cardio fitness level, especially long-term stamina. Can anyone suggest a simple but at least semi-accurate way to measure that? When I do goals I want to not just say "improve aerobic fitness level" but especially how much I want to improve it and how I'm going to measure it. I know about the step test, is that the best way? I'll use the sitting down and reaching measurement test for flexibility unless someone has a better one for that and will do number of crunches in a minute to measure core strength and number of pushups in a minute to measure overall strength. Those are the tests the personal trainer did with me a few months ago so, especially since my workouts have been really scattered in the last couple of months, I'll probably just use the measurements from that as a baseline and set goals for improvement based on them (unless someone here has easier or better ideas).

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

The step test is generally what is used.. But I've also seen where you time yourself for like one minute (or maybe 2), and go up and down on the step as fast as you can. Testing to see how many steps you can get in that amount of time. Sorry I'm not exact on the time. I really don't know what would be more feasible...

Darcy

I'm working on my 2009 goals and one of the things for me is especially to improve my aerobic/cardio fitness level, especially long-term stamina. Can anyone suggest a simple but at least semi-accurate way to measure that? When I do goals I want to not just say " improve aerobic fitness level " but especially how much I want to improve it and how I'm going to measure it. I know about the step test, is that the best way? I'll use the sitting down and reaching measurement test for flexibility unless someone has a better one for that and will do number of crunches in a minute to measure core strength and number of pushups in a minute to measure overall strength. Those are the tests the personal trainer did with me a few months ago so, especially since my workouts have been really scattered in the last couple of months, I'll probably just use the measurements from that as a baseline and set goals for improvement based on them (unless someone here has easier or better ideas)

[Guest guest]

,

Those are typically the tests I use. Although, if I have a client who has knee or back issues I'll have them do the 12 minute walk/run instead of the 3 minute step test. It is basically on a flat treadmill go as fast as you can for that 12 minutes and see how far you can go in that time. For muscular endurance, I'll use the crunch and push up tests, as well as a bench press test. A lot of people can't do the push ups but they can do a 35# bench press instead. For muscular strength, I'll do one rep max tests on either bench press or squat or both, just depending on the client. For flexibility, I'll do the sit and reach you mentioned, but I'll also do a hip joint and inner thigh test and a shoulder test. I use to have instructions and scores typed up for all of those. I'll look for them if you want them.

Tonya

Measuring fitness progress

I'm working on my 2009 goals and one of the things for me is especially to improve my aerobic/cardio fitness level, especially long-term stamina. Can anyone suggest a simple but at least semi-accurate way to measure that? When I do goals I want to not just say "improve aerobic fitness level" but especially how much I want to improve it and how I'm going to measure it. I know about the step test, is that the best way? I'll use the sitting down and reaching measurement test for flexibility unless someone has a better one for that and will do number of crunches in a minute to measure core strength and number of pushups in a minute to measure overall strength. Those are the tests the personal trainer did with me a few months ago so, especially since my workouts have been really scattered in the last couple of months, I'll probably just use the measurements from that as a baseline and set goals for improvement based on them (unless someone here has easier or better ideas).

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hmmmm... I kind of like that timed thing... thanks for the help, Darcy!

Re: Measuring fitness progress

The step test is generally what is used.. But I've also seen where you time yourself for like one minute (or maybe 2), and go up and down on the step as fast as you can. Testing to see how many steps you can get in that amount of time. Sorry I'm not exact on the time. I really don't know what would be more feasible...Darcy

On Fri, Dec 26, 2008 at 7:54 PM, DeWolf <nancydewolfsbcglobal (DOT) net> wrote:

I'm working on my 2009 goals and one of the things for me is especially to improve my aerobic/cardio fitness level, especially long-term stamina. Can anyone suggest a simple but at least semi-accurate way to measure that? When I do goals I want to not just say "improve aerobic fitness level" but especially how much I want to improve it and how I'm going to measure it. I know about the step test, is that the best way? I'll use the sitting down and reaching measurement test for flexibility unless someone has a better one for that and will do number of crunches in a minute to measure core strength and number of pushups in a minute to measure overall strength. Those are the tests the personal trainer did with me a few months ago so, especially since my workouts have been really scattered in the last couple of months, I'll probably just use the measurements from that as a baseline and set goals for improvement based on them (unless someone here has easier or better ideas).

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

Hi Tonya,

Thanks tons for all your ideas! I think I'm okay with the tests I know how to do. Plus I don't have a bench or squat rack so I can do the tests I know with the equipment I do have. So, no need to look anything up, I appreciate the offer though!

Measuring fitness progress

I'm working on my 2009 goals and one of the things for me is especially to improve my aerobic/cardio fitness level, especially long-term stamina. Can anyone suggest a simple but at least semi-accurate way to measure that? When I do goals I want to not just say "improve aerobic fitness level" but especially how much I want to improve it and how I'm going to measure it. I know about the step test, is that the best way? I'll use the sitting down and reaching measurement test for flexibility unless someone has a better one for that and will do number of crunches in a minute to measure core strength and number of pushups in a minute to measure overall strength. Those are the tests the personal trainer did with me a few months ago so, especially since my workouts have been really scattered in the last couple of months, I'll probably just use the measurements from that as a baseline and set goals for improvement based on them (unless someone here has easier or better ideas).

Thanks!