For life
It's tempting to choose one fitness modality and focus exclusively on it while ignoring other measures. I get it; we don't have much time and energy left at the end of the day, and we can sometimes prioritize what we're good at. But what's functional now may not be functional as you age, so it's essential to know where you stand regarding strength, cardiovascular fitness, and sufficient muscle.
Dr. Andy Galpin offered the following measures on a recent informative episode of Huberman Lab. He also illustrated why measuring multiple parameters is important by citing research in which twins - one endurance athlete and one sedentary twin - showed a significant difference in aerobic capacity, which favored the athlete as expected. In contrast, grip and other strength measures favored the nonexerciser despite his sedentary lifestyle. It's sobering if you were assuming that your favorite sport or pastime builds checks all the boxes.
He noted that the line of independence (18 ml of oxygen per kg of body weight per minute) was an aerobic capacity that determined whether elderly individuals could live on their own, and that any measure 22 and below left subjects vulnerable should an illness result in a loss of fitness. Galpin also noted that a resting heart rate of 60 to 80 was considered normal, but he believed a sub-60 heart rate preferable. To assess muscular balance or risk of injury, he suggested that one can examine movement patterns at each major joint (shoulder, elbow, low back, hip, knee and ankle) using upper body press/pull and lower body press/pull exercises in a slow and controlled way. Examples would include a push-up, a pull-up, a squat, and a deadlift. Examine each joint’s movement for:
Symmetry - From front to back, left to right, can each limb move consistently.
Stability - Determine if the movement can be performed slowly, with a 3 to 5-second pause at the bottom with no shaking, side-to-side slide at the hips, or movement outside or inside the expected path.
Awareness - When an outlier movement is detected, can it be corrected with prompting or guidance.
Range of motion - Can the full range of motion be performed.
Once joint movement has been assessed, the following tests can be performed:
Muscular Power
Standing broad jump - measure the jump from the tip of the toe at the starting position to the heal position at the end of the jump. Men should be able to jump their height while women should be able to jump their height minus 15%
Grip Strength
Dead hand from a pull-up bar: 30 to 50 seconds is sufficient, but greater than 60 seconds would be optimal.
Muscular Strength
Leg extension test: For subjects under 40, One body weight rep on the leg extension should be possible. For each decade after forty, subtract 10%.
Goblet squat hold with 1/2 your body weight: hold at the bottom of the squat for 45 seconds. See video for the proper form.
Hypertrophy (Muscular size or mass)
Bioelectrical impedance: (These measures are applicable if your bodyfat percentage is below 30% for men or 35% for women) - In this measure, the FFMI (fat free mass index) for men should be 20 or higher while women should be 18 or higher. The danger zone would be sub 17 FFMI for men or sub 15 FFMI for woman.
Muscular endurance
Plank: There should be a minimum of a 60-second hold for a plank and a 45-second hold on a side plank.
Further, men should be able to do 25 push-up repetitions with no pauses and through a full range of motion. The marker for women should be 15 repetitions, but anything between five and fifteen is okay due to the strength component.
Anaerobic capacity
Run/row/sprint/bike (any modality in which you could deliver a maximal performance and then sustain that effort for 30 seconds): Sufficient performance is determined by the ability to maintain the effort for the full 30 seconds, the ability to get close to your predicted HR max, and the ability to recover. In a three-minute recovery, testing subjects should drop their heart rate 30 beats in the first minutes and then a subsequent 15 beats for the next two minutes.
VO2 Max
This is more complicated to measure and may require more technical skills. To approximate a VO2 max test in a way that's more easily accessible, the following are options:
Cooper Test: In 12 minutes on a treadmill or a track with clear, measured distances, go as far as you can as quickly as you can and record the result. Check the results here.
1-mile walk test: walk a mile as quickly as possible and record the time and heart rate into the testing protocol here.
Long-duration steady-state exercise
You should be able to maintain consistent capacity for 20 minutes without stopping. Ideally, this should be harder than walking and achievable via nasal breathing if possible.
Completing the once yearly protocol - these tests can be performed in the following order over three days.
Day 1
FFMI / Body Comp / after a 48 hours rest
Power broad jump/ leg strength / muscular endurance
Day 2
Long-duration cardio test (as a warm-up for the next test)
Anaerobic test
Day 3
VO2 Max test