For many of us, a high quality of life revolves around self-sufficiency. We often take for granted the ability to climb a flight of stairs or reach for a high cupboard—until injury or old age makes every movement a struggle.
Research shows that poor balance and coordination, weakness or inflexibility in the arms, hips, and legs, poor posture, and lack of core strength are all factors resulting from inactivity that can lead to stumbling, falling, disability, declining health, and premature death—not exactly the high quality of life we hope for.
Simple movement tests like the following five are based on the idea that there’s a connection between mobility and health, so if you find yourself unable to perform these exercises, they may provide the incentive you need to get back in shape. Each test is accompanied by an explanation of what the exercise helps with, an everyday movement that mirrors it, and an easy guide to accomplishing the exercise with proper form.
5 Exercises to measure physical fitness
Traditional Push-Up
Measures: A push-up is a great measure of upper body and core strength. Having a strong core and upper body will allow you to maintain good posture, balance, and stability.
Mirror Movement: This exercise will help you safely execute everyday movements like pushing or pulling the door of a store or a car.
To do a push-up, start in a high plank position. Your back and legs should be flat and straight, resting on your toes; your core should be engaged; and your hands should be level with your chest, arms fully extended. While it may feel easier to drop your head forward, proper form requires it to be aligned with your back. Slowly bend your arms to a 90-degree angle, and pause at the lowest point. Hold for three seconds, contracting your core, then push yourself back up. Make sure you’re not locking your elbows, and that they are angled out 45 degrees form your torso when bent. This position helps work your chest muscles without any overextension injuries. Remember to breathe throughout the push-up—in on the way down, out on the way back up.
I’m not saying I can’t, but…
If your push-up was in poor form, that can indicate which areas of your body could use the most attention in terms of strength exercises. If you didn’t make it down the entire way, you lack strength in your arms, shoulders, and chest. If you struggled to maintain rigidity in your back or legs and allowed either your hips or lower back to sag, this suggests a weakness in your core and glutes.
Forearm Plank
Measures: The forearm plank is important for core strength. As mentioned, core strength is important for maintaining good posture and balance as well as preventing back pain and injury.
Mirror Movement: While core strength helps with just about everything, some notable situations would be getting in and out of a car or moving around once in bed.
To do a proper forearm plank, hold your torso off the ground, taking care to hold it in a straight line from shoulders to ankles. Make sure you engage your core by pulling in your belly button, and steadily balancing on your toes and elbows. Hold a steady breathing pattern. The proper position is pretty simple, but holding it for 30 to 60 seconds harshly tests the endurance of your abs, back, and core. Making it to 60 seconds is okay, but two minutes is the sweet spot for gleaning the benefits of lasting core strength.
I’m not saying I can’t, but…
If your hips start sagging towards the floor or hiking upward instead of staying flat, this indicates a lack of core strength. Keeping proper form, but being unable to hold a plank for two minutes may indicate that your core is strong, but only a full two minutes indicates a healthy foundation for core health. You’re on the right track—keep working up to it!
Basic Squat
Measures: Squats are a great indication of leg strength as well as hip flexibility and balance.
Mirror Movement: Squatting to talk to a child or pick up a pet will be a lot easier with proper execution of this exercise.
First, stand with your feet just a tad wider than shoulder width apart. Keep your back in a neutral position, and make sure your knees are centered over your feet. From there, slowly bend your knees, hips, and ankles until you reach a 90-degree angle with your legs. It’s important to keep your hips in line over your knees, and your knees directly over your ankles with your feet flat on the floor and your weight on your heels. Slowly raise your body back to the starting position. As with the push-up, inhale as you lower your body and exhale as you come back up.
I’m not saying I can’t, but…
If your heels come up off the ground, this indicates you aren’t bending your knees and ankles enough, which doesn’t allow your hips to sink all the way back. This problem indicates tight hip extensors or hamstrings, so it would be wise to start improving your hip flexibility. Another common deviation is having your knees buckle inward upon lowering or raising yourself up. If your knees are not directly over your ankles throughout the basic squat, your hamstrings and glutes are your areas of weakness.
Standing Overhead Dumbbell Press
Measures: The standing overhead dumbbell press will indicate the strength and range of motion of your shoulders and back.
Mirror Movement: This can include anything from giving the highest of fives to putting groceries away on the top shelf of your fridge or cupboard.
Start with your feet shoulder width apart, holding one dumbbell in each hand of a suitable weight. Use a weight that you can execute 8 to 12 presses without allowing your form to degrade. Keep your wrists turned inward, and lift the weights to be level with your shoulders. From there, press the weights straight up overhead, fully extending your arms before lowering the weights back down to your shoulders. The motion should be controlled and fluid, so resist the urge to lock your elbows or use momentum to complete a rep.
I’m not saying I can’t, but…
If you struggle to extend your arms straight up overhead, that indicates the range of motion in your shoulder girdle is compromised, and your back muscles are on the weak side. If you have to arch your back to raise the weights, you probably have weak core muscles, which makes it hard to find a stable foundation, or your hip flexors could be too tight, preventing the proper alignment of your hips and knees.
Stationary Forward Lunge
Measures: Stationary forward lunges are a great measure of your balance and coordination. They also help build lower-body strength and improve flexibility and stability in your hips.
Mirror Movement: This exercise is a great foundation for climbing flights of stairs, or even walking safely and easily on an incline.
To perform a stationary lunge, stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Next, take a long step forward with your right foot. Your front heel should be flat on the floor. Keep your upper body straight as you descend into lunge position by bringing your left knee towards the floor. Stop with the knee just above the ground. Your front heel should still be flat on the floor. Ideally, both legs should be bent to 90 degrees, and your front knee should be positioned directly over your front foot. Hold the position for 3 seconds and then push off with your right foot to return to standing. Repeat on the other side.
I’m not saying I can’t, but…
If you can’t step far enough forward, that suggests a weakness in your glutes or tightness in your hip flexors or hamstrings. Strengthening and increasing flexibility in these areas will allow you to step further forward and bend deeper. If your chest sags forward, this indicates a weakness in your glutes and core muscles. Be sure to engage your glutes and hamstrings when performing the movement to mitigate any forward lean.
Declining health relates directly to restricted mobility and inactivity, so maintaining good functional movement, balance, flexibility, and coordination will ensure your quality of life does not decline. Completing all five of these simple movement exercises is a good indication that you will lead an active life well into old age, while failing one or two provides an easy arrow—pointing to your weaknesses and what you need to work on.
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