3 Fitness Tests You Need To Pass

Big Frank can bench press 425 pounds, but loses his breath when he walks out to his mail box.

#NotCool.

Hey, I don’t even know how much I can bench press. Quite frankly, I don’t care. I haven’t bench pressed in years.

I want to be lean, healthy and full of energy, and so do you. In fact, I have decided to get even leaner and brace yourself… I’m about to toot my own horn.

I’m down 9 pounds =)

I’m using accountability inside my Finisher Freak Inner Circle and posting my success as well as my personal workouts, and it’s working like a charm.

The members are inspiring me more than ever.

I’ve got more energy and I’m able to play with my two younger sons even longer.

So if you can bench 400, or swing a Kettlbell for 300 reps, that’s great. But how do you feel? And…

Do you even know your own overall fitness level?

“Revealed an a-ha moment is” – Yoda

Here are 3 fitness tests to go after with tenacity if you find yourself in a rut or want to know your starting point…

Fitness Test # 1 – The Core Test

Can you hold a plank for a full 2 minutes?

If you can’t, it’s time to drop the bicep curls for PROVEN ab exercises like…

Spiderman Climbs

Mountain Climbers (at a SLOW pace)

X-Body Mountain Climbers

Ab Wheel Rollouts

Hand Walk-outs

Variety of Planks

etc., etc.

Here’s an ab finisher you can plug into your routine twice a week to improve your core strength and endurance (while building a bullet-proof back).

It’s not fancy – VERY simple.

Do the following superset 3 times, resting for 30 seconds after each superset.

Ab Wheel or Stability Ball Rollouts (10)

Spiderman Climb (8/side)

 Then rest 1 minute followed by ONE plank to failure. Try to improve your time each week on the plank.

Fitness Test # 2 – Bodyweight Squat Test

This will test lower body muscular endurance.

Sit on a chair with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor just outside shoulder-width apart. Your legs should show a 90-degree angle.

Stand up.

Sit back down.

Repeat as many times as you can using just your legs (no hands on your knees for leverage)

Here’s a chart showing where you should be:

Not up to par? Well hardy-har-har. Oh c’mon… that’s hilarious.

Whatever.

Here’s how to fix it…

You might have muscular imbalances. Start doing single leg work like a variety of lunges, split squats and the evil Bulgarian Split Squats. Replace your normal squats with one of those.

If you’re behind a desk all day, then focus on bringing your knees out to the sides as you lower yourself into a bodyweight squat.  You have tightness and that will help.

Fitness Test # 3 – The Pushup Test

You guessed it – you’ll be testing your upper body muscular endurance. Your pushing muscles allow you to… push stuff.

#MindBlown.

It’s simple… Do as many pushups as you can (your chest needs to be only about 2-3 inches from the floor for it to count).

Also – keep those elbows tucked (you’ll save your shoulders).

Here’s where you stand:

Don’t measure up?

It’s simple – practice pushups. That, and include a variety of DB Chest Presses into your program, focusing on the eccentric (lowering) phase.

Take the DB Chest Press for example. Take about 5 seconds to lower the weight and one second to press it up. This will tax your muscles more, while building up endurance.

The same goes for pushups – focus on eccentric pushups. So take about 4 seconds to lower yourself, and one second to come up.

“Building endurance you ARE” – Yoda

Revealed Yoda’s opinion is…

Have fun with those tests and remember – you don’t have to focus on every single test. Work on one at a time.

It’s more than the mirror,

Mikey, Master CTT

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