By Fitness 
Why is it necessary to measure fitness levels?
Measuring your fitness level helps you better understand your body’s current capabilities and identify strengths and weaknesses during exercise. From there, you can tailor your workout program to improve your endurance, strength, flexibility, and exercise performance. Not only will this help you achieve your personal health goals, but it will also help prevent injuries.
By performing regular fitness tests, you will easily track your progress, know what positive or necessary changes are in your training plan to achieve the best results.
Key Indicators to Measure Fitness Level
Here are important metrics to help measure your fitness level:
1. Cardiovascular Endurance
Cardiovascular endurance evaluates the ability to sustain physical activity for long periods of time without experiencing excessive fatigue. Popular tests for cardiovascular endurance include:
- 12-minute running test (Cooper Test): Run for 12 minutes and measure the distance you can complete. The larger the distance, the better the cardiovascular endurance.
- Check VO2 Max: VO2 Max is an index that measures the body’s ability to use oxygen effectively during exercise. This is the best assessment index for cardiovascular endurance.
2. Muscular Strength
Muscular strength evaluates the ability to produce maximum force in a single exercise. Common tests to measure muscle strength include:
- 1RM (One Rep Max) Test: This is a test that measures the maximum amount of weight you can lift in one sitting for exercises like the squat, deadlift or bench press.
- Push-up Test: Test how many push-ups you can do consecutively to gauge your upper body muscle strength.
3. Muscular Endurance
Muscular endurance measures the ability of muscles to maintain activity for long periods of time without fatigue. Muscular endurance tests include:
- Planks: Hold the plank position for as long as possible to test your core strength.
- Squat Test: Count the number of squats in one minute to test your leg and butt muscle endurance.
4. Flexibility
Flexibility measures the ability of joints to move through a full range of motion. Common tests to assess flexibility include:
- Sit and Reach Test: Sit with your legs straight and bend over to touch your toes. This is a flexibility test for the lower back and hamstrings.
5. Body Composition
Body composition measures the percentage of fat and muscle in the body. Common body composition testing methods include:
- Body mass index (BMI): BMI is based on your weight and height to determine whether you are within a healthy weight range.
- Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA): The BIA meter helps measure body fat percentage by sending a weak electrical current through the body.
Comprehensive Fitness Tests
Here are some comprehensive tests that help evaluate many aspects of fitness:
1. Multistage Fitness Test
This is a test that measures cardiovascular endurance by running between two points 20 meters apart while listening to audio signals. The signal will get faster and faster, and you must try to run in accordance with the rhythm to measure your endurance.
2. Combined Cardiovascular and Muscular Endurance Test
This test requires you to perform continuous exercise movements such as jumping rope, push-ups and squats for a short period of time, to assess both strength and cardiovascular endurance.
Benefits of Measuring Fitness Levels
Measuring fitness levels offers many practical benefits, including:
1. Track Your Progress
By performing regular fitness tests, you can track your progress through each training phase and adjust your training program accordingly.
2. Adjust Your Training Plan
Results from fitness tests will help you identify which areas need improvement, thereby adjusting your training regimen to focus on weaknesses and increase overall strength.
3. Increase Motivation
When you see progress during your workouts through fitness indicators, you will be more motivated to continue exercising and achieve your personal health goals.
