Keep in mind: This assessment isn’t scientific, but it will help you identify what you can already do and what you should work on.
Each activity requires just a few minutes of your time and no equipment. To help you assess your fitness level, Harper devised the following set of activities. Easy Activities That Test Your FitnessĬelebrity trainer and fitness expert Joel Harper says there are five elements to being in good shape: muscle strength, heart strength, flexibility, balance and coordination. “It’s how well can you endure exercise, which is affected by your muscular strength and endurance, flexibility, body composition, age, gender and more,” Gulati said. While the benefits of being at a healthy weight abound, fitness is determined by how much activity you can do. What’s weight got to do with being in good shape? Not very much. Martha Gulati, cardiologist and editor-in-chief of, a patient education initiative from the American College of Cardiology. If you’re 50 and unable to walk a block without panting, you’re not in good shape, says Dr. While experts hesitate to quantify what being in shape means exactly, the baseline for being in bad shape should be pretty clear. If you care for grandkids regularly, the question may be: Can you be engaged and active with them while they’re at play, not just sitting on a bench watching? Listen to your body and discuss exercise with your physician before starting an exercise routine.” Add in light weight lifting and stretching. “Start small with short, 10-minute bouts of aerobic exercise, like walking.
“A motivating goal might be to make activities of daily living easier, for example, walking up a flight of stairs or carrying the groceries,” said Megan Bowdon, clinical exercise physiologist and manager of Preventive Cardiology and Rehabilitation, Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.