The Presidential Fitness Test Grows Up
Adults prepare to test their flexibility as part of the launch of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports new national adult fitness test. (Brendan Hoffman/Associated Press)
The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which routinely recognizes the physical fitness efforts of elementary school students, now offers a new fitness assessment for adults
The test, for people 18 and older, was created because the council received so many requests for an assessment of adult fitness. Using an online form, exercisers can log their scores to find out how they rank among other Americans. For instance, a 40-year-old woman who can run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes (a 10-minute-per-mile pace) ranks in the 65th percentile — meaning she’s above average, but 35 percent of similarly aged women are in better shape
To complete the aerobic component of the test you need your time for a 1.5-mile run, or your time and heart rate after a one-mile walk. The test also asks you to do as many push-ups as you can and measures the number of “half” sit-ups you can do in a minute.
A stretching exercise called the “sit-and-reach” is used to measure flexibility. For that, you need a yardstick or a friend to measure the distance from your fingers to your toes as you reach for them. Age, gender, height and weight are also part of your health assessment.
The good news is that you don’t have to complete all the test components to get a score for just one or two of the exercises.
To calculate your score, click here and enter your data.
Are you surprised by your ranking?
I didn't take the adult version, I figure why bother. :tongue: I couldn't pass this thing in the 7th grade, chances of me passing now are slim to none. :redface:
The three things that always messed me up were push-ups, chin-ups, and sit-ups. I have no upper body strength so push-ups and chin-ups always did me in. Sit-ups, I can and could do, but never in the "right" amount of time.
Adults prepare to test their flexibility as part of the launch of the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports new national adult fitness test. (Brendan Hoffman/Associated Press)
The President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, which routinely recognizes the physical fitness efforts of elementary school students, now offers a new fitness assessment for adults
The test, for people 18 and older, was created because the council received so many requests for an assessment of adult fitness. Using an online form, exercisers can log their scores to find out how they rank among other Americans. For instance, a 40-year-old woman who can run 1.5 miles in 15 minutes (a 10-minute-per-mile pace) ranks in the 65th percentile — meaning she’s above average, but 35 percent of similarly aged women are in better shape
To complete the aerobic component of the test you need your time for a 1.5-mile run, or your time and heart rate after a one-mile walk. The test also asks you to do as many push-ups as you can and measures the number of “half” sit-ups you can do in a minute.
A stretching exercise called the “sit-and-reach” is used to measure flexibility. For that, you need a yardstick or a friend to measure the distance from your fingers to your toes as you reach for them. Age, gender, height and weight are also part of your health assessment.
The good news is that you don’t have to complete all the test components to get a score for just one or two of the exercises.
To calculate your score, click here and enter your data.
Are you surprised by your ranking?
I didn't take the adult version, I figure why bother. :tongue: I couldn't pass this thing in the 7th grade, chances of me passing now are slim to none. :redface:
The three things that always messed me up were push-ups, chin-ups, and sit-ups. I have no upper body strength so push-ups and chin-ups always did me in. Sit-ups, I can and could do, but never in the "right" amount of time.
