How to Take the WOWY SuperGym Fitness Test

Transcription

1 How to Take the WOWY SuperGym Fitness Test Print these instructions to use for your test The WOWY SuperGym Fitness Test will help you estimate your current level of aerobic fitness, strength, flexibility, and endurance. It's a snapshot of where you are right now and will help you gauge your improvement over time. This test is difficult, so just give it your best effort, and when you re-test yourself later you ll be able to see how much stronger and more fit you ve become. You will need: A clock with a second hand or a stopwatch Dumbbells or a resistance band A ruler or tape measure A friend to help you (optional, but this makes testing easier) The test has two parts that can be done on different days if necessary: 1. Morning resting heart rate (early morning; takes 1 minute) 2. Fitness test (20-30 minutes including warm-up time) It will help you to read through all the instructions first, so you know what to do. Are you ready? Let's go! Morning Resting Heart Rate Leave a stopwatch or clock with a second hand by your bed the night before you plan to test your heart rate. When you wake up, take your pulse at either your wrist or neck. Count the beats for one minute. If you don't want to count for a minute, you can count for 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4 to get the beats per minute.

2 As you become more fit, your resting heart rate should get lower. A healthy heart can pump more blood with every beat and, therefore, needs to beat fewer times. Your morning resting heart rate: Fitness Test 1. Warm-up for 10 minutes Get your body moving and loosened up with some light jogging and stretching. A good warm-up reduces the chances of injury and improves performance. 2. Pull-ups Grasp your pull-up bar with a wide grip (palms facing forward, away from your body, with your fists wider than your shoulders). From a hanging position, pull your body up smoothly until your chin clears the bar. Lower your body back down, being sure to straighten your arms, and repeat without bouncing up. Don't be discouraged if you are not able to do very many. Also, if you're only able to do quarter, half, or three-quarter pull-ups, go ahead and record them using the decimal equivalent (i.e., 5.25). Number of pull-ups you were able to do: 3. Vertical leap Stand sideways with your shoulder against the wall and raise that same arm straight up. Note the spot where your fingers reach (if there's no visual reference on the wall, you may want to put a piece of

3 tape or a Post-it to keep track of this place). Lower your arm, take one step away from the wall (to give yourself some room) and jump straight up, trying to touch the wall as high as you can. Measure the distance from your standing height mark to the highest point you were able to touch. Height you were able to jump: 4. Push-ups Place a soft item on the floor, such as a pillow or cushion that s about 2 or 3 inches high. You will use this to make contact with your chest on each rep. Get in a push-up position on your toes with your hands just outside your chest. Keep your body straight and do as many pushups as you can, touching your chest to the pillow each time. Number of push-ups you were able to do: 5. Toe touch You will need a ruler or a tape measure for this test. Sit on the floor with your legs extended directly in front of you. Bend forward at your waist and reach your arms toward your toes. Do not bend your knees. See how close you can get your fingertips to your toes. If you re not able to reach your toes, measure the distance between your fingertips and your toes. If you can extend your fingers beyond your toes, measure how much farther your fingers reach beyond your toes. Do not strain or force this movement. If you are not able to reach your toes, use a "-" (example: -3 inches). If you can reach beyond your toes, use a "+" (example: +3 inches). Distance between your fingers and your toes:

4 6. In & outs Starting position: Sit on the floor with your feet flat and your knees bent and place your hands at your sides. Raise your feet off the floor and bring your knees in toward your chest. Straighten your legs out in front of you, and repeat the movement without touching the floor. Number of in & outs you were able to do: 7. Seated wall squat Place your back flat against a wall and lower your body as if you were going to sit in a chair (with your thighs parallel to the floor and your feet directly below your knees, making a 90-degree angle with your legs). Start a timer as soon as you get into the chair position. Breathe through the discomfort and hang in there until you can't hold yourself up any longer (to failure). Don t place your hands on the wall or move your shoulders. You can slide down slowly as you get tired, but once your rear end touches the floor, time s up. Time spent in the seated wall squat: minutes seconds 8. Arm curls to failure Your choice of weight is important for this exercise. A heavier weight will be more effective in helping you measure your results on Day 90. Try and choose a weight that you think you can lift about 10 times, but no more than 15. For reference, most men choose a minimum of 20 pounds and most women choose a minimum of 8 pounds. If you find that you greatly over- or under-estimate the amount of weight you can lift, rest for 5-10 minutes and try again with a different weight. Hold the dumbbells or resistance-band handles in front of your legs with your palms facing out. Using both arms simultaneously, lift the

5 weights up toward your shoulders and bring them back down to the starting position, fully extending your arms between each curl. Don't rock your body or use momentum to throw the weights up, and don t take breaks longer than 1 second between reps. Number of arm curls you completed: Weight (per arm) or color of the resistance band you used: 9. Heart rate maximizer Perform jumping jacks nonstop for 2 minutes at a quick and steady pace. During the final 30 seconds, go as fast as you can to maximize your heart rate. When you finish, be prepared to measure your heart rate over a span of 4 minutes by taking your pulse at your neck or wrist. Count the number of beats for one minute, then start over and begin counting again for the second minute. Repeat this for the third and fourth minute. Heart rate immediately after doing jumping jacks: Heart rate after 1 minute: Heart rate after 2 minutes: Heart rate after 3 minutes: Heart rate after 4 minutes: CONGRATULATIONS! You did it!

6 Enter your results into the fitness statistics section of your user profile (under Progress and Goals). Repeat the test at regular intervals (such as every month or every 3 months) to see how much your fitness improves.