Home fitness tests
Eight tests that show where you stand today: strength (push-ups, grip and the 30-second chair stand), flexibility (the sit-and-reach), balance and getting about (standing on one leg, the timed up and go, and getting down to the floor and up again) and walking fitness (the 6-minute walk). Each page shows how to do the test the way its norms were measured, with the movement on our 3D figure where it helps, scores your result against published norms for your age and sex, and says how far to trust the number.
A result is a starting point, not a verdict, and each page links the moves, workouts and plans that improve it. Some tests are best done with someone beside you, and each page says who should check with a GP first.
Upper-body endurance, grip strength, hamstring flexibility, and getting down to the floor and up again.
Count your push-ups to fatigue, full or from the knees, then see your rating for your age and sex from Canadian norms, what it says and how to improve.
Grip strength testEnter your best dynamometer reading to see your centile among 49,964 people in Britain, the sarcopenia cut-offs, how to test and what grip says about health.
Sit-and-reach testDo the sit-and-reach at home with a box and a tape, see your percentile for your age and sex from Canada's national survey, and what your score means.
Sitting-rising testSit down on the floor and stand up with as little support as you can, score it out of 10, see your percentile by age and sex, and what the longevity link means.
Tests that clinics and falls services use, with norms from 60 and averages for younger adults where studies have them.
Count how many times you can stand up from a chair in 30 seconds, see where you sit for your age and sex, and how to build stronger legs. With the CDC method.
Timed up and go testTime how long it takes to stand, walk 3 metres, turn and sit. Compare your time with others your age, see what the CDC 12-second mark means, and how to improve.
Balance testTime how long you can stand on one leg, eyes open or closed, compare it with adults your age, and learn what the 10-second test does and doesn't tell you.
6-minute walk testFind your predicted 6-minute walk distance and lower limit of normal from age, height and weight, how to set up a 30 m course safely, and what change matters.
Aerobic fitness from a timed run or walk, and strength from a set of reps.
Estimate VO2 max from the Cooper 12-minute run, a 1-mile walk or your resting heart rate, compare it with lab norms for your age, and see how far out it can be.
One-rep maxEstimate your one-rep max from a set of 3 to 10 reps without testing it, with the 7 main 1RM formulas, a reps-to-percentage chart from 269 studies and RIR.
A score only compares with norms gathered the same way. Seat height changes how many chair stands you can do, a sit-and-reach box with your toes at 23 cm reads 3 cm lower than one at 26 cm, push-up counts depend on how deep each rep goes, and a 6-minute walk on a 10 m course came out about 50 m shorter than on a 30 m one. Each test page gives the set-up its norms used.
Changes smaller than about 2 or 3 chair stands, 2 seconds on the timed up and go or 2 cm on the sit-and-reach may be everyday variation, and in one study of older adults a one-leg stand had to change by 24 seconds before the change was clearly real. A second 6-minute walk is usually about 26 m longer from practice alone. Retest the same way, and look at the trend over months rather than one result.
A stronger grip, a better score getting down to the floor and up, and holding a one-leg stand for 10 seconds all go with longer life in cohort studies. No trial has shown that raising a test score adds years. The habits that raise them have proven benefits of their own: in a review of 108 trials, exercise cut the rate of falls by about a quarter.
The CDC uses the chair stand, the timed up and go and a 4-stage balance test to pick out older adults for a fuller falls check. On their own these tests predict falls poorly, and NICE advises against using them to predict a person's risk. If you've fallen or feel unsteady, ask your GP about a falls assessment whatever your score.
Answer the PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire) before a hard test such as push-ups to fatigue, and check with your GP first if you have a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness or fainting. Have someone beside you for the chair, walking and balance tests, as the CDC's forms advise, and for the floor test, especially if you've fallen in the past year or feel unsteady.
Push-ups to fatigue, the sit-and-reach with a box or the bottom stair, grip strength if you have a hand dynamometer, getting down to the floor and up again, the 30-second chair stand, the timed up and go, standing on one leg and the 6-minute walk on a measured 30 m stretch. Each page here scores your result against published norms for your age and sex. For aerobic fitness, our VO2 max calculator takes a 12-minute run or a 1-mile walk.
Pick the one that matches what you want to improve: push-ups or grip for strength, the sit-and-reach for flexibility, and the one-leg balance test for balance. Over 60, the 30-second chair stand and the balance test are quick and tell you a lot. If you've fallen or feel unsteady, start with the 4-stage balance test, with someone beside you.
Every 4 to 8 weeks suits most of these tests, and every 2 to 3 months for grip strength, done the same way each time at about the same time of day. Scores move a little from day to day on their own, so look at the trend over a few tests.
A set of six tests and one alternative, published by Rikli and Jones in 1999, covering lower and upper body strength, aerobic endurance, lower and upper body flexibility, and agility and dynamic balance in adults aged 60 to 94. Its norms come from 7,183 American adults. Its 30-second chair stand is on this site, with the CDC's below-average line.
Some go with longer life across large groups of people, such as grip strength, getting up off the floor and standing on one leg. These are associations: they can't forecast one person's future, and no trial has shown that raising a score adds years. The strength, balance and walking that raise them are worth doing anyway.
For most adults, yes, with a few precautions. Answer the PAR-Q+ questions before a hard test, have someone beside you for the balance, walking and floor tests, and stop at once for chest pain, dizziness or severe breathlessness. Each page says who should check with a GP first.
Fitness tests for adults compared with published norms, not a diagnosis, and clinical review of these pages is pending. Check with a GP before a hard test if you have a heart condition, high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness when active, and have someone with you for the balance, walking and floor tests if you've fallen or feel unsteady. Health disclaimer.