Presidential fitness standards 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 year-old woman who can run 1. To complete the aerobic component of the test you need your time for a 1. For that, you need a yardstick or a friend to measure the distance from your fingers to your toes as you reach for them.

Lace up your sneakers. Lack of exercise is linked to one out of every 10 deaths — and yet, 80 percent of Americans don't meet the Center for Disease Control and Prevention's basic guidelines for fitness. I'm a regular, vigorous exerciser. I don't do it for the physical benefits but the mental ones. I go to barre class, ride my bike to do errands, take a minute run-walk, or steal away for a couple-hour hike because I have tendencies towards anxiety and depression, and regular exercise works better than anything else to help me deal with them. It also helps me sleep. And it's great to know that my activity will help me live longer — so I get quantity and quality of life, bonus!

If you didn't get a Presidential Physical Fitness Award in school, the government is giving you another chance to prove you're in shape. It will incorporate several of the exercises that millions of students undertake each year as they aim for a certificate signed by the president. The test involves three basic components: aerobic fitness, muscular strength and flexibility.

Sign up for a PRO plan today for access to certified personal trainers, performance assessments, and more. Hans Kraus in Kraus, a specialist in physical medicine whose favorite form of exercise was climbing mountains, published a paper with Bonnie Prudden warning that affluence in America made life so easy that both children and adults were becoming couch potatoes; this was long before video games entered the scene. Prudden, an athlete, rock climber, and gymnast, had started testing children in different countries to determine their level of physical fitness.