Strength and Power

Strength and Power

These two are related. Strength is the muscles’ ability to exert force, and power is the time it takes to do the work. Generally, fitness assessments include lifting weights to test both the maximum weight you can lift and your muscular endurance. In other words, the tester will find out how many pounds you can lift and how many times you can lift that weight. You might be asked to do a bench press—lying on your back while lifting and lowering a barbell.
Lower-body strength is similarly evaluated on the basis of how much weight you can lift and how many times you can lift it. A common test uses a leg-extension apparatus,which resembles a narrow, armless chair with a weighted bar at the bottom. You hook your ankles under the bar and straighten your legs to lift the weight attached to the bar.
As with the bench-press test for the upper body, the combination of the maximum weight you can lift and the number of repetitions is the indicator of lower-body strength.
Pushups are another common upper-body strength test. The weight you lift is your own. The more pushups you are able to do, the fitter you are. Men usually do full-body pushups, supporting their weight on their toes and hands. Because women have significantly less upper-body strength than men, their standards are lower. They usually do half-pushups, supporting their weight on their hands and knees. Both full-body and half-pushups involve raising and lowering the entire torso. For both genders, the number of pushups a person can be expected to do declines markedly with age.
Males-Pushups*
Fitness Level
Age Poor Fair Average Good Excellent
<29 <20 20-24 34-44 45-54 >55
30-39 <14 15-24 25-34 35-44 >45
40-49 <11 12-19 20-29 30-39 >40
50-59 <7 8-14 15-24 25-34 >35
>60 <4 5-9 10-19 20-29 >30
*Note that some authorities seal that these standards are somewhat high. Females-Pushups*
Fitness Level
Age Poor Fair Average Good Excellent
<29 0-5 6-16 17-33 34-49 >50
30-39 0-3 4-11 12-24 25-39 >40
40-49 0-2 3-7 8-19 20-34 >35
50-59 0-1 2-5 6-14 15-29 >30
>60 0 1-2 3-4 5-19 >20
*Note that some authorities seal that these standards are somewhat high Evaluating mid-body strength also is a counting game. Sit-ups are the key test of the body’s core section, and traditional evaluation systems such as the one the YMCA has used for decades require them. Very fit people, especially men, can do the full-body version. The motion starts at the hips, and the entire upper body is lifted from a lying to a sitting position in one fluid motion.
Most women and out-of-shape men are asked to do crunches instead, in which the head, shoulders, shoulder blades, and lower back are lifted off the floor. In a crunch,you do not raise your torso to near vertical from the floor. Instead of sitting up all the way, raise your head, shoulders, and upper back but leave your lower back pressed tothe floor. In other words, you reach the highest position with your lower back remaining on the floor and your shoulder blades off—that is, in more of a horizontal than vertical plane. Ratings again are related to age and gender.