The Ultimate Fitness Test to Measure Your Strength, Endurance, and Mobility

Repeating this fitness test monthly will help you understand if your workouts really working. It will also help you select the right workout program based on your fitness level.

Our 8-challenge fitness test to benchmark your current fitness level requires no equipment. The only thing you’ll need is a towel, water, and a stopwatch.

Our 8 Exercise fitness test

In addition using a body measurement chart to track fitness progress, taking a fitness test before, during, and after a new fitness routine is ideal to benchmark your results.

Use this fitness test to compare yourself to “average” fitness benchmarks. Each component of this test was taken from the combined research and selection of standard military fitness tests, gold standards of what it takes to be a “Spartan Beast,” and the input of health professors and doctors (full resource list at the bottom of the page).

The “average” results are taken from research studies and from big data companies such as FitBit, Aaptiv, and ClassPass. Finally, note that your results may not indicate your overall health level but can be used for comparison and a data point for progression.

Speaking of progression, we highly recommend downloading and printing the below Ultimate Fitness Tracker so you can record your results from these fitness tests, as well as other useful strength and mobility tests.

The Four Components of Our Fitness Test

This is the most simple and effective challenge to measure your fitness level. Each exercise falls into one of the following categories.

• Aerobic fitness and endurance
• Muscle strength and endurance (lower body, upper body, and core)
• Flexibility and Balance
• Body Composition

Grab your towel, water, timer and let’s get started!

Aerobic Fitness and Endurance

1. The 1.5 Mile Run

To begin the fitness test, time yourself for a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) run in your neighborhood, around a track, or on a treadmill. This is the gold standard test to track your cardio performance, so don’t skip it. Record your time so that you can track progress.

• An advanced, fit runner should be able to finish in less than 12 minutes
• Intermediately fit runners should be able to finish in less than 16 minutes (up until the age of 55 years old for all genders)
• Anything slower indicates the need for cardio endurance improvement

If you want to dive deeper into tracking your cardio fitness, read our article titled, ‘VO2 Max Measurement and Improvement Guide.’

Muscle Strength and Endurance

2. The 2 Minute Push-Up Challenge (Upper Body Strength)

Next, it’s time to get down on the ground for good, old-fashioned push-ups. No fit test exists without these. You don’t need to bring your chest to the floor. It counts as “one” when your elbows are at a 90-degree angle. These push-ups should be done on your toes. 

• An advanced athlete should be able to do over 50 push-ups in 2 minutes
• The intermediate athlete should be able to do at least 30 full push-ups in 2 minutes
• Anything less or if you have to drop to your knees means there’s room for improvement

Set a timer for 2 minutes and get to work.

3. The 1 Minute Sit-Up Challenge (Core Strength)

Flip onto your back and set a timer for one minute. Perform a full crunch with your hands crossed against your chest. Count how many sit-ups you do but subtract any where your arms were not fully against your chest.

Have a buddy hold your feet against the floor and also look out for any “disqualified” crunches.

• An advanced athlete should be able to do over 50 sit-ups in 1 minute
• The intermediate athlete should be able to do at least 30 sit-ups in 1 minute
• Anything less means you should focus on improving core strength

How many did you do? Write it down so you can compare the results to your next fitness test in one month.

4. The 2 Minute Wall Sit Challenge (Lower Body Strength)

With your back against the wall, slide down until your knees make a perfect 90-degree angle. Perform this test in one set until failure or until the 2-minute timer goes off. Record how long you can stay up at a perfect 90 degrees.

• An advanced athlete should be able to perform the wall sit for 2 minutes
• The intermediate athlete should be able to perform the wall sit for over 1 minute
• Anything less means you should focus on improving lower body strength

You’ll what to take a short water break after before the next exercise.

5. The 5 Minute Burpee Challenge (Total Body Strength)

Burpees are a great total body exercise. In our fit test, they’re even more challenging. This tough test is taken straight out of the Spartan SGX Fitness rule book. Count how many burpees you can accomplish in 5 minutes.

Start your burpee in a squat position. Do a full descending push-up all the way to the ground and extend your arms and legs into a full “Superman” position. Ascend in a push-up back into a squat and then jump into a full vertical extension with straight arms and legs. Repeat.

• An advanced athlete should be able to do over 60 full extension burpees in 5 minutes (subtract 20 burpees if over the age of 55)
• The intermediate athlete should be able to do at least 40 full extension burpees in 5 minutes (subtract 15 burpees if over the age of 55)
• Anything less means you should focus on improving total body strength

While you’re tracking your reps, you might as well start tracking your body measurements so you can monitor how well your workouts are working.

Flexibility and Balance

6. The Touch-Your-Toes Challenge (Flexibility)

Stand up and lean forward to the ground to touch your toes. See where you can hold the pose for at least 10 seconds. Make sure to perform this test while you’re warmed up.

Finally, note that you should keep your legs straight but don’t lock your knees – you don’t want to strain yourself!

• A flexible athlete should be able to put their palms on the floor
• An average, flexible athlete should be able to touch their toes and start to put their fists on the floor
• Anything less means this should be a focus to reduce risk of injury

Take a picture or record the distance so you can track your progress after your next fitness test.

7. The 30 Second Standing Tree Pose Challenge (Balance)

Take turns balancing on each foot in the yoga pose, Standing Tree Pose. Have the bent leg placed on the opposite knee or upper thigh.

• An advanced, balanced athlete should be able to stand on each leg with their eyes closed for the 30 seconds
• The intermediate, balanced athlete should be able to stand on each leg for the full 30 seconds with their eyes open
• Anything less means there’s room for improvement. Note if there are imbalances on each leg. It’s normal for one leg to have better balance than the other, but any glaring discrepancies indicate an imbalance problem

This exercise sounds easy, but this might be the most challenging part of this fitness test. If you have muscle imbalances, we highly recommend these yoga workouts.

Body Composition

8. Your Body Mass Index (BMI)

While there are some arguable flaws in online BMI calculators, they set a general benchmark to see where you stack up.

• Here is the Mayo Clinic BMI online calculator. A normal BMI is typically 18.5-24.5. Talk to your doctor if there are any concerns but use these numbers as a benchmark only. Everyone’s body is different.

Other techniques to measure body fat percentage include skinfold calipers, body circumference measurements, and more advanced measures such as body scanners and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

Fitness Test Takeaways

What gets tracked, gets improved, right? Good job completing our fitness test. We recommend repeating this test monthly or quarterly depending on your fitness goals.

This fitness test was designed with the following resources:

– Military Fitness Tests (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard)
– Spartan SGX Fitness Test
– American College of Sports Medicine (the 5 components of physical fitness)
– Aaptiv

If you need a structured plan to follow….