How "fit" are you?*

You can take a personal performance based fitness assessment at this URL http://www.adultfitnesstest.org/

I took it and frankly thought it ranked me too high. But then I realized it compares you to other "average" people and unfortunately, average people these days are not very fit.

The following scale is pretty subjective and it certainly has little to do with objective performance based fitness assessments. It's merely meant as a quick cross reference to correlate some of the information found on this blog. Don't take it as iron clad factual truth, its not meant to be.


F1 = Sedentary
F2 = Average
F3 = Above Average
F4 = Truly Fit
F5 = Elite

F1 = Sedentary:
Couch potato. You eat, drink and or smoke anything and everything. You "enjoy" hours of TV per day. You try to avoid all activity. Most likely, you're on meds of some kind"s", perhaps with multiple health issues manifesting. Your RHR (Resting Heart Rate) is over 70 bpm.

F2 = Average:
Minimally active. You do not train. You can do moderate flat terrain walks and maybe even jog for 30 seconds or so before you collapse. You feel guilty about it, but you eat mostly crap. You probly have some current minor possibly chronic injury or a pending or neglected health issue. Your RHR is 61-70 bpm.

F3 = Above Average:
Regular gym trainer 3-4 days/week. You're probably a hiker or pedal biker. You could summit Mt Rainier right now but it would be pretty hard. You avoid the crappiest foods but still give in to junk occasionally. You may be dealing with some occasional minor health or injury issues but you try to avoid the doctor. Your RHR is 60 bpm or less.

F4 = Truly Fit:
Serious about training. You enter and do charity runs or other distance events. You maybe an amateur sport team or club member. You train consistently 4-6 days a week and you study the topic. You could summit Mt Rainier likely without much difficulty. You are fortunate having good health and a lack of injuries. You are picky about your "health food" packed diet. Your RHR is less than 55 bpm.

F5 = Elite Athlete:
You enter and win competitions. You have few peers who can compare in your chosen sport. Common routes on Mt Rainier are "a hike" for you. Being genetically gifted, you likely have your name in a book or records somewhere. You consult with coaches and doctors to custom design your full time training program. "Obsessed" understates your mindset in that you have a custom built life of 24/7 training/performing (along with the money to support it). In short, you live for your sport. Your RHR (Resting Heart Rate) is 50 bpm or less, maybe far less.


Where do you land on this scale?

Some of your fitness potential is predetermined genetically but only at the high F4 to F5 "performance" levels (unless you were born with some physical limitations aka "disabilities").

F5 people are born with their F5 potential for the most part but still have to train hard in order to reach that potential. And there is evidence that pushing it too hard actually does the opposite of producing fitness so depending on how you look at it, elite F5 level sport may not be the healthiest thing to do to your body.

If you are an "average" person with less than elite athletic genetic potential then pushing your training routine into those high performance levels will be extreme for you. Your body will be stressed beyond proper recovery protocols and you will be detracting from your health fitness levels.

However, below F4+ (high F4 to F5) there is an incredible amount of room to control and realize your own potential IF YOU TRAIN TO.

But, its up to you to set your priorities and goals.

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