A leading Irish academic has put forward a standardised fitness test for people to test their own level of fitness.
With no official standardised test in Ireland, DCU Professor Niall Moyna has designed his own.
It’s a relatively straightforward test that can be done in your living room, without the need for a visit to the gym or personal trainer.
The test is specifically designed to determine your fitness level based on both your age and gender.
It's broken down into five simple components:
- Waistline measurement
- Balance test
- Lower body strength test
- Upper body strength test
- Aerobic endurance test
Anyone taking the test is expected to reach the minimums outlined for their age group - but how far they go above them is indicative of their health too.
So long as you reach the minimums, you should have no major concerns about your fitness.
However, anyone who falls below the minimum thresholds is encouraged to have a look at their current lifestyle and health.
Full details of the exercises and tests involved can be found here: https://www.otbsports.com/other-sports/moyna-fitness-test-1301036
Speaking on Off The Ball, Professor Moyna says it's vital for people to remember there's a massive difference between fitness for sport and fitness for health.
He explained: "Any form of movement or activity is better than none - just try to make it part of your daily life.
“People think unless you play sport and are doing it very hard, there’s probably no benefit.
"But we have to educate the public that that’s the extreme - you don’t need to do anywhere the same amount of activity… in order to attain enormous health benefits."
He said 30 minutes of brisk walking can achieve the recommendation for daily "moderate to vigorous activity" - and a lot of that could even be achieved while walking from, say, a train station to your office.
The DCU professor said exercising for health is a 'pretty universal' requirement, with four main components - strength, endurance, body composition, and flexibility / balance - related to our ability to perform everyday tasks as simple as climbing a stairs or making a cup of tea.
Professor Moyna's main message is that people of all ages will benefit from being more physically active - and that by no means requires intense running or getting involved in team sports.
He added: "If you have this minimal health-related fitness, it reduces your risk for current disease and premature disease… and allows us to perform activities for daily living.”
Full details of Professor Moyna's fitness test can be found here: https://www.otbsports.com/other-sports/moyna-fitness-test-1301036
