2.4 – Fitness

Janet-jumping-people
Schalk
, , ,
0

7 Paths to Greater Happiness Through Exercise

Science-backed ideas to make the world’s most natural antidepressant even better

Photo by Janet Cloete

There’s a lot to like about physical fitness. You feel stronger, look better, and get access to a range of pleasurable activities reserved only for the healthy. But exercise brings another benefit that might be even more important: a proven positive effect on our complicated inner worlds.

I saw this up close and personal after my mom was diagnosed with clinical depression. Through many years of intense struggle, she gradually built a set of healthy habits that gives her the very high quality of life she enjoys today. Exercise is an integral part of this depression-taming lifestyle. In fact, she sees her daily walk as non-negotiable!

In this article, I want to share some science-backed ideas to give the mental health benefits of exercise an extra boost. But first, let’s recap why exercise is just as good for our minds as it is for our bodies.

How Exercise Builds Mental Fitness

It’s amazing to think that exercise could be as effective as antidepressants. For severe cases, it also works wonders alongside antidepressants as a supporting treatment.

The reasons for the positive effect of exercise on mental health are numerous and convincing. On a biochemical level, exercise releases feel-good hormones such as serotonin and boosts brain development by stimulating the synthesis of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. It also improves sleep, especially at middle-age and beyond, which is critical for good mental health.

A boost in self-esteem also follows from the sense of accomplishment and improved body image associated with better fitness levels. On top of that, life is simply more fun when experienced through a fit body!

These positive effects of exercise are great, but apparently not enough to get the population moving. Shockingly, only 23% of Americans achieve the rather modest guidelines for healthy weekly exercise.

Getting started is a big part of the problem. After all, if you’re depressed and out of shape, strenuous exercise is the last thing you feel like doing. That’s why we need to employ every trick in the playbook to deliver the mental health benefits of exercise as quickly as possible, triggering a positive feedback loop between feeling better and moving more.

Enhancing the Effect of Fitness on Happiness

Even though fitness by itself can make us feel better, there are plenty of ways to augment this positive effect on our sense of wellbeing. This is especially true when we compare against the method we most commonly associate with getting in shape: going to the gym.

Picture this scenario: You’re busy, stressed, and badly out of shape. Now, people are expecting you to carve two slices of two hours out of your hectic week (together with a sizable slice of your paycheck) to endure a stressful rush-hour drive into town for the privilege of running on a treadmill like a hamster in front of a bunch of muscular youths who give you intense body shame. Fat chance, right?

I think we can all agree that this is never going to work on any meaningful scale. In fact, this experience will probably cancel out most of the mental health benefits of exercise. So, let’s turn the tables and find practical ways to combine exercise with proven happiness boosters.

Here are seven strategies to help you do just that.

1. Connect with the natural world

Nature has a mysteriously significant positive effect on our wellbeing. A recent study, fittingly published in the prestigious journal, Nature, found that 120 minutes per week spent in nature has about the same positive effect on health and wellbeing as exercise itself.

Although we don’t fully understand the mechanisms driving this effect, its existence is beyond question. Exercising in nature will give you substantial additional mental health benefits relative to the same exercise level in a gym. Untouched nature is preferred, but your local park will also do.

Gardening presents another option. Interestingly, vegetables bring more happiness than flowers — yet another reason for more veggies in your life.

2. Go to the light

Doing your exercise outside comes with another benefit: natural light. Sunlight influences our happiness in two ways: stimulating vitamin D production and impacting circadian rhythms and serotonin release.

The best time to get some sunlight is early in the morning. There are numerous artificial light options available to simulate this exposure, but the real thing is obviously best. So, whenever circumstances allow, take a sunny morning walk, and watch what happens to your mood!

3. Get social

Nourishing relationships are one of the most common prescriptions for happiness. There is broad agreement that quality trumps quantity, so strengthening bonds with a good friend or a significant other is one of the best roads to happiness.

Joint activities, such as exercising together, are a great way to build such bonds. For example, this study found significant marital benefits to joint exercise in older couples. Exercising with a partner also increases accountability to ensure that this healthy habit is maintained. More happiness, closer relationships, better fitness. What’s not to like?

4. Random acts of kindness

Being kind makes us happier. Whenever we purposefully do something nice for other people without expecting anything in return, we get a fun little shot of endorphins.

Exercise offers plenty of opportunities for random acts of kindness. Whether you smile warmly at other morning walkers, compliment your partner on their physique or performance, or play extra unselfishly in team sports, it all counts. If you have the time, any volunteering involving physical activity will also do the trick. Simply be nice while being active.

5. Go with the flow

You’ll have to put in some work before you get to experience this happiness-enhancing effect, but it’s totally worth it! Flow is the state when we lose ourselves in doing something of our choosing that challenges our abilities to just the right extent. Exercise is the perfect example of such an activity.

“Runner’s high” is the most recognized example of fitness flow, but other sports can achieve a similar effect. As you progress, strive to keep the challenge close to the edge of your current skill and fitness level. Do that, and flow will come. And once it does, you’ll keep coming back for more.

6. Knock-on health benefits

When you start getting fit, it’s quite likely that your eating habits will soon follow suit. Such a beneficial knock-on effect has advantages beyond losing weight and feeling healthier.

Have you ever heard of the gut-brain axis? This term refers to the ability of the vast population of bacteria in our intestines to influence our mood and mental health by, among others, producing essential neurotransmitters. The typical Western diet with all its sugars and saturated fats is no friend to this diverse microscopic world inside us. In fact, our unhealthy eating habits are increasingly linked to genuine cognitive impairment.

So, if your increasing fitness levels give you even a slither of extra motivation to improve your diet, grab it with both hands! A better diet will also make movement more fun, creating a lovely virtuous cycle.

7. Make exercise pay

If money troubles are straining your happiness (an all-too-common phenomenon), exercise might offer a solution. Choosing to walk or cycle on all short trips can save you a tidy sum. If you can ditch the car, that tidy sum multiplies manyfold. For example, my car-free life is a key reason behind the financial freedom I enjoy today.

Of course, there are clear limitations. If you live in a city that’s totally built for cars instead of people, this is not a viable option. But anyone who has the option should consider it very seriously. The combination of exercise and increased financial security can give your wellbeing a double boost.

Wrapping Up

The holistic mind-body health benefits of exercise help it stand out among smart lifestyle choices. If you’ve always struggled to get going on the journey to better fitness, I hope the happiness-boosting exercise combos discussed in this article can help. To sum up:

  1. Exercise outside, preferably in nature, exposed to sunlight, and with good friends/family.
  2. Be on the lookout for opportunities to engage in random acts of kindness.
  3. Keep adjusting the challenge level to give yourself a good chance of entering a flow state.
  4. Pounce enthusiastically on any new motivation to improve your diet in parallel with your fitness.
  5. If walking/cycling is safe and practical, simultaneously boost your financial security and fitness by ditching the car.

May your fitness bring you great happiness and your happiness keep you fit for life!

Nerd picture smaller
Schalk
, , , ,
0

4 Great Fitness Synergies for Those Who Live Behind Their Computers

There are many benefits to becoming a fit nerd!

Image by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels

What comes to mind when I mention the word “nerd”? Probably something along the lines of thick spectacles, braces, and acne, right? Certainly nothing related to fitness.

But the times they are a-changin’ — now faster than ever. Nerd numbers are growing, and their constantly evolving, digitally connected consciousness is starting to recognize the benefits of fitness.

Indeed, fit nerds are becoming a thing. While image certainly plays a role (smart is nice, but smart and toned is awesome), another undervalued factor is emerging: the surprising degree of synergy between making a living from behind a computer and staying fit.

This article gives one fit nerd’s take on four of these beautiful synergies.

Synergy 1: The Nerd-Enhancing Power of Nature

Nerds are often pictured as pale creatures living in a dim basement surrounded by blinking lights, wires, and screens. Sure, some choose to operate this way, but many are realizing that this environment actually hampers their digital ambitions.

Getting outside a couple of times a day — especially if it involves sunlight and some green, living things — is great for mental energy and creativity. Whenever my brain starts feeling sluggish or uninspired, a walk in nature is just what the doctor ordered.

But there’s a problem: all too few of us have nature right outside our front door.

Luckily, a new era of remote work is upon us. That means that location no longer binds those who can create value sitting in front of a screen and skilfully moving/tapping some odd pieces of plastic. This grants them access to the world’s best fitness tool: a home located in a beautiful environment that makes you want to move every day.

So, nerds can 1) benefit immensely from regular exposure to nature and 2) use the location-independence of their skillsets to make nature their next-door neighbor. If this is an option for you, grab it with both nerdy hands!

Synergy 2: The Privilege of Car-Free Living

Cars are overrated. Sure, they can be invaluable at times, but they also cost a huge amount of money, take up far too much space, cause tons of stress and anger, kill far too many people and animals, and play a major role in making the world so terribly unfit.

Those who manage to construct a well-functioning car-free lifestyle can skip all these drawbacks. Heck, I almost feel guilty about how much of an advantage this single lifestyle choice gives me in terms of health, productivity, and financial/creative freedom.

Nerds are in a unique position to make car-free living work. Their work is ideally suited to telecommuting, they’re more inclined to shop online instead of in town, and I’m pretty sure they’re less likely to have small kids (probably the most compelling reason for car ownership).

If you have the possibility of creating a practical car-free life, go for it! Your fitness will naturally improve, but that’s just a small part of the tremendous privilege of car-free living.

Synergy 3: For the Love of Tech

Nerds and tech go hand in hand. That’s why it’s such good news that fitness is getting techier by the day. After all, your body doesn’t care whether you exercise to improve your health or only to play with your new smartwatch.

I must admit that I’ve not geeked out properly in this category yet. My fitness band is a pretty cheap model that’s not good for much more than counting my daily steps, buzzing me when I’ve been sitting for too long (an invaluable feature for computer addicts), and occasionally finding my phone.

However, if you feel a need for some tech-driven fitness motivation, the endless possibilities for integration between different devices and apps can keep your inner nerd physically active for years to come. Quality fitness devices can be a bit pricey, but if that’s what it takes, don’t hesitate!

Synergy 4: Algorithms for Life

Finally, there’s the fascinating challenge of perfectly integrating fitness and general wellness into a modern tech-rich lifestyle. Experimenting with different life and fitness hacks in search of that perfect lifestyle algorithm offers fantastic intellectual stimulation.

If you can bring some cool tech into the mix, so much the better. For example, my recent investment in smart lighting and sound has elevated my fully automated morning routine to the next level. This routine involves plenty of movement, getting my day off to a fit start.

There are many other fitness hacks out there. If you channel your inner nerd to track them down and tie them together into an algorithm perfectly tailored to your life, you’ll unlock a source of fitness motivation you never even knew existed. So, hack away!

Digital World, Biological Body

Our world is becoming increasingly digital. It might not be all that long before we spend most of our time in virtual worlds, enjoying digital experiences that are much more varied, convenient, and sustainable than their physical counterparts. The biggest nerds already live this kind of life.

But our brains and bodies remain fundamentally biological. They require regular movement in the physical world to achieve their full potential. It’s up to every nerd to take great care of their biological self so they get to fully engage in both our physical and digital worlds. Activating the synergies discussed above does exactly that.

030_Workout bench
Schalk
, ,
0

How to Maintain Decent Muscle Tone With Minimal Effort

Lean. Healthy. Confident. All for less than 5 minutes a day.

“She says you look like a Greek god!”

My friend’s words were music to the ears of my painfully insecure 19-year-old self. I can’t even remember which girl supposedly uttered those wonderful words. But I do remember the feeling.

It’s both funny and embarrassing how much of my late teens and early twenties passed in a shirtless search for this kind of validation. But luckily, there was an upside: This fragile ego of mine drove me through countless tedious gym sessions!

Today, 17 years later, impressing girls has tumbled way down my list of priorities. Interestingly though, my determination to stay in good shape is stronger than ever.

The reason is simple: I really enjoy my body (and the mind it sustains) and I want to keep doing that for many decades to come. I’m also curious to learn how much my healthy lifestyle can delay the aging process. After all, regular strength training is great anti-aging medicine.

But still, burning lots of time and money by repeatedly lifting oddly shaped chunks of metal in a big room full of sweaty people was never my idea of fun. Neither was carrying around (and feeding) more muscle mass than I need to enjoy life. I had to find a better way.

Here it is in four simple steps.

1. Consistency

As illustrated in the title image, I only do about four minutes of strength training every day. Although the “four minutes” might grab your attention, the most important words are actually “every day.”

To achieve such consistency, an activity must be ingrained deeply into your daily routine. In my case, the integration looks like this:

  • Two minutes of free weights for my arms or chest while having breakfast. It’s quite a pleasant experience to put in two sets on the bench pictured below while chewing my favorite meal.
  • For my core, two minutes of planking or boat poses are smoothly integrated into my morning yoga routines

My workout bench and yoga mat are always ready for action right there in the living room, removing all resistance to getting started. Thanks to this environment, these routines are now such an automatic part of life that I don’t need to think about them anymore.

Daily strength training simply happens. No willpower required.

2. Strain

If you want decent muscle tone from less than five minutes a day, you’ll need to be willing to strain a little. Just swinging around some light weights without any effort isn’t going to help much.

That’s why I focus on making the last 20 seconds of my 2-minute sessions just the right degree of uncomfortable. Sure, I don’t like discomfort any more than the next guy, but I can certainly handle 40 seconds of it in exchange for a body I love to live in.

I like to call this my 20 seconds of “plain” (pleasurable pain). It’s surprisingly satisfying to remind myself in that moment that these few seconds are giving me all the muscle mass I’ll ever need.

If it gets genuinely painful, it’s a clear sign that I’m pushing too hard and need to stop. Also, I take care to alternate muscle groups so that there is sufficient recuperation time between these brief sessions of strain.

3. Reasonably Active Lifestyle

My life happens in front of a screen. According to RescueTime, I log about 10 hours of computer time every day. That’s a lot of sitting!

Also, I don’t just sit when working on my PC — I lounge under a cozy blanket with my feet up. This luxurious working position helps make productivity a breeze, but it’s extremely passive.

Luckily, I have a whole mountain in my backyard. All the nourishing exercise opportunities this provides helps me maintain an average step count of about 10k per day without having to resort to willpower. It also helps that virtually all my transportation needs can be met by walking or cycling.

Such moderate daily aerobic exercise is enough to keep me lean and mobile with a good oxygen uptake capacity — all vital to secure lifetime access to the spontaneous fitness valley.

4. Super-Clean Diet

Lastly, my diet is free from sugar and highly processed foods. Although I do enjoy the odd treat on a special occasion, I never buy empty calories. Such a clean diet is essential for optimal body function and for maintaining a healthy fat-to-muscle ratio without any willpower-draining caloric restriction.

I can confidently say that a smartly constructed, super-clean diet is effortless and deeply enjoyable. Building one can even bring a whole host of unexpected benefits. It’s highly recommended!

Conclusion

So, that’s how I maintain decent muscle tone in only four minutes a day. You’re not going to get jacked with so little weight training but, to be honest, there’s little reason other than ego to really bulk up in today’s world. If your aim is only to maintain excellent body functionality, four mildly uncomfortable minutes a day are all you need.

So, build an environment that automatically maintains these four essential habits and see what happens. I think you’ll like the result. After all, life is a lot more fun when experienced through a fit and fully functional body!

Theisendammen summer - smaller
Schalk
, , , ,
0

The World’s Best Fitness Tool

It takes planning and patience, but if you purposefully seek out this one thing, lifelong fitness becomes a breeze.

The lonely little diving platform on Theisendammen early one windless morning.

The image above was taken about 500 m from my front door on a typical daily stroll. Theisendammen really is a lovely little dam, especially on such a quiet day. But it doesn’t feel quite so little when you’re swimming a couple of lengths on a long Norwegian summer’s day!

When winter comes around, it gets transformed into a large, natural ice-skating rink. We usually get a precious couple of weeks at the start of winter when there’s no snow yet and the surface is one continuous slab of perfectly smooth black ice. That said, I’m certainly not complaining about the skating paths that are created after the snow arrives:

Top view of the Theisendammen ice-skating rink in early winter.

As winter comes into its own, the cross-country skiing season kicks off, and we’re treated to 120 km of well-prepared ski tracks. After a solid snowfall, I can clip on my skis right outside my front door. Otherwise, it’s about a 2-minute walk. After 10 km and a solid 300 m elevation gain, it’s fun to take a well-deserved break at a cabin with a view like this:

The view from Grønnlia can be enjoyed in quiet solitude early on a weekday morning.

These lakes and mountains are also fun to explore in the summertime. If you’re lucky, you can even encounter some wildlife!

Some animal friends from my walks in the mountain.

For the more serious hikers, two hours will get you to sights like these:

My dad photographs the approaching storm from Storheia on a pre-pandemic visit.

You can even get there by cross-country ski (although it’s much more effort than staying on the nicely prepared tracks). But in the end, the view is always worth it (so is the off-piste descent).

The reward for conquering Storheia in winter.

In the more mundane day-to-day, cycling or rollerblades with ski poles gets me to where I need to be. Whenever we’re not in a global pandemic, the 200 m elevation from the office back home sure gets the lungs pumping, but it’s the perfect mental wind-down after the workday (and the long shower after this ascent creates another little daily highlight).

Big wheels or little wheels? Little wheels are slower but much more fun!

The weekly groceries are 200 m away (about 60 bicep curls with well-weighted grocery bags). So is the pharmacy, bike shop, wine outlet, and post office for picking up anything else that was ordered online.

So, have you guessed the identity of this mystery fitness tool yet?

It’s the location of your home.

With my home located in this environment, my VO2max hovers consistently around an excellent level of 60 ml/kg/min without the need to spend any willpower (or money). I walk, ride, ski, skate, rollerblade, and swim because it’s fun, revitalizing, and highly convenient. Fitness (and general wellness) just happens as a natural by-product.

I’ll readily admit there was plenty of luck involved in my move to Norway, but the decision to buy my first property in this particular location was no fluke. The few days of research I invested in finding a location with perfect access to nature, the office, and the grocery store ranks among the most lucrative in my entire research career.

Sure, we can’t all live next to a picturesque Norwegian mountain. But, since the world’s best fitness tool is such a well-kept secret, I’m sure everyone who makes the effort can live this dream.

With the rise of remote work and the continued expansion of online retailing, settling down in the perfect location is now simpler than ever before. When proximity to the office and brick-and-mortar retailers is no longer a factor, the options at your disposal expand tremendously.

So, the next time you’re thinking of moving, see if you can get the world’s best fitness tool included in the deal. As far as strategic life decisions go, it doesn’t get much better than this! 😊

4 fitness skills
Schalk
, , ,
0

4 Skills That Guarantee Lifelong Fitness

Your gateway to a spontaneously active lifestyle

Created by Janet Cloete using images from Pixabay (1, 2, 3, 4)

When you Google “list of failed New Year’s resolutions,” getting fit often makes an appearance at or near the top. This is tragic, given how important fitness is for long-term health and a full experience of life.

So, why is it so hard to get in shape? Our environment certainly has something to do with it. Modern technology has made movement unnecessary for survival, allowing us to spend most of our lives on our ever-expanding behinds.

But still, everyone knows the importance of fitness. We also put a lot of pressure on ourselves to achieve athletic physiques. There’s even a massive industry dedicated to making our fitness dreams come true.

And yet, we remain as sedentary as ever. Why? Well, to put it bluntly: moving an unfit body is a pain in the ass (and various other places).

Indeed, most of the rich world is firmly stuck on the far left in the graph below. All those extra pounds and all that sitting mean that any physical exertion quickly leads to exhaustion, making the “fitness threshold” seem insurmountable.

But there’s also a privileged minority who made it past this threshold and into the “spontaneous fitness valley.” They move because they enjoy their fit bodies, with effortless healthy fitness levels as a natural byproduct.

In this article, we’ll look at four skills that can let you into this picturesque valley and allow you to stay indefinitely.

Skill 1: Confident Dancing

This is such a fun skill to have! All you need is the confidence required to dance whenever the opportunity presents itself. And yes, once you have this confidence, you’ll suddenly see plenty of opportunities.

Any party gets better with some dancing. And it often takes one confident dancer to get everyone out on the dancefloor. May that be you!

If you’re living with a partner, dancing is also an awesome activity to do together. The occasional spontaneous dance session can really boost your chemistry, adding an extra spark to the relationship.

Even if you’re all by yourself at home, dancing to your favorite song for a couple of minutes is a great mood booster. I find it particularly useful for waking up in the morning.

And no, you don’t need serious skills to start. Dancing from the heart will be fun (and highly entertaining to any observer) regardless of your skill level. Just get started! The fancy moves will come with time.

Skill 2: Human-Powered Wheels

This is arguably the single best pathway to automatic fitness. Bicycles are our most common human-powered wheels, but there are many other options, such as scooters, skateboards, and my personal favorite: rollerblades.

Feeling confident on these wheeled contraptions requires good balance. And having a good time powering yourself along requires decent fitness. Luckily, technology can give you a leg up on the second requirement with electric bicycles, scooters, and skateboards. Just start carefully and watch your balance (and confidence) improve with practice.

The best thing about this skill is that it can double as a legitimate mode of transportation. Replacing all your short car trips with human-powered wheels will give you automatic lifelong fitness and, as a beautiful bonus, save you a ton of money. My car-free lifestyle is one of the core reasons I could already earn my financial freedom at age 34.

But there’s an unfortunate problem that slams this door in many peoples’ faces: Cycling can be dangerous and stressful for those living in a city built for cars instead of people. If this is you, add safe cycling as a key selection criterion next time you consider moving house. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait out the slow trends making our cities more livable.

Skill 3: At Least One Sport

The world would be a better place if everyone had at least one sport in their lives. Sadly, two things hold most people back: skills and fitness levels. In other words, the “fitness threshold” in the graph above now becomes the “skills and fitness threshold.”

This taller peak can seem doubly daunting, but it gets easier with the help of some friends. Indeed, many sports offer a beautiful social element to keep things fun and add some friendly competition to boost performance.

If you’re older or simply not very “sporty,” there might still be a sport out there for you. Many sports don’t require you to perform acrobatic maneuvres or max out your heart rate — only to move your body for fun. Take a scan through this impressive list for some inspiration.

Is there a sport you’ve always wanted to try? Did you have a favorite sport in school that got left behind when adulthood happened? Do you have a friend who plays an interesting sport? Any of these can be your ticket.

Skill 4: Automated Mat Exercises

Exercises like yoga or pilates get plenty of attention, but there is one side of them that remains badly undervalued: their synergy with a good morning or evening routine. Indeed, once locked into a solid routine, these movements will strengthen your body and mind for a lifetime.

They don’t need to take much time either. I only do five minutes in the morning and five minutes in the evening. In the morning, it’s a somewhat unconventional blend of yoga and some pilates-like strength elements. In the evening, it’s a few simple yoga stretches.

A final tip is to make sure that your yoga mat is always open and ready for action. This removes any resistance to starting — often the most challenging part of the whole routine.

Lifelong Fitness, Guaranteed

So, start dancing even if you feel silly, dig out that old bicycle and leave the car in the garage, give an old favorite sport another chance, and fully integrate yoga into your routines.

With these four skills in the bag, your entry to “spontaneous fitness valley” is guaranteed. Enjoy your stay in this beautiful place!

Runner how fit are you
Schalk
, , ,
0

How Fit are You?

Find out with these simple, age-adjusted tests of cardiovascular fitness, strength, flexibility, and balance.

Image by kinkate from Pixabay

Life is better when experienced through a fit body, plain and simple. A fit body feels great, looks great, and grants you access to great experiences.

But how fit is fit enough?

On the one hand, poor fitness is a genuine health hazard, linked to every scary degenerative disease out there (heart disease, cancer, diabetes, dementia). Even so, a shocking 75% of Americans fall into this risk group.

But fitness can also be taken too far, consuming excessive time and energy, and risking injury. Like most of life, exercise adheres to the law of diminishing returns: Beyond a certain point, the amount of effort you need to put in for the next bit of progress is no longer worth it.

This article presents some simple tests you can easily do at home to check whether you fall in the golden window between these two extremes.

Reading the Graphs

Each of the six graphs below presents lines for “Excellent” and “Average” fitness levels for men and women of different ages.

For good health and general life satisfaction, you should exceed the “Average” line. Each section contains some simple guidelines for staying above this line as easily and sustainably as possible.

The “Excellent” line is a good target for getting the most joy from your body without paying a hefty price. When you reach this line, it’s time to do some thinking about whether further gains are really worth it.

Cardiovascular Fitness

When people think about “fitness,” this is the one that typically springs to mind. Cardiovascular fitness is the ability of your body to deliver oxygen to your muscles. It can let you do things like run a marathon or, more practically, climb a few flights of stairs without passing out.

The best measure of your body’s ability to utilize oxygen for efficient muscle function is VO2max. Proper measurements require specialized equipment, but luckily, there are simpler alternatives.

Here is a convenient link with a couple of nice calculators. The simplest one only needs you to count your heartbeats for 20 seconds. However, experts generally recommend tests that involve some form of exertion. That’s why I prefer the 1-mile walk test in the aforementioned link.

For even greater convenience, modern fitness watches can also estimate VO2max with decent accuracy.

So, pick your method, estimate your VO2max and see where you stand using the graph below.

VO2max norms (source).

How did you do?

If you’re currently below average, it’s a clear sign that you need to move more. Also, for the best results, you’ll need to get that heart rate up!

Is your mind rebelling against the thought of intense physical exertion right now? In that case, take heart from the fact that two sweaty hours per week are more than enough if you train efficiently. The 4×4 interval training method is the perfect example. Learn more in the video below.

At this point, I should confess that I don’t do any formal interval training myself. Philosophically speaking, the idea of exercise as a sacrifice for decent health doesn’t sit well with me. I exercise only for two reasons: to have fun and to think. My excellent VO2max is just a byproduct.

So, if you can only spare two hours per week for exercise, interval training can do a lot for your health. But then again, if your week is that packed, maybe it’s time to reconsider your priorities and open some space for life-enhancing activities like moving your body just for the fun of it.

Play, dance, ride, swim, skate, hike, climb, or just take a mindful daily stroll in your local park. Time spent in pleasant motion is never wasted time! You also have an open invitation to join our community on MyResonance for some fresh motivation (more about that at the end of this article).

Strength

The next three tests evaluate the strength of various muscle groups. In our younger years, let’s be honest, vanity is the main motivator for strength training. But as we get older, it becomes medicine for healthy aging, slowing muscle and bone loss, and preventing degenerative disease.

So, establishing good strength training habits early in life can boost self-esteem and ensure healthy aging in the long run. Also, it’s never too late to get started. Older individuals can gain back significant muscle mass and body functionality through strength training.

Upper Body

We’ll start with the most iconic strength exercise out there: the push-up. Please watch the video below about proper form before doing the test.

You don’t need to go as far down as the lean machine in the video for this test (aim for 90-degree elbows at the bottom), but be sure to follow the other form guidelines. Women can choose between regular (as shown in the video) and “knee pivot” push-ups (where the knees are on the ground).

Push-up norms (source). Women have the option to do regular push-ups or choose the variant where the knees are lowered to the ground (“knee pivot” lines in the graph).

So, how was that? If you haven’t done a push-up in years, I’m guessing not that great. But you’ll see some morale-boosting progress when repeating this test a couple of times over the coming days. Thus, if you fall below the average line, keep calm and make a few more attempts over the coming week before getting all depressed about your weak shoulders.

Improving your performance in this test is very simple: do more push-ups! As shown in the video above, you can even target various muscle groups by changing the position of your hands. Look for the push-up challenge in our MyResonance community for some extra motivation.

Of course, you can also join a gym or use my long-time favorite solution: a bench in my living room with some easily adjustable free weights.

The tiny investment that kept my upper body in tip-top shape over the past decade.

This brings me to the most important point about strength training: It must be fully integrated into your routine to make it automatic. For example, I use the bench above for 2 minutes every morning during breakfast (alternating between bicep curls, shoulder presses, and chest presses). This habit is now so deeply ingrained that I don’t even think about it anymore.

Habit formation gets much easier if it takes very little time and is repeated daily. That’s why I prefer short home exercises to longer gym sessions that are only practical once or twice per week. If you prefer the gym, make sure you add a social element (partner or class) to keep you accountable.

Core

A solid set of six-pack abs has long been an iconic symbol of fitness. Sit-ups are great for training this muscle group, but they can result in back issues. Planking is a safer option that also activates a much broader range of core muscles. Hence, our core test will be the classic plank as illustrated by lean machine #2 below.

So, now that you have some solid form, get hold of a timer, get down on the floor, and get planking!

Plank norms (source).

How did you do? Aside from being a great core exercise, planking also offers an interesting illustration of how much we can persevere after things get uncomfortable. So, if you wound up below average, first be honest with yourself about whether that really was your best effort.

If your best effort still leaves you below the line, your core needs some attention. One plank per day will soon take care of that. Alternatively, you can try the boat pose so gracefully illustrated by yours truly below.

Image from my article on yoga poses for inflexible people.

As with upper body strength, the key is to turn this into a daily habit. For example, I integrated planks and boats into my deeply ingrained morning yoga routines to guarantee my 2 minutes of core training every day.

Lower body

Finally, we get to the legs, and everyone’s favorite body part: the glutes. Our exercise of choice in this case is the squat. The proper form for this exercise can be viewed below.

The formal instructions for the test linked to the graph below state that your hands should be on your hips instead of extended to the front, making it a little tougher. Other than that, the test is pretty much the same as the chair squat illustrated above. So, get hold of a chair that fixes your legs to a 90-degree angle when sitting and squat away!

Squat norms (source).

How was that? Did you feel the burn? If you did and still ended up below the average line, it’s a sign that you’re sitting too much and moving too little. I’m confident that any uninjured individual who moves a healthy distance each day (~10000 steps) will be able to do an average number of squats.

For those who deeply desire a beautiful behind, incorporating squats or other legwork into your daily routine will make that wish come true. Yoga is another good option, particularly the chair pose shown below.

Stairs also offer fantastic free toning for your legs. So, next time you find yourself waiting for the lift, visualize your new peach-perfect glutes and take the stairs instead!

Flexibility

OK, let’s now make a graceful transition from strength to suppleness. Good flexibility is important for general quality of life, injury prevention, and better athletic performance. Relaxed stretching or yoga also deliver substantial mental health benefits.

So, let’s see how you measure up in the standard sit-and-reach test. This one is a little more complicated than the previous tests, so pay close attention now. We’ll do something very similar to the video below, only without their fancy metal box.

  • First, you will need a long ruler or, ideally, one of those fun, self-retracting metallic measurement tape rolls.
  • Next, find a low bench (roughly 30 cm high) and move it close to a wall.
  • Position the bench so that it presses against your heels when you sit with straight legs with your back against the wall. If your feet can fit beneath the bench, it’s convenient to move the bench a little closer to you.
  • If any curious bystander approaches, recruit them to hold the ruler or measurement tape in a fixed position on the bench so that it extends toward you. If you lack a curious bystander, some heavy books will also do the trick.
  • Now, sit with your back straight against the wall and touch the ruler with your outreached arms. This will be your zero-point.
  • Then, slowly bend forward as far as you can to a position you can hold for two seconds, and measure the distance you moved relative to your zero-point. Unless you’re a teenager, it’s not recommended to lunge forward like they do in the video above.
  • Then compare your score to the graph below (Americans, Google will happily convert your score in inches to centimeters)
Flexibility norms (sources for norms and age-dependency)

How was that? Flexibility has more of a genetic element than the previous tests, so don’t be disappointed with a mediocre score if your toes have always been out of reach. I must confess that it took me a decade of regular yoga to reach the marginally-above-average place I find myself today.

Still, anyone can improve their flexibility with regular stretching. A short stretch/yoga session fits particularly well into a tailored morning and evening routine. Ideally, your morning session would also include some of the strength-elements discussed earlier, but the evening session should be all about unwinding and relaxation. For the best results, try to hold each stretch for at least 30 seconds.

Balance

Last but not least, we get to our natural ability not to topple over all the time. Homo sapiens is a particularly top-heavy species, so staying upright is actually quite an accomplishment. And learning to stay upright in more challenging situations can make life a lot more fun (skiing comes to mind).

This test is simple: First, take off your shoes. Then, stand on one foot with the other one raised to your ankle, start your timer, and cross your arms over your chest. You cannot uncross your arms, move your raised foot, or swivel your grounded foot. On the closed-eye version of the test, you cannot open your eyes either. When any of these things happen, stop the timer, and compare your number to the graph below.

If you’re below 50, rather do the closed-eye test because the data was collected from a study that limited balancing times to 45 seconds. A large fraction of younger study participants reached that mark and could have easily continued for longer.

Balance norms (sources for averages and ranges). “Open” and “Closed” refer to the balancing times with open and closed eyes.

So, how well balanced are you? I’m guessing there will be a wide range of results here, largely depending on your environment. For example, after 12 Norwegian winters of sliding around on the icy streets and many hundreds of miles of skiing, skating, and rollerblading, I can balance almost indefinitely, even with my eyes closed.

It’s also striking how rapidly the standards fall with age. With these trends, it becomes easy to see why balance training is so critical for older adults to escape the increasing dangers of gravity.

Luckily, there are countless fun ways to improve your balance. For the more adventurous, balance sports like the ones I mention above are just awesome! But of course, purposefully pushing the limits of your balance means you’ll fall over occasionally (often with quite a thump), so this should be done responsibly.

Safer alternatives include dancing, yoga, tai chi, cycling, or hiking over uneven terrain. You can also establish standing on one leg as a fun daily habit. For example, my left leg is substantially weaker (and dumber) than my right, so I brush my teeth while balancing on that leg.

You can also find many specialized balancing exercises and gadgets, but I struggle to see the point of turning balance training into work when there are so many fun alternatives. As always, the best results will come when balance training becomes an automated part of your life.

A Well-Balanced Body

To all those who scored above average in all six tests, congratulations on your well-balanced body! Be sure to enjoy it to the max and don’t dilute the experience by taking fitness too seriously.

To everyone else, don’t be discouraged if you’re not completely there yet. With the simple (and perfectly pleasant) automatic fitness habits discussed above, it’s only a matter of time before you get to experience life through your very own well-balanced body!

In fact, you have something very cool to look forward to: Seeing and feeling yourself get fitter is almost just as much fun as actually being fit.

Enjoy the journey! 😊

Our MyResonance Community

I’m happy to announce a new collaboration with MyResonance! They are building a social platform that makes healthy and sustainable living fun and rewarding. Please check out the new community they created for my work here on Medium and let us know what you think!