Founded in 1994, Shape Up America! is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization committed to raising awareness of obesity as a health issue and to providing responsible information on healthy weight management.
The Muscular Strength and Endurance Test
This test is designed to give you some feedback about your muscular strength. No one test will give you an overall picture of the strength of all the muscles in your body, but the results of any test can provide a window of understanding about the shape of your muscles in the particular area tested. If your score is not what you’d like it to be, please visit our Improvement Center for strength training activities to increase your upper body strength. Even if your score is “Average” or “Above Average,” investigate the strength training activities to improve the strength of muscles in other body areas. In other words, use your score as a “Call to Action, to help you tailor your program.
Be sure you know how to perform a push-up correctly (men and women use different techniques, as described here):
- Position yourself on the floor so that your body is straight and your weight is on the hands and feet (men) or hands and knees (women). Be sure your hands are flat on the floor and directly under your shoulders.
- Lower your chest until it touches the floor, then push yourself back up to the starting position. Exhale each time you push your body up; do not hold your breath.
- Keep your body straight, and fully straighten your arms at the end of each push-up.
Procedure:
- Assume the correct position.
- Begin the first push-up.
- Count one each time you do a push-up correctly.
- Stop the test when you must stop to rest.
Reprinted with permission from American College of Sports Medicine, 1992, ACSM Fitness Book (Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics), 30-31.