Why You Should Take Fitness Benchmarks
Hey there everybody! I hope you’re week is going well so far. If not, you’re halfway to the weekend! There’s definitely light at the end of the tunnel. Today we are going to talk about fitness benchmarks. Who here remembers taking the Beep Test in P.E. in elementary school? I would say I usually scored in the average of my class but I would love to take that as an adult as see how I score.
I’m sure when I mentioned that test, some of you guys felt a sense of dread. Let me say this, up until four years ago I HATED running and exercising of any type. Sure I did it but it never really liked it. Hopefully, now that you have an exercise routine so it’s time to really check in and see what your progress has been. There’s multiple ways to test this and depending on your preferred exercise, you may have even tried a few of these. Fitness for me will not mean the same thing to you so this list does not include everything. If you know of a fitness benchmark that I left out, please let me know!
I am not a competitive person so I don’t care for competing for weight or speed with others. What drives me is being better than I was yesterday. Depending on what season I’m in or what race goal I’m working toward, I take a combination of these tests:
- Yasso 800 To Predict Marathon Time
- Cycling FTP Test
- One Mile Speed Test
- One Hour Tempo Run in Threshold Pace
Obviously there’s multiple ways to see whether you are getting faster and stronger (especially when you go up in weight). However, it’s not so much the test but the actual act of doing it. In fitness, we have to be intentional with what we are doing. While working out is necessary, you can use your workouts to make yourself stronger/faster. These are the reasons why I believe you should take fitness benchmarks.
Reason #1 – See What Your Progress Has Been
This is key because what works for one person doesn’t always work for another. Especially if you are following a specific training plan, it’s good to test at the beginning and at the end of your training block. You can see what progress has been made and mentally keep track of what got you there.
Reason #2 – To Come Back From Injury/Life
There’s points in our lives where we are sidelined due to injury or just life in general. Knowing where we were and where we are know is a huge help. Sure it can be hard getting back into it but you know what your body is capable of so you know where you need to me!
Reason #3 – You’re Stuck In A Plataeu
Sometimes, we get comfortable with our exercise plan that we don’t really realize that we have stopped improving. If you take a fitness benchmark and weeks later you score exactly the same, then you may need to adjust your training. Obviously you haven’t lost any fitness but you may want to tweak a few things so you can continue to keep making progress toward your goal.
Just like everything else in life, you will have your good days and your bad days. I would plan a few fitness benchmarks in your training schedule and make sure you are well rested for them so you can have accurate results!
What’s one way you measure your fitness?
