FitSugar

Take the President's Fitness Challenge Today

FitSugar — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 05:30:00 -0800

When was the last time you took the President's Fitness Challenge? I like home fitness tests, and this is the only test approved by the leader of the western world. We all know that working out is important to Obama, but I wonder if he will update this test while in office. I think one healthy way to celebrate presidents is to take this challenge. Plus, you can see how you stack up against school-age children!

Here are the details of the challenge.

Curl-ups: Lie on back with knees bent and feet about 12 inches from booty. Have partner hold your feet (or put them under your couch). Arms are crossed with hands placed on opposite shoulders and elbows held close to chest. Curl up touching elbows to thighs and then lower the back to the floor so that shoulder blades touch the floor. That's one rep. Count how many reps you can do in 60 seconds.
Measures: Abdominal strength and endurance
Shuttle Run: Mark two parallel lines 30 feet apart and place two blocks of wood or similar object behind one of the lines. Start behind opposite line. Run to the blocks, pick one up, run back to the starting line, place block behind the line, run back and pick up the second block and run back across. Don't forget to time yourself.
Measures: Speed, quickness, and agility

There are three more elements to the challenge so read more.
Endurance Run/Walk: Run or walk a mile as quickly as possible.
Measures: Heart/lung endurance
Pull-ups
Pull-Up: Hang from a horizontal bar at a height the student can hang from with arms fully extended and feet free from floor, using either an overhand grasp (palms facing away from body) or underhand grip (palms facing toward body). Raise body until chin clears the bar and then lower body to full-hang starting position. See how many you can do.
Measures: Upper body strength and endurance
"V" sit: Mark a straight line two feet long on the floor, this is your baseline. Draw a measuring line perpendicular to the midpoint of the baseline extending two feet on each side and marked off in half-inches. The point where the baseline and measuring line intersect is the "0" point. Sit on floor with measuring line between legs and soles of feet placed immediately behind baseline, heels 8-12 inches apart. Clasp thumbs so that hands are together, palms down and places them on measuring line. Reach forward as far as possible (have someone hold your feet if you can), keeping fingers on baseline and feet flexed. Hold for three seconds and that is your distance.
Measures: Flexibility of the lower back and hamstrings

To be presented with the Presidential Fitness Award you need to be in or above the 85th percentile. For a 17-year-old girl, the standards are as follows:

Curl-ups: 44 in 60 seconds
Shuttle run: 10 seconds
One mile run: 8:15
Pull ups: 1
"V" sit: +8

So how did you do?

Presidential Fitness Challenge

FitSugar — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 02:30:00 -0800

When was the last time you took the Presidential Fitness Challenge? I like home fitness tests, this one the only test approved by the leader of the western world. Regardless of how you feel about the man holding the office, take the Presidential Fitness Challenge and see how you stack up against school age children! It is President's Day after all.

Here are the details of the challenge.

Curl ups: Lie on back with knees bent and feet about 12 inches from booty. Have partner hold your feet (or put them under your couch). Arms are crossed with hands placed on opposite shoulders and elbows held close to chest. Curl up touching elbows to thighs and then lower the back to the floor so that shoulder blades touch the floor. That's one rep. Count how many reps you can do in 60 seconds.
Measures: Abdominal strength and endurance
Shuttle Run: Mark two parallel lines 30 feet apart and place two blocks of wood or similar object behind one of the lines. Start behind opposite line. Run to the blocks, pick one up, run back to the starting line, place block behind the line, runs back and picks up the second block and runs back across. Don't forget to time yourself.
Measures: Speed, quickness and agility

There are three more elements to the challenge so read more
Endurance Run/Walk: Run or walk a mile as quickly as possible.
Measures: Heart/lung endurance
Pull-ups
Pull-Up: Hang from a horizontal bar at a height the student can hang from with arms fully extended and feet free from floor, using either an overhand grasp (palms facing away from body) or underhand grip (palms facing toward body). Raise body until chin clears the bar and then lower body to full-hang starting position. See how many you can do.
Measures: Upper body strength and endurance
"V" sit: Mark a straight line two feet long on the floor, this is your baseline. Draw a measuring line perpendicular to the midpoint of the baseline extending two feet on each side and marked off in half-inches. The point where the baseline and measuring line intersect is the "0" point. Sit on floor with measuring line between legs and soles of feet placed immediately behind baseline, heels 8-12" apart. Clasp thumbs so that hands are together, palms down and places them on measuring line. Reach forward as far as possible (have someone hold your feet if you can), keeping fingers on baseline and feet flexed. Hole for three seconds and that is your distance.
Measures: Flexibility of the lower back and hamstrings

To be presented with the Presidential Fitness Award you need to be in or above the 85th percentile. For a 17 year old girl they are as follows:

Curl ups: 44 in 60 seconds
Shuttle run: 10 seconds
One mile run: 8:15
Pull ups: 1
"V" sit: +8

So how did you do?

President's Physical Fitness Test

FitSugar — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 17:15:00 -0700

In preparation for Shaq's Big Challenge season finale tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to join in the fitness games and see how you measure up by taking the, duh duh dum, President's Physical Fitness Test.

You're going to need to time yourself (or have someone else time you). If you don't know how to do any of the moves, download a description here.

The Move	The Challenge	What the Kids Can Do? (ages 10-17)
Curl-Ups	How many did you do in one minute?	Girls: 30-35/Boys: 35-45
1-Mile Run/Walk	How fast did you do it?	Girls: 10-11 mins/Boys: 7-8 mins
Pull-Ups	How many did you do in one minute?	Girls: 1/Boys: 2-8
Push-Ups	How many did you do in one minute?	Girls: 10-16/Boys: 14-37
Shuttle Run	How fast did you do it?	Girls: 11-12 secs/Boys: 9-12 secs
The V-Sit	What mark did you reach?	Girls: 3-5.5 inches/Boys: 0.5-3 inches

Try it out -- If nothing else you'll get a mini workout in the middle of the day. I got 37 curl-ups, 20 push-ups and 11 seconds for the shuttle run! There's not enough space in here to test my skills at the others, but I am pretty sure I'd be getting an A+ in gym class. So what did you get?

Adult Fitness Tests?

FitSugar — Fri, 16 May 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Raise your hand if you received a Presidential Physical Fitness Award in high school. No? Well, don't worry about it. Now an adult fitness test is being introduced by the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, so it's kind of like a second chance. No, you won't get a certificate signed by the President, but you'll be able to see where you rank among people of the same age, which is so much better, right?

The test involves three basic components: aerobic fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility. It was created to inspire people over 18 to keep moving. Hey, I'll support anything that gets people to exercise.

The test includes four parts: a one mile walk or 1.5 mile run, all you can do push-ups, one minute of half sit-ups, and an exercise called the sit-and-stretch, to measure flexibility. All four scores can be entered online, as well as the person's gender, age, height, and weight. The test isn't meant to be a competition, but rather it can allow people to have a baseline to work with. Then they can continue to exercise regularly and measure their level of fitness based on their previous scores. What do you think about this test? Is it something you would do?