What's Your Fitness Age?

Are you as fit as you should be? Working out will not only tone your bod but also boost your health in the long term. Take our test to evaluate your fitness, strength and flexibility.

- Gillian Harvey

1. How often do you work out for 30 minutes or more?

a. Less than 3 x per week

b. 3–4 x per week

c. 5 x per week or more

2. Calculate your waist to hip ratio by measuring the narrowest point of your waist and dividing it by the widest point of your hips.

a. 0.85 or over

b. 0.76–0.84

c. 0.76 or below

3. First thing in the morning, before you get out of bed, take your pulse and write down the number of beats per minute. this will give you your resting heart rate.

a. Above 75

b. 70–75

c. 69 or below

4. Deduct your age from 220. this should give you your maximum heart rate. Perform 5 minutes of cardio exercise – jog on the spot, skip or use an exercise bike. take your pulse to find your post-exercise heart rate, then work out how close this is to your maximum. 

CALCULATION: 100/ [maximum heart rate] x [post-exercise heart rate]

a. 70% and over

b. 60-70%

c. Below 60%

5. After a further 2-minute rest, measure your heart rate again. Deduct this figure from your post exercise rate.

a. 21 or less

b. 22-52

c. 53+