3 KPIs for Assessing Overall Health & Fitness
Fitness testing has long been used as an effective practice by coaches working with athletes across all levels of amateur and professional sport. This concept however, is rarely used by the everyday person who exercises to look good, feel great and perform better.
Utilising physical performance goals can be a great way to drive greater training engagement, since they provide specific, measurable targets to work towards.
In fact, many people I have worked with over the past few years have ended up improving their fitness and body composition as a by-product of increasing their physical capacity.
The three KPIs listed below aim to provide valuable information for the quantifiable assessment of an individual’s overall health, fitness and performance.
Based on how you measure up, you can then use this data to decide how to prioritise your fitness goals.
1. Resting Heart Rate
Resting Heart Rate (RHR) is a good general marker of overall fitness. As your aerobic fitness improves, your ability to mitigate against inflammation improves with it, and studies have shown that lowering RHR by 10 beats per minute can even reduce risk of mortality by 16%.
Measuring your RHR can be done by checking your pulse at rest for 60 seconds, or - more accurately - by using a wearable fitness device.
Since age, gender and ethnicity can all have an effect on RHR readings, the table shown below aims to give a fair view of what would be appropriate RHR standards for men and women of all ages.
Although the average RHR for most adults can generally fall from anywhere between 60-100 beats per minute, most people should still aim to get their RHR down to 60bpm or below for optimal health and fitness.
2. 2 Mile Assault Bike Maximal Aerobic Speed Test
Maximal Aerobic Speed (MAS) is used to measure the fastest pace someone can reach and maintain over a specific time period.
It is often calculated by performing a time trial between 5-6 minutes, either as a set time, or over a set distance; 5-6 minutes has been found to be an appropriate method of evaluating MAS, as it has shown a strong correlation to laboratory V02 max testing.
The 2 mile assault bike time trial is a great tool to test MAS across a wide population, since many people will finish it within the region of 5-6 minutes, without being limited by technique and/or impact.
The MAS result is recorded by the time taken to complete the test as well as the average RPM number.
The average RPM is particularly important because it facilitates the appropriate programming of speeds for future assault bike interval sessions.
Since an adult male holds a higher VO2 max value in comparison to an adult female, a well-conditioned male should be able to complete a 2 mile assault bike ride in under 5 minutes, whilst a female should strive to complete this test in under 5 minutes 30 seconds.
3. 30 Second Trap Bar Farmers Carry
Research continues to link a decline in grip strength to a range of adverse health issues, including heart disease, arthritis, osteoporosis, type 2 diabetes and even cancer in some cases.
In fact, one study, which tracked 140,000 participants across 17 countries over 6 years, found that grip strength was a stronger predictor of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality than systolic blood pressure.
Since blood pressure has been the long-standing measure of cardiovascular disease risk, these results demonstrate a clear acknowledgement from the medical community that the benefits of strength training cannot be understated.
It is not the grip itself that is the proposed mechanism for improving health outcomes, but rather that grip strength is a signifier of overall vitality and resilience.
A natural by-product of weight training is that grip strength will improve as a result of getting stronger.
For measures of grip strength (as well as full body strength), the 30 second trap bar farmers carry is an easily accessible and quantifiable assessment. The table below aims to provide some metrics of performance for a variety of populations.
As a minimum, most physically capable adults should aim to carry the equivalent of their bodyweight for 30 seconds. However, for peak health and performance, both men and women should strive towards being able to carry 150% of their bodyweight for 30 seconds.
Depending on your current fitness level, you may well already be able to surpass some of these performance standards. However for others, this might not be the case.
Therefore, to give you an idea as to how long it could take to reach each of these metrics, I have outlined a brief summary below:
Average standards should be met within a few months of a somewhat regular training routine.
It could take anywhere from 1-2 years of a structured training programme that progresses both strength and aerobic capacity to meet the ideal standards for all three assessments.
Meeting the excellent performance level for these assessments is not necessary for everyone, but for those who like to challenge themselves, be prepared to accept that it could take 3+ years of progressive strength training and energy systems work to get there.
