Assessing Muscular Fitness
© Mindy Herzog
Muscular strength and muscular endurance are two
important components in assessing your fitness ability.
Muscular fitness is a
health-related component because it improves or maintains the following:
- The
fat-free mass and resting metabolic rate, which is related to weight gain
- Bone
mass, which is related to osteoporosis
- Glucose
tolerance, which is related to type 2 diabetes
- Musculotendinous
integrity, which is related to a lower risk of injury, including low-back
pain
- The
ability to carry out the activities of daily living, which is related to
self-esteem
Muscular
strength refers to the maximal force that can be generated by a specific muscle
or muscle group. It is most commonly tested by a 1-RM, which is a one repetition
max. The idea is that you calculate and lift the maximal amount you can in one
setting. I Do Not recommend you try this test at home without supervision. This
test is best reserved for the fitness setting. I can give you some guidelines on
determining the appropriate amount of weight to lift for weight training.
Typically the 1-RM is used to determine your starting weight.
In
determining your starting weight you must first find a weight that you know you
can lift repeatedly without complication. Then add 5-10 pounds. The idea of
weight training is to completely fatigue your muscle group by the end of the
set. You should first start with one set and 8-15 repetitions. If you are
wanting to build bulk you should do less reps and if you are just interested in
health benefits or toning you should go with higher reps. Regardless of the
number of repetitions (number of times you lift the weights in one set) you
should find that the last one is very difficult to complete. If so, you are
fatiguing your muscles and building strength appropriately.
Muscular
Endurance
Muscular Endurance is the ability of a muscle group to execute repeated
contractions over a period of time sufficient to cause muscular fatigue, or to
maintain a specific percentage of the maximum voluntary contraction for a
prolonged period of time.
One
common test is the push-up test.
Push-Up
Males complete push-ups in the full position, feet and hands on the ground;
females perform the push-up in the modified position with the knees on the
ground. The purpose of the test is to complete as many push-ups as possible,
