Evaluating Muscular Strength

To evaluate the strength of your muscles accurately, each muscle or interrelated muscle group needs to be tested separately.

If you are planning to start a strength training (resistance exercise) program, then you should begin with some introductory sessions with a personal trainer. To evaluate your initial strength, trainers employ the one repetition maximum method. It is adding slight increments to each lifting exercise, until you determine the most weight you can lift in a single effort.

The following push-up self-test will give a estimation of your upper-body strength.

• Position yourself on the floor with your arms extended and hands flat on the floor. If you are a man, your legs should be straight behind you, with your weight balanced on your hands and feet. If you are a woman, bend your knees slightly until they touch the ground, so your weight is balanced on your hands and knees.
• Lower your chest until it touches the floor, then push back up, exhaling as you do. Fully straighten your arms at the end of each push-up.
• Do as many push-ups as you can, counting as you go, until you need to stop and rest.