Sure, you’re a seasoned gym goer. You have been training for a good number of years, you know how to plan your workouts, calculate your macros and people in the gym look to you for advice. You’re well respected, it feels good.
How fit and strong are you though, really? Maybe you already like to test yourself with some well-known fitness tests (keep reading anyway if you do, you might not have done these), maybe you have never had the thought to. Chances are though, if you are anything like me, then you are always looking for that next challenge so you can add it to your gym resume.
So, how many of the following can you do?
Bench press your bodyweight
Shock. I know. Whether your training style is bodybuilding or not, the bench press is a true test of upper body strength and power.
Many people think that the bench press is a simple lift, and they are half right. You lower the bar to your chest and press it back up right? Well, yeah, kind of. The bench press is quite a technical lift. It isn’t an Olympic lift for nothing after all.
Don’t worry if you can’t bench your bodyweight, I have some tips to help you get there. Firstly, make sure that you get your grip right. I see some people benching far too narrow or far too wide, it’s a miracle they still have functioning wrists. Your grip wants to allow your joints to be aligned. Your wrist should be directly above your elbow, positioning like this allows you to use maximum force throughout the movement. Also, make sure you aren’t over doing it on other exercises, too much isn’t always better. Don’t overdo other pressing movements like incline presses or dumbbell shoulder presses. In fact, the only two other movements I would master to help your flat bench press would be strict military presses and heavy dips.
Deadlifting twice your bodyweight
The heading should actually say ‘Deadlifting twice your bodyweight with perfect form’ as attempting to pull twice your bodyweight off the floor with a rounded back or ‘loose’ hips can be quite dangerous and lead to injuries that will keep you out the gym for a while. For this reason, make sure you can deadlift with perfect form before giving it a go.
This test, although sounding very simple, can take quite some time for lifters to perform. Often, if you want to get good at something, you do it more often right? Practice makes perfect after all. Well, the same isn’t exactly true for deadlifting. It's an incredibly taxing move on your body, so I would deadlift heavy more than once a week. The good thing is that you can get stronger on your deadlift, without actually deadlifting. Focus on getting stronger in lifts that activate your glutes, hamstrings, lats and grip. Over time you’ll notice your deadlift numbers going up after only really training it once a week.
10 strict pull ups
Another great show of strength is the pull up. Although considered very simple, not many people can actually perform a solid straight set of 10 strict pull ups with just their own bodyweight.
When I talk about strict, I mean you start from a dead hang position, pull yourself up so your chin is above the bar, pause 1 second, then lower yourself down to a dead hang position and repeat, 10 times. Keep your core tight and your legs either fully straight of bent at the knee.
Once you can perform 10 strict pull ups like this, I guarantee you your upper body pulling strength will be improved.
10 perfect pushups
Most people believe it or not, perform push ups incorrectly. Their hips will sag during the extension of the arms on the way up, elbows will flare and there is usually some kind of rotation from the shoulder joint.
To perform a perfect push up, your chest should lightly touch the floor and your elbows will be fully locked out at the top before starting another rep. Lower yourself in a controlled manner and explode back up.
Pushups are also a great way to warm up before an upper body workout and also to increase blood flow at the end of a workout.
How many of these 4 can you master? If you haven’t given them a go, it's time to test yourself.
