I am sure that you are anxious to get in the gym and develop the best body of your life, especially as summer approaches. The people who are successful in this world follow through on their goals and follow through with a path of consistency. You need to perform a proper cardio routine at least twice, preferably three times, per week of 20-30 minutes each session. The workout needs to consist of a HIIT routine, which means it needs to be high intensity interval training. Intense sprints is where you burn the most fat. Your resting metabolic rate is spiked long after exercise with HIIT exercise. It will catapult your body into a fat-burning state, increase your VO2 max, and even create an anabolic hormonal environment within your body to actually build more muscle mass. Forget the steady state cardio, you should only do HIIT training.

So with that being said, we want to see how you’ve been progressing with your workouts. We want to see how fit you are. How physically fit are you? What does being physically fit entail? According to Webster’s, it means “Physically sound; healthy”- not very helpful in assessing one’s health. It doesn’t exactly tell us how much weight a man should be able to lift or how fast he should be able to sprint for an extended period of time. This is why we’ve taken matters into our own hands and came up with the Ultimate Fitness Test. This isn’t your average phys ed fitness test of how many situps and pushups you can do in a minute. But according to us, it means a variety of things. You need to have endurance, stamina, upper body strength, lower body strength, power, agility, quickness, explosiveness, hops, flexibility, and one more thing- you need to be smart too. Our definition of being fit entails these 10 tests. Pass this test in its entirety and you can consider yourself a “True Muscle Prodigy”. We know a lot of guys who can bench press a ton, yet they can’t even do a pull up. We also know a lot of guys who can move a ton of weight with their upper body and when it comes to their neglected legs, their physical fitness is embarrassing. We test ALL parts here. See where you stack up and if you don’t measure up to our admittedly high Muscle Prodigy standards right away, we’ve given you the tips and training strategies throughout our website you need so you can get there quickly. Remember, if you can only pass 3 out of the 10 tests, you’ve got a lot of work to do.

Bench 1.5X Your Bodyweight

The bench press isn’t only for bragging rights. The bench press has been a determinant of strength for quite some time now. I’m sure you’ve been asked “How much can you bench?”. Well how much can ya, punk?

The Test: Use a bench-press machine and keep your feet flat on the floor during the entire lift. To get your score, divide the heaviest weight you can lift one time by your body weight. Please make sure you go all the way down, hitting your chest and then exploding up to a lock-out position. Half-ass harry’s don’t count here.

The Scorecard
Less than 1.0: Make sure you can get 50 pushups in a row before you move onto the bench press.
1.0-1.49: Fit
1.5 or more: Muscle Prodigy

15 Dead Hang Pull-Ups

What’s pushing without pulling? The bench press is great for your ego, but the pull-up really is indicative of how strong your upper body is. If you can bench and squat 400 pounds, that’s wonderful, but if you can’t pull up your own bodyweight, you have a lot to learn in the gym. Also, our backs are used much more than our chests in terms of functionality. Nearly every movement you do in terms of life’s demands consists of more pulling than pushing.

The Test: Set up to a pull-up bar. From a dead hang position with your fingers facing away from you, pull your chin up past the bar without using any jumping or momentum. Come back down to a dead hang position and make sure not to pull up before you’re in a complete dead hang position.

The Scorecard
8 pull-ups or less: Stop doing lat-pulldowns and work on your pull-ups.
Between 9 and 14 Pull-Ups: Fit
15+: Muscle Prodigy

Squat 2X Your Bodyweight

When it comes to strength, your lower half is your better half. Your leg and butt muscles are the foundation of your body and are essential for pretty much any activity. If you weigh 180 pounds, you should be able to get under 360 pounds and be able to do a squat under our test. But in terms of the squat, form and range of motion is the most important thing we’re looking for. If you go down halfway then you’ve got twice the distance to go. Too often do we see people put 400 pounds on the bar and lower the bar 2 inches before coming up again. You need to go parallel on this exercise (top of the thighs parallel to the ground). Half ass harry’s serve no purpose here and no weight belts or knee wraps here.

The Test: Step under a bar in a shoulder-width stance so that the bar rests on the back of your traps and rests across your shoulders. Lower the weight until the top of your thighs are bent 90 degrees to the floor, then push the weight back up.

The Scorecard
Less than 1.33: Please devote more time to your leg training.
1.33 to 2: You’re fit but you can definitely do some work
2+: Muscle Prodigy

Deadlift 2.25X Your Bodyweight

The deadlift has been rated as the most indicative exercise of overall strength and the number one muscle builder in the gym. Not only is it like a reverse squat in which you are working your legs, but hundreds of muscles throughout your core and upper body are firing on all cylinders to bring the weight up from this position. No weight belts or straps can be used during this lift. We’re testing your core strength and your grip strength on this one too? What a better grip test than being able to hold onto 450 pounds raw if you weigh 200 pounds.

The Test: Step up to a bar resting on the ground with the bar resting against your shins and your feet in a shoulder-width apart stance. Reach down and grab the bar with both palms facing inward towards you. Keeping the bar as close to your body as possible, pull the weight up to a standing locked-out position. Lower the weight back down slowly.

The Scorecard
Less than 1.5: A shaky foundation. You’ve got a lot to work to do.
1.5 to 2.25: An Average Joe
2.25+: Muscle Prodigy

Run 400 Meters In Under 1 Minute

Whether you’re chasing down a purse snatcher or running to catch the train, a fit man needs to be able to flat out be able to sprint for 60 seconds. If you can cover a quarter mile in 60 seconds, you have the speed and drive you need for just about anything.

The Test: Run as fast as you can one time around a quarter-mile track.

The Scorecard
More than 75 seconds: Work on your basic endurance first and work your way up
60 to 75 seconds: My ex-girlfriend can run faster than you
Less than 60 seconds: Muscle Prodigy

Run 1 Mile in 6 Minutes

We’ve tested your anaerobic capacity in all of the above tests, but we haven’t tested your endurance. This is where those skinny track and field guys have the advantage, but it’s also an indicator of peak aerobic capacity: your body’s ability to deliver oxygen to your working muscles. Any fit athlete needs to be able to break the 6 minute mark to be competitive in any sport. Well, get to it.

The Test: Run 1 mile or 4 times around a quarter mile track as fast as you can.

The Scorecard
7 1/2 minutes or more: Slow
Between 6 and 7 1/2 minutes: You can do better
6 minutes or less: Muscle Prodigy

Hang from the Rim With Two Hands

Touch the rim? No. Grab it with two hands and hang from it. A good vertical leap is a very good tell-tale sign of lower body speed and strength in one quick movement. Genetically, you might be gifted with the height gene and this may be easy for you, but then again, a full range of motion in the weightlifting exercises above were much harder for you. It all balances out if you short guys are complaining.

The Test: With only one step, jump up and reach for the rim with two hands. If you can’t hold on, you’ve got work to do to become a Muscle Prodigy. Remember, you can only take one step (no running from half-court) and you can’t grab on with one hand first and reach up with your second (two hands at once).

The Scorecard
Can’t Touch the Rim?: Start squatting
Touch it, But Can’t Hang On?: Good Try
2 Hand Grab: High Flying Muscle Prodigy

Sprint the 40 in 4.7 Seconds

We’ve tested things like the quarter mile and the mile, but how quick and explosive are you? Any sport requires quick explosive movements and all-out bursts lasting under 5 seconds. No wonder why NFL scouts love the 40.

The Test: Sprint 40 yards as fast as you can on a flat surface.

The Scorecard
5.2 and higher: Losing some fat or working on explosive movements in the gym will get you started.
Between 5.2 and 4.7: Decent, but you’re no NFL cornerback.
4.7 and better: Speedy Muscle Prodigy

Touch Your Toes

No one has to mistake you for a gymnast, but flexibility really does equal fitness. Having flexible muscles will help you in all aspects of sports and as you get older.

The Test: Stand with your feet touching together. Bend over at the waist while keeping your legs completely straight (don’t cheat here by bending your knees), and reach down as far as you can.

The Scorecard
Can’t Touch Your Toes: Start stretching immediately!
Touch Your Toes: Decent, but you’re no Sarah Hughes
Touch the Floor: Flexible Muscle Prodigy

Score a 40 or Better on the Wonderlic Test

What’s brawn, without brain. A true Muscle Prodigy has both and that’s why, rather than taking your word for it that you’re intelligent, we are going to put those brain muscles to the test.

The Test: Take this sample 15 question Wonderlic Test: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/closer/020228test.html

The Scorecard
8 or fewer correct answers: Hit the books man.
9 to 12 correct answers: Better, but again, hit the books.
13 or more correct answers: Muscle Prodigy with brains

PASS ALL 10 TESTS?

Call yourself a True Muscle Prodigy and send your name and your results to my email: Jaret@MuscleProdigy.com and I’ll add you to the list.