Where you stand
Nobody ever tells you where you stand.
Most men your age are guessing. You do not have to. You get told to move more, or handed a workout built for a 25 year old, and neither one answers the only question that matters: how am I doing, really?
The four rungs
A standard is only useful if you can find yourself on it.
Four rungs. You are on one of them today, and knowing which one is the whole point.
Foundation
Starting from scratch, or coming back after years away. Nothing here should hurt.
Working
Training consistently. This is where most men land, and it is a respectable place to be.
Strong
Noticeably stronger than your peers. Years of work, visible in how you move.
Standard
The bar this whole thing is named after. Rare at any age. Rarer past fifty.
The eleven tests
Four things a body has to do.
Every test has a number you either hit or you do not. Your level is the lowest rung you hold across all eleven, because the standard is only as good as the weakest link.
Strength
Can you produce force, and control it?
- 01Push-up
- 02Pull-up
- 03Squat
- 04Kettlebell swing
- 05Turkish get-up
- 06Loaded carry
Control
Can you hold a position, and stay on your feet?
- 07Hollow hold
- 08Single-leg stand
Mobility
Can you get into the position in the first place?
- 09Deep squat hold
- 10Overhead reach
Engine
Can you keep going?
- 11Conditioning
Try one
Twenty seconds is longer than you think.
Standing on one leg with your eyes closed for twenty seconds is the top rung of the balance test. Hold the button and feel how long that actually is. Let go whenever you want.
This is the cheapest test on the whole list and the one worth taking most seriously. How long you can stand on one leg tracks closely with how the next twenty years go, and unlike most of this page, it improves in weeks.
- Start
- 10s, Working
- 20s, Standard
The honest bit
This is not trainer advice.
Nobody here is a trainer or a physiotherapist. Five hundred push-ups a morning and no comfortable deep squat is a completely normal combination. Strength and mobility are different jobs, and both get tested.
Calisthenics
Push-up volume. Six sets of fifty, then two hundred Mike Tyson push-ups.
Mobility
Pilates three times a week, for flexibility.
Strength
Weights twice a week. Chest, shoulders, curls, squats.
Conditioning
Heavy bag twice a week, three rounds of three minutes.
Before you ask
The five questions everybody has.
Am I too old to start?
No. Muscle responds to training in your fifties, your sixties and your seventies. What changes is recovery, not capacity. That is why the rungs exist: you start where you are instead of where a 25 year old starts.
What if I hurt myself?
That fear is the right instinct, and it is why every test has a Foundation rung that should not hurt. Start a rung below where you think you belong. Swings and loaded carries are the two that punish ego fastest.
Do I need a gym?
No. Nine of the eleven tests need nothing but your own body and a floor. Two want a kettlebell and a bar to hang from. A doorway bar and one bell cover the whole list.
How long does testing take?
One session, about forty minutes, done rested. Then you retest every eight weeks. Not weekly, because weekly you are measuring noise.
I have never trained properly. Is this for me?
Yes, and Foundation was written for exactly you. Ten sit-to-stands from a chair and a thirty second dead hang is a real starting point, not a consolation prize.
What else is here
Two more things worth your time.
The channel
Every test is being filmed, one at a time.
What a Foundation push-up looks like next to a Standard one. The two mistakes that cost people a rung. Retest days, eight weeks apart, with the numbers on screen. Subscribe and the first one lands in your feed.
The list
Get told when the first book lands.
Five books are in production. Put your address in and you get one email when each one is ready, and not a single thing besides.
The card
Get the standards card.
All eleven tests, all four rungs, every number, on one page you can print and take with you. No email, no signup. Here it is.
Open the standards card Read the eleven tests
Print it, or keep it open on your phone while you test.