Ep 726 | A Realistic Standard for Physical Capability

Thank you for joining me today. It's Brian Gubernick, and welcome to the No Days Off podcast, where we believe that every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. Every single month, at the end of the month, I put out a newsletter that arrives in your email inbox. It's called Relentless Forward Progress, and if you're not subscribing to it make sure you go down below to the show notes and, and subscribe. I talk about what's going on in my world, what I'm trying, what's working, what's not, and maybe it gives you some ideas, things that you could, you can apply in, in your world. Now, I'm mentioning it here today because in my most recent newsletter, I talked around physical capability and this social media post that I came across that, that discussed kind of a, I guess it's a physical challenge of sorts, which I'm always a sucker for. But the post reminded me of something that I've spent a lot of time thinking about as I've been, you know, getting older and I've been more intentional about health. It reminded me of Dr. Peter Attia's idea of the Centenarian Decathlon. And that's the concept that we shouldn't train to to just look good, but, but to maintain our physical capabilities that we'll need later in life. The post listed out physical tests that every man should be able to pass, but that most can't. And I want to talk about those 12 physical tests that showed up in this post. And we're also going to talk about how it applies, of course, to women, because while the post I'm referring to only talked about tests for every man, I I think we could take these same tests and apply them to the women of the No Days Off Nation as well. So as I mentioned, the post was titled, "The 12 Physical Tests That Every Man Should Be Able to Pass, But Most Can't." And I really like the list and I'm gonna go through it. I'm gonna explain why I think every one of these matters, okay? So take notes, maybe think if you can pass this particular activity or, or, or test, or you can't. And if you can't, awesome, now we're aware, and maybe it gives you a good idea as to what you can train for this year in, in 2026. So the first thing on the list was run a mile under 8 minutes. Run a mile under 8 minutes. Now, this is about basic cardiovascular fitness. I think it's about the ability to maintain or sustain moderate effort without fatiguing. So every man should be able to run a mile under 8 minutes. I do agree with that. And you know what, I would not change that number for, for females. I think that that number of 8 minutes is a, is a very fair target for all of us. The next on the list was a 400-meter run under a minute and 30 seconds. Now, 400-meter run, one time around a track. This tests your ability to move fast under stress, and I think that matters more than just endurance alone. So 400 meters under 1 minute and 30 seconds for men, and I think because of the sprint nature to this, 1:30 is still a very fair number for, for females, though I think 1:45 is also incredibly respectable. The next was bench press your body weight. Bench press your body weight. So I weigh 170 pounds, I'd have to bench press 170 pounds. Now this represents upper body strength, functional upper body pushing strength. And I think this is important for daily tasks like lifting and embracing. So men, Bench press your body weight. Women, I would say you're bench pressing 0.75, call it 75% of your body weight. Of course, I believe our women are just as strong as anybody else, but there is some science to this, of course. Men are capable of building greater muscle than females for a variety of reasons. I'm not the scientist here, but I think it's something we're all aware of, and I think this is one where I would bring it to about 75% of your body weight for females. Now, as I share that, it's— I'm not just saying it as somebody that likes to work out a lot. As many of you probably do not know, I did participate, I was very active in the health space as I owned a CrossFit gym for about a decade. So I have a lot of experience in training and working with people and varying degrees of strength. So number 3 was bench press your body weight. Number 4, deadlift 1.5 times your body weight. 1.5 times your body weight. So I weigh 170, 1.5 times would be what, uh, 255 for me. Now this is foundational strength. This is for picking things up safely, protecting your back. Women, I'd go with 1.25x my body weight. Number 5, squat your body weight. Again, if I weigh 170, I'm squatting 170. This reflects lower body strength necessary for standing up, for sitting down. I think it's a good indicator for just your lower body strength altogether. And for women, I actually think you keep this at your body weight as well. I, I don't adjust this. While I adjust bench press and upper body strength and I slightly adjust deadlift, I probably am not adjusting the squat. I should be able to squat my body weight. The next one on the list, 10 consecutive pull-ups. Now this tests your relative strength and grip, and then these are two things that really decline with age, especially if you ignore them. So 10 consecutive pull-ups for men. Women, I believe that number should be at least 5. Some of you may wanna scale it up to 10, but I think 5 consecutive dead hang pull-ups, not with momentum, would be a great target. Next is 30 consecutive push-ups. Now this is, sure, it's about upper body strength again, but it brings endurance into the equation. It's not just raw strength. It requires control of your core. So 30 consecutive push-ups for men, and I'd go with 20 for women. Next on the list, this would be number— what would this be? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. This is number 8. Number 8 on the list, hold a 2-minute plank. Men and women, hold a 2-minute plank. This is about core stability. It's about the ability to transfer force safely through, through the body. Okay, so hold a 2-minute plank. Number 9, hang from a pull-up bar for 1 minute. Hang from a pull-up bar for 1 minute. Grip strength, again, is one of the strongest predictors of longevity. It's one of the strongest predictors of overall health. So hang from a pull-up bar for 1 minute. And I would keep that 1 minute for both sexes, though I was doing a little bit more research and I had read a few different places where maybe you'd adjust it to 45 seconds for females. But I think in my experience, I've seen many women hang for significantly longer than most men. So hang from a pull-up bar for 1 minute. Number 10, touch your toes without bending your knees. Now this is about baseline mobility and movement, not necessarily about flexibility for flexibility's sake. Touch your toes without bending your knees. And for women, absolutely touch your toes without bending your knees. I would go one step further and say maybe even get more of my hand around my toe. Next, Carry your body weight 50 meters in a farmer's walk. Now, if you don't know what a farmer's walk is, think about holding luggage in each hand, right? So you're holding luggage, like say a suitcase in your right hand, a suitcase in your left hand, and now you're walking. That would be a farmer's walk. The farmer's walk mimics real-world demands like carrying groceries or luggage or awkward loads, whatever it may be. So carry your body weight 50 meters. And for females, I would probably make this 75% of body weight, though I'm sure many of you could carry your body weight. So for me, I would be carrying, again, I weigh 170, I'd have 85 in left and 85 in right. It's a lot of weight. And you gotta carry it 50 meters. And then lastly, number 12, perform 10 full burpees without resting. 10 full burpees. I don't know how to describe a burpee, so you might have to just go on YouTube and look that up if you're unfamiliar with it, but I think most of you probably are. And I love the burpee because it's a combination of strength and coordination and conditioning under fatigue, and I think it's just a good comprehensive exercise. So perform 10 full burpees without resting, men and women. Now, when I read this list, my reaction wasn't about intimidation. I thought it really felt reasonable. It didn't feel easy, but it felt reasonable. Candidly, I can pass this test today. So, for me, I'm going to change some of these numbers up and test myself and set some goals around them this coming year. Again, if you are unable to do some or all of these, That's great too. Now you have awareness and you could train specifically. I think it's a really great comprehensive list. I think it works because it doesn't test anything that's what I would call exotic. It just tests whether you can move your body through space, whether you can handle your own weight. It tests whether you can generate and control force. And I think it tests endurance to some, uh, some component and, and recovery. Specifically when things get a little uncomfortable. I don't think these are gym goals. To me, these are life goals, life skills. And it's not about trying to be impressive. To me, it's about not being fragile. So use this as a diagnostic. Pick maybe 2 or 3 areas where, where you're behind. Give yourself some runway and then start to build. I think 6 to 12 months is plenty of time to change your physical trajectory if you're pretty consistent with your training. Again, train for capability here, not for comparison or anything like that. Train so your body supports the life that you want to in fact live. We talk so much here about mindset and discipline and resilience, but none of that stuff matters if you can't move your body such that it could carry you through life, the life that, that you're striving to build. That's all I have for you today, the No Days Off Podcast. Thank you so much for listening, and remember, every single day brings a new opportunity to get better. So let's get after it.