In this YouTube monologue, fitness coach Eric Roberts presents ten functional fitness tests that he has derived from coaching over 25,000 clients. The tests are intended for the average fit person—not elite athletes—and are presented with gender‑specific performance thresholds, scientific citations, and practical coaching cues. The list includes: (1) a 60‑second plank to assess core endurance; (2) a deadlift of one’s body weight to gauge full‑body strength, neuromuscular coordination, and grip; (3) a bench‑press target (half body weight for women, full body weight for men); (4) a sub‑13‑minute mile run to evaluate aerobic capacity; (5) a full‑range squat (parallel or deeper) to test mobility and core stability; (6) push‑ups in one minute (≥20 for men, ≥10 for women) linked to cardiovascular health; (7) climbing four flights of stairs in under 60 seconds to measure cardio‑strength integration; (8) a sit‑to‑stand from the floor without hands, a strong predictor of mortality; (9) grip‑strength holds (≥100 lb total for men, ≥70 lb for women) tied to longevity and cognitive health; and (10) a final “effort” test that simply asks whether the viewer is consistently working out, noting that only ~10 % of Americans attend the gym more than twice weekly. Throughout, Roberts cites studies (e.g., 2019 push‑up study, 12‑year sit‑to‑stand study, 140,000‑person grip‑strength study) to justify each metric. He also provides actionable advice—mobility drills, progressive push‑up variations, grip‑strength tools—and promotes his free calorie calculator and an 8‑week fat‑loss coaching program. The video’s purpose is to give viewers concrete, evidence‑based benchmarks for functional fitness and to motivate them to seek structured coaching if needed.
Chapters
If you call yourself fit, you should be able to do at least 7 of these 10 tests, and the last one is by far the best. These are tests I've created after coaching over 25,000 clients with their fitness, and these are tests the average fit person should be able to do, not bodybuilders or elite athletes. Let's start with test 1. Hold a plank for at least 60 seconds. The problem most people make with their core training is they train their abs to look good, but what most skip is training for endurance to prevent injuries. It's like building a mansion out of Styrofoam. It might look good, but eventually it's gonna fall apart. If you can't brace your core and hold your spine in place for at least 60 seconds. You're not going to be able to brace your core on rep 5 of a heavy deadlift or after 3 hours of doing yard work or cleaning. And that's when you end up injuring yourself. And if you can go above 2 minutes for a plank, you're putting yourself in a pretty elite fitness category. Which leads me to the second test: deadlift your current body weight. And the reason this is such a great test is because it not only displays your strength physically, but it also displays your body and brain's ability to control your body weight. The deadlift is a full body movement. Most people think it's just your legs. No, your core has to work, your lats and your back have to work, and your brain has to neurologically make sure all these muscles are firing at the same time to be able to lift this weight. Not to mention the grip strength that you need to be able to deadlift your body weight, which— hint— your grip strength is really important. We'll talk about that later. So if you can do this, that puts you at a great fitness level. And when you start deadlifting 1.5, 2, 2 times your body weight, that's getting you into the elite category. And by the way, this can be done with a regular barbell Or it can be a trap bar deadlift as well. And speaking of strength, that puts me on the next test, which is being able to bench press half of your body weight. Now, there's a caveat with this one because this is going to be different for men versus women. Typically, the bench press is much harder for women based on total body mass, where muscle mass is distributed, and just overall strength levels. So for women, bench pressing half your body weight is an amazing test and goal to shoot for. But for men, bench pressing at least your current body weight is a great goal to shoot for. Now, if you are 50, 60, 70 pounds overweight, which a lot of the population is overweight, you may need to drop some weight to be able to get to that bench press number. And that's okay. That's perfect. You can do that. If you need to know how many calories you should be eating to drop fat, you can click the link in the description of the video below to get my totally free calorie calculator. Now, this next test, some people will crush and some people will really struggle— being able to run a mile in under 13 minutes without stopping. The average American can complete a mile in under 15 minutes, but it's usually a mix of running and walking, which isn't inherently bad, but this is because most people's aerobic capacity— all that means is your heart and body's ability to use oxygen— isn't where it needs to be, so they need to take breaks throughout. It's like a car engine needing to stop when the RPMs get too high. If you upgrade to a V10 engine, your car and RPMs are going to be able to run higher without needing a break. So shoot for working your way up to run that mile continuously in under 13 minutes. This will be a great test for your heart, lungs, and physically your body being able to support you for a continued period of time. And speaking of being able to physically support your body weight leads me to the next test. Be able to get a full range of motion in your squats. And now you might be wondering, why didn't I pick a certain strength goal for your squats like I did for deadlift and bench press? Well, after coaching over 25,000 clients, the issue most people have isn't actually loading weight onto a squat bar. It's actually having the mobility and strength to get a full proper range of motion where you're getting at least parallel. Squat. And what stops most people is their ankle mobility, their hip mobility, or their core strength from allowing them to access that full range of motion. And if you can't get a full range of motion squat with no weight, you damn sure probably shouldn't be loading up a ton of weight and trying to do it. That is one of the best ways to go injure yourself. So you should take a video of your form And at the bottom of a squat, your hips and your knees should be in line with each other like you see right here. If they aren't, you need to work on ankle mobility, hip mobility, and core strength. Then you can have fun adding some weight. And that leads me to the next test. Be able to do X amount of pushups in under 1 minute. And again, I say X amount because this will depend on men versus women. I've personally coached a lot of ladies. who have gotten their first push-up and they feel stoked, as they should be. Whereas most men, we can come out of the womb and pretty much do push-ups. And before I tell you an exact number that you should be shooting for, just know there was a study done in 2019 that showed men who could do 40+ push-ups had a 96% decrease in cardiovascular health-related events over the next 10 years compared to men who could only do less than 10 push-ups. So for men, your goal should be to get more than 20 push-ups in under 1 minute. For women, your goal should be to get more than 10 push-ups in under 1 minute. And if you can't do this right now, a great way to practice and build strength is to do hand-elevated push-ups. So you will stay on your toes, but you'll elevate your hands to a box, a bench, your kitchen counter, and slowly work your elevation down. So if you start at your kitchen counter, move to your couch, and then move to a bed, move to a box, and then eventually you will get to the floor doing push-ups. Now the next one is sneaky, and it's going to trip a lot of people up. Be able to climb 4 flights of stairs in under 60 seconds without getting out of breath. And it's so interesting to see people who can squat heavy, deadlift heavy, do push-ups, but when it comes to going upstairs, they get out of breath. Having strength is great, but having cardiovascular endurance to support your strength and body weight is even better. It's like owning a yacht but not having any fuel to take it anywhere. So you should be able to climb 4 flights of stairs, get to the top, and still hold a normal conversation. This is a great sign that your heart is healthy, your cardiovascular endurance is healthy, and you're able to support your body weight through movement without it super taxing. And speaking of supporting your own body weight, this next test will be the best test to do that. Getting up and off the ground without struggle. Specifically, sit on the floor and get back up without using your hands or knees. In a 12-year study of over 4,000 people, the people who could do this test had a 3.7% chance of dying. The people who couldn't do this test and needed help, they had a 42% higher chance. Of dying. And this test is so great because it measures your leg strength, your hip and ankle mobility, your core strength, your balance, and quite frankly, how much of you there is to lift off the ground. Because if you're trying to lift 300 pounds off the ground versus 150 pounds, those are 2 different things. And again, it's great to be strong, in a squat or a deadlift. But why would you not want or need functional strength to go along with that? If you're a parent playing with your kid on the ground, you want to be able to get up and down. If you are someone who's over 50 and you have to do housework or yard work or go to the grocery store and pick stuff up off the ground, you need to be able to be in full control of your body to live the highest quality life that you can. Which is exactly what this next test is going to be, it is the best indicator of how long you will live and the quality of your life that you will live, which is your grip strength. And before I tell you the exact number, in a study of over 140,000 people, every 11 pounds of grip strength that you lose increases your risk of dying by 16%. That's how much of a correlation grip strength has to your longevity. Why? Well, this not only tests your physical strength but your nervous system and your neurological strength as well. And especially with age, neurological drive declines, and it declines even faster with things like sarcopenia, which is muscle loss, or poor sleep, or inflammation, high cortisol, etc. And this is why decreased grip strength is also linked to dementia and other cognitive So what are the tests? Again, this will depend between men and women, but for men, you should be able to hold at least 100 pounds, which is 50 pounds in each hand, for at least 30 seconds. And for women, you should be able to hold at least 70 pounds, 35-pound dumbbells in each hand, for at least 30 seconds. And there may even be some more benefits to going heavier for a shorter amount of time. So let's say for men holding 200 pounds for 5 to 10 seconds, or women holding 150 pounds for 5 to 10 seconds. And now I said the final test was the most important one. So here it is. But before I give you the exact test, I want to give you a stat. Did you know that only 25% of Americans have a gym membership? And of those 25%, only 40% go more than 2 times So that means in total, only 10% of Americans have a gym membership and go more than twice a week. So the next time you walk into a room, you can look at 10 people and say only one of them goes to the gym more than twice a week. And so the final test is, if you're doing anything to improve your fitness, you are likely in the top 10% of entire America, because quite frankly, most people aren't even trying. So if you are, Kudos to you. You should be incredibly proud of yourself. And in my book, you're absolutely crushing it. Even if you didn't do any of these other tests, the fact that you're trying to improve tells me all I need to know, and you have my respect. And quite frankly, it's why I love coaching clients so much and why I love what we've built with our coaching program, because anybody who's trying to better themselves and you're trying to work on it, you're putting in effort. That's all you could ask of yourself, or I could ask of you as a coach. And I think you should probably give yourself more credit than what you've been giving yourself because you're probably doing way better than you think. And if you want help passing all of these tests and getting a personalized workout and nutrition plan built for you, plus having a dedicated coach to check in and actually hold you accountable so you stick with it, you can click the link in the description of this video below to learn more about how to work with our team in my 8-week fat loss challenge. We take out all the guesswork and make sure you stay on track, because that's the reason only 10% of Americans are going to the gym more than twice a week. Most people just can't stick with it even though they know what to do. And if you're now thinking, okay, I'm on the right track, I'm passing some of these tests, but I want to speed up my progress and see even more results— awesome! I did a video on exactly what you need to do to lose fat and build muscle at the same time. You can click here and watch that video coming up next.
