February is almost over and so too, possibly, are your new year resolutions and those promises of taking up exercise or doing a bit more to get active. But do not give up yet because the reasons you decided you wanted a change are still valid. Having a good level of fitness and strength is important in ensuring you can keep on doing the things you enjoy. Keeping active, fit and strong is also associated with a reduction in the risk of many conditions such as high blood pressure and depression.

However, before taking up exercise, it’s useful to gauge how fit you actually are and, to help, Dr Stuart Gray, lecturer in exercise and metabolic health at Glasgow University, has collated some simple tests that you can do at home.

Before doing any of these tests, make sure you do a bit of a warm up first and don’t try anything you are not confident with. There’s always the small chance of injury when doing any strenuous exercise and you may want to consult a health professional before doing any of these tests.

Chair rise

For this test all you need is a chair – ideally a dining room/kitchen chair and definitely not a couch or a chair with wheels. You will also need a stopwatch. This test primarily tests the strength, speed and power of your leg muscles.

With your arms folded across your chest, time how long it takes for you to get up and down from the chair 10 times. A good score would be 10 seconds for men under 35, 12 seconds for women under 35, 13 seconds for men 35-55 years, 15 seconds for women aged 35-55 years, 18 seconds for men over 55 years and 19 seconds form women over 55 years.

Press ups

No equipment is needed for this test, which primarily gauges the strength and endurance of your upper body muscles.

There are two different ways you can perform the press ups. If you are just starting (or thinking about starting) to exercise then you may want to do press ups on your knees. If you are able (and willing) then you can do the press ups on your feet. Have a try of both to decide, before you do the test itself.

Begin the test lying face down with your palms flat on the floor next to your shoulders. When you’re ready, you can begin the press up by pushing the body up until your arms are almost straight. Lower yourself back down again until your chin is an inch or two from the floor. Throughout the motion keep your back and tummy nice and straight. Repeat this press up as many times as you can – make sure to keep count – until you can’t manage any more.

A good score for this test would be 28 for men under 35, 20 for women under 35, 19 for men 35-55 years, 17 for women aged 35-55 years, 12 for men over 55 years and 10 for women over 55 years.

Sit ups

All you need for this test is a stopwatch, although you may need a friend to help out. This test primarily tests the strength and endurance of your stomach muscles.

Lie down with your feet flat on the floor and your legs at a right angle. Either ask a friend to hold your feet down for you or tuck your feet under your couch. Fold your arms across your chest and then when you’re ready, keeping your bum on the floor, lift your head and shoulders up as far as you can. Then return to lying flat on the floor. Repeat this sit up as many times as you can in one minute.

A good score for this test would be 44 for men under 35, 39 for women under 35, 38 for men 35-55 years, 28 for women aged 35-55 years, 27 for men over 55 years and 17 for women over 55 years.

Running/jogging

This test involves timing yourself on a one and a half mile run, which primarily tests your aerobic fitness.

You can either use your GPS enabled phone or wearable device to measure the distance of your run or use something like google maps to plan the run in advance.

After warming up, just go out for the run and try to cover the distance as fast as you can. A good time for this test would be 11 minutes for men under 35, 13 minutes for women under 35, 12 minutes for men 35-55 years, 14 minutes for women aged 35-55 years, 13.5 minutes for men over 55 years and 17 minutes for women over 55 years.

You may have scored well on all (or some) of these tests and well done if you have. It may be that you are genetically lucky enough to be naturally fit (good job on choosing your parents wisely) or that you were already very physically active. If so, then these tests can still be a good way to track your changes in fitness, either up (with training) or down (with age), over time.

If you haven’t scored well then all is not lost. We know that scores in all of these tests can be improved by becoming more physically active. The Chief Medical Office recommends that we should undertake muscle strengthening activities on at least two days per week and accumulate 150 minutes of moderately intense physical activity over a week. Here are some ideas to get started.

Walk

Walking boosts the endurance of the lower muscles and is a good place to start. The key to keeping it up is to enjoy it so walking with a friend is one idea; joining a local walking group is another. There are also very good walking apps that will help you get into the habit of walking briskly for 10 minutes every day.

Run

If you’ve not been active for a while, it is best to ease yourself into running by walking first. There are very good couch to 5k podcasts that will guide you through the process by introducing sessions that include running and walking and slowly increase the running and decrease the walking, the aim being to run 5k in nine weeks. A good place to look for a running club near you is jogscotland.org.uk

Cycle

Before beginning make sure your bike is the right size and has been serviced. Try to make it a habit from the start - www.sustrans.org.uk will help you find good and interesting routes. There are also schemes such as www.nextbike.co.uk in Glasgow which allows you to hire bikes in the city for a reasonable fee. Also consider cycling to work.

Do pilates

Pilates is focused on strength and mobility but it improves your general fitness too. It is suitable for all different body types and shapes. In Glasgow, there are regular classes such as vitasanapilates.com which is suitable for all levels including beginners.Dance

The easiest way to get dancing is to find a class in your area - www.dancenearyou.co.uk is a good website to start with. Regular dancing is good for losing weight, maintaining strong bones and there can be a social bonus in meeting new people which is good for your mental health too.

Swim

Most swimming pools offer lessons for complete beginners or those who want to improve. Swimming exercises the whole body and if you keep up a good pace it is an aerobic workout too. www.scottishswimming.com is a good place to start to find a club.

Whichever exercise you take up, make it a habit because that way it will be easier to maintain. Do it the same night every week for example or join a club that meets regularly. You should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week, but it is important if you haven’t exercised for a while to start slowly and increase the intensity as you build your fitness up. Also make sure that you warm up and cool down – a warm-up could be arm swings, leg kicks or lunges; a cool down might be just a couple of minutes walking. Good luck.

For more information and tips on fitness, visit www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/fitness