Strength The Armour
Can your body actually handle life? This is strength testing without ego, guesswork, or spotters. No 1-rep max. No 3-rep max. Just honest, repeatable work you can do safely on your own. You’ve got two routes: One you can take anywhere using just your bodyweight. And one for when you’ve got access to a barbell, dumbbells, or a garage setup—built around simple, solid 8-rep strength. Same mission. Different tools. Build a body that’s ready for the real world.
Muscle-strengthening activity involving major muscle groups is recommended on 2 or more days each week, alongside aerobic work. Strength matters for health, function, independence and resilience, not just for looking like you eat barbells for breakfast.1,2 This is not about pretending to be a powerlifter for one daft afternoon. It is about useful strength, repeatable testing and honest numbers you can come back to.
Why strength matters
Strength training is a core component of recognised physical activity guidance as it supports long-term function, movement quality and independence. Allowing you to stay capable as you age.
Carrying shopping, getting off the floor, handling hills, kids, bikes, skis, surf gear or just not feeling flimsy all rely on useful strength.
A stronger body usually gives you more training options, better robustness and more confidence in the real world.
In CPF terms, strength is not macho nonsense. It’s about being harder to break, easier to rely on, and genuinely useful when it counts.
What makes this different
Most strength pages either assume everyone has a full gym, or they stop at a token bodyweight test. This page does both paths properly.
The CPF approach also links human health to planetary health. Walking places, training outside, using minimal equipment when appropriate and building a body that works well in the real world can support both personal wellbeing and lower-impact lifestyle choices. WHO notes that physical activity can be done at any skill level and includes active recreation, work and everyday movement, not just formal sport.3
In plain English: a stronger, more capable human is often better placed to live actively, move more under their own steam and enjoy the real world properly.
Choose your strength path
Pick the route that fits your setup. Both are valid. Both count.
Bodyweight strength
Uses 1-minute push-up, squat and sit-up tests alongside dead hang and pull-ups or inverted rows. The 1-minute tests are scored against widely used normative tables.
Weighted strength
Uses the weight that feels properly challenging for 8 good reps on squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press, plus a deadhang or pull-up / row metric.
Bodyweight tests
1-minute push-up test
Count technically sound reps in 60 seconds. Score against age and sex norms.
1-minute squat test
Count controlled bodyweight squats in 60 seconds using consistent depth. Score against age and sex norms.
1-minute sit-up test
Count technically sound sit-ups in 60 seconds. Score against age and sex norms.
Dead hang
CPF field benchmark for grip and shoulder endurance. Hang under control for as long as possible.
Pull-ups or inverted rows
CPF field benchmark for upper-body pulling strength. Count only good reps.
Weighted tests
8-rep squat
Use the load that feels properly challenging for 8 good reps with sound technique.
8-rep deadlift
Use the weight you can lift for 8 strong, controlled reps, not a grindy circus rep.
8-rep bench press
Use the weight you can manage for 8 solid reps with proper control.
8-rep overhead press
Use the load you can press for 8 good reps without turning into a banana.
Dead hang or pull-ups / row
Add one upper-body pulling or grip metric to round things out.
Bodyweight protocol summary
- Warm up for 5 to 10 minutes.
- Complete a 1-minute push-up test and count only good reps.
- Rest 1 to 2 minutes.
- Complete a 1-minute squat test using consistent depth.
- Rest 1 to 2 minutes.
- Complete a 1-minute sit-up test with clean technique.
- Then test dead hang time.
- Then test pull-ups or inverted rows for good reps.
Weighted protocol summary
- Warm up thoroughly.
- For each lift, choose a load that is tough but manageable for 8 good reps.
- Reps should look controlled, not wild.
- Record the weight used for squat, deadlift, bench press and overhead press.
- Then record either dead hang time or pull-ups / inverted rows.
- Use the same method next time so results are genuinely comparable.
This is a CPF coaching standard, not a max-lift competition. It is deliberately more achievable and repeatable than 1RM testing.
Free CPF strength calculator
Choose one strength path. The calculator uses that route only.
Bodyweight path
The 1-minute push-up, squat and sit-up tests are scored against age and sex norms. Dead hang and pull-up / row are CPF field metrics.
Weighted path
Use the weight that feels properly challenging for 8 good reps. This is a practical CPF coaching standard, not a max-lift contest.
Share Result: opens your device’s share options where available, which may include WhatsApp and other apps.
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Email Me My Result: opens your own email app with your result pre-filled. Nothing is sent automatically.
Save to This Device: keeps your result privately in this browser on this device so you can come back to it later.
Download PDF: opens a print-friendly version of your result so you can save it as a PDF.
How to use your result
A lower score is not failure. It is just your starting point.
Use the same path and same approach next time so the score means something.
Useful strength is built over months and years, not by one heroic test day.
References
- FitnessTesting (n.d.) Push-Up Test Protocol. Available at: https://www.fitnesstesting.com/instructions/push-up.htm (Accessed: 16 April 2026).
- Topend Sports (n.d.) Sit-Up Test Calculator. Available at: https://www.topendsports.com/testing/tests/home-situp.htm (Accessed: 16 April 2026).
- Mackenzie, B. (2005) Squats Test. Available at: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/squatest.htm (Accessed: 16 April 2026).
- World Health Organization (2020) WHO guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Geneva: WHO. Available at: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240015128 (Accessed: 16 April 2026).
- Bull, F.C., Al-Ansari, S.S., Biddle, S., Borodulin, K., Buman, M.P., Cardon, G., Carty, C., Chaput, J.P., Chastin, S., Chou, R. and Dempsey, P.C. (2020) ‘World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour’, British Journal of Sports Medicine, 54(24), pp. 1451–1462.