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Gauging leg strength

Posted October 16, 2007 at 09:00 AM by Mark Scott

Section: His Fitness, Strength Training, Alt. Therapies

One of the best ways to determine how you are progressing on your fitness program and how good of leg strength you have in general is with a wall squat test.  A wall squat test will primarily assess your quad strength however the hamstrings and glute muscles will also come into play as well.

The nice thing about a wall squat test is that it is going to mimic movements that you perform very often in every day life, whether it’s getting up and down from a sitting position or walking up a flight of stairs.  Being strong in this type of body position will be of benefit to you because it will make these exercises easier as well as help to prevent you from suffering any injuries in the future.

To begin the assessment, stand with your back facing a wall, keeping it as flat as possible.  You will want your feet to be approximately shoulder width apart and about one foot away from the wall. 

Next, begin to slowly lower the body down into a squat position until you are in a comfortable position where this is not an excessive amount of strain on the knee. Note that it is very important to ensure that the feet are tracking over the knee so as to not begin experiencing knee pain.

Once you are in the position, hold for as long as possible while still maintaining proper form.

If you wish you can perform this test for three separate trials however make sure you are taking a rest in between to allow the leg muscles a chance to rest.

Once you’ve recorded your best score, repeat on the other leg and then compare your results with this standard:

Men (up to age of 35, for every 10 year block after, reduce standard by 5 seconds)
Excellent: >45
Good: 40-45
Above average: 35-39
Average: 31-34
Below Average: 29-30
Poor: 22-28
Very Poor: <22

Women (up to age of 35, for every 10 year block after, reduce standard by 5 seconds)
Excellent: >39
Good: 34-39
Above average: 29-33
Average: 25-28
Below Average: 21-24
Poor: 13-20
Very Poor: <20

If you did not do as well as you would have hoped on the assessment, then you should be sure to have a good look at your lifting routine and see where you might be able to make adjustments so that you can bring up your quad strength.  Good exercises to include would be squats, back squats, deadlifts, lunges, one-legged squats and leg extensions

Research sources and for more information: [picture]

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Tags: endurance, exercise, exercise tests, hamstrings, health, leg strength test, men, men's fitness, men's health, quads, strength, wall squat test, women

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