Measure What Matters: Inside Our Fitness Assessment Process At Black Flag

At Black Flag Strength & Conditioning, we believe your training should be intentional, measurable, and always connected to a bigger picture: your long-term health, performance, and quality of life.

That’s why we’ve implemented an Assessment Week—a focused period each training cycle where we collect meaningful data across key fitness domains like strength, aerobic capacity, balance, and movement quality. These assessments allow both you and our coaching team to track progress, identify opportunities for growth, and ensure your training is moving you in the right direction.

These aren’t just random tests. Each one has a clear purpose and ties directly to your healthspan— prioritizing how well you live, not just how long. 

Maximal Strength

We start with foundational strength tests like the push press, bench press, and deadlift to evaluate total-body force production and joint integrity. These compound lifts reflect how well your body generates and transfers power through your hips, core, and upper body—skills that carry over to real-life tasks and are essential for maintaining posture, mobility, and independence as you age. Strength, especially in the posterior chain, also plays a crucial role in preventing falls and preserving bone density.

Mobility & Movement Quality

We use the PVC Mobility Challenge to assess shoulder and thoracic mobility—two key areas that influence overhead lifts, gymnastics skills, and posture. Tested in both seated and lying positions, this screen highlights limitations in shoulder flexion, thoracic extension, and scapular control, while also revealing common compensations like rib flare or lumbar arching. Identifying these issues early allows us to address them with targeted mobility work, reducing injury risk and improving movement efficiency under load.

Relative Strength

We also assess strength-to-bodyweight ratio through movements like strict pull-ups and benchmark workouts such as “Linda.” This is one of the best indicators of functional fitness, metabolic health, and injury resilience. As we age, maintaining relative strength is essential for everything from climbing stairs to getting up off the ground—and helps preserve autonomy well into later life.

 Aerobic Capacity & VO2 Max

To evaluate your cardiovascular fitness, we test VO2 max through either the Cooper’s Run or a 2k Row—both designed to measure how efficiently your body uses oxygen during sustained effort. A higher VO2 max is strongly associated with a lower risk of chronic disease and a longer life expectancy. It’s one of the most powerful metrics we can influence to improve overall vitality and longevity.

Aerobic Endurance & Power

Your ability to sustain effort over time is tested through longer-duration mixed-modal aerobic sessions and constantly varied aerobic power tests. These build your aerobic engine, improve energy efficiency, and support mental and physical resilience. A strong aerobic base also enhances recovery, improves sleep, and boosts overall work capacity—making it one of the cornerstones of long-term health and performance.

Balance, Stability & Neurological Control

We evaluate neuromuscular coordination and proprioception using the single-leg stand (eyes closed). While simple, this test provides insight into balance, stability, and joint control—skills that decline with age and are directly linked to fall risk, injury prevention, and long-term independence.

Grip Strength & Structural Integrity

The dead hang challenges grip strength, shoulder stability, and postural endurance. Grip strength is consistently linked in research to overall health, functional ability, and even life expectancy. It’s also a quick indicator of overall muscular endurance and resilience under load.

Explosive Power

When available, we include jump assessments to measure lower-body power output. Power is the ability to produce force quickly—and it’s often the first physical quality to decline with age. Maintaining explosive capacity supports athleticism, fast reaction times, and injury prevention, especially in dynamic or unpredictable environments.

Recovery & Energy System Development

While not a formal test, Zone 2 cardio plays a foundational role in our assessment week. This low-intensity, steady-state training improves fat metabolism, cardiovascular efficiency, and mitochondrial function. It also promotes recovery, reduces systemic stress, and helps build the stamina needed to train hard and live well.

Assessment Week isn’t a one-time event—it’s a recurring checkpoint. We reassess these metrics approximately every 12 weeks, rotating specific strength lifts when needed while maintaining a consistent overall structure. This approach gives us a clear feedback loop—test, train, retest—that keeps your progress intentional and measurable.

More than a series of performance benchmarks, Assessment Week is a snapshot of where you are—and a roadmap for where you’re going. Whether you’re training to compete, preserve your joint health, or simply feel good and stay active for decades to come, these tests give us the insight to help you train smarter, recover better, and thrive longer.