{"id":133784,"date":"2022-07-27T08:13:36","date_gmt":"2022-07-27T13:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?p=133784"},"modified":"2026-09-12T13:50:51","modified_gmt":"2026-09-12T18:50:51","slug":"physical-benchmarks-for-men","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/","title":{"rendered":"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As men, we all want to be physically capable. We want to be able to save our own life in two ways: in the more metaphorical sense of wanting to preserve it in healthy, fit form for as long as possible, and in the more literal sense of being able to make it through an emergency unscathed. How do you know if you do possess that kind of lifesaving physical capability?<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s time to do more than wonder, and really check in with yourself. My guest today has some helpful benchmarks that guys from age 8 to 80 can use to see if they&#8217;ve got an operative level of strength, mobility, and conditioning. His name is <a href=\"http:\/\/danjohn.net\/\">Dan John<\/a>, and he&#8217;s a strength coach and the author of numerous books and articles on health and fitness. Dan walks us through the fitness standards the average male should be able to meet from childhood to old age, beginning with the assessments he gives to those who are 55 years old and older, which includes carrying their body weight, a long jump, and something called &#8220;the toilet test.&#8221; We then reach back to childhood, and Dan discusses the physical skills kids should become adept in, which were inspired by a turn-of-the-20th-century physical culturist who thought every individual ought to be able to save his own life, and which can be broken down into the categories of pursuit, escape, and attack. We end our conversation with the physical standards those in the 18-55 range should be able to meet, including how much a man should be able to bench press, squat, and deadlift, and the walking test that&#8217;s an excellent assessment of your cardiovascular conditioning.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As men, we all want to be physically capable. We want to be able to save our own life in two ways: in the more metaphorical sense of wanting to preserve it in healthy, fit form for as long as possible, and in the more literal sense of being able to make it through an [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":194990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,156,42380],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-133784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness","category-podcast","category-strength"],"featured_image_urls":{"large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-538x280.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-768x432.png","aom":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-372x230.png","aom-large":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-1200x675.png","reactor-320":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-320x180.png","reactor-640":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678-640x360.png"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.4 (Yoast SEO v28.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet | Art of Manliness<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age | The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As men, we all want to be physically capable. We want to be able to save our own life in two ways: in the more metaphorical sense of wanting to preserve it in healthy, fit form for as long as possible, and in the more literal sense of being able to make it through an [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Art of Manliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AoM Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@artofmanliness\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AoM Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AoM Team\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4\"},\"headline\":\"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":294,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/678.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Fitness\",\"Podcast\",\"Strength\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"copyrightYear\":\"2022\",\"copyrightHolder\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/#organization\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/\",\"name\":\"Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet | Art of Manliness\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/678.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/678.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/07\\\/678.png\",\"width\":1280,\"height\":720},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/strength\\\/fitness\\\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Art of Manliness\",\"description\":\"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.artofmanliness.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4\",\"name\":\"AoM Team\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/beta.artofmanliness.com\\\/author\\\/aom-team\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet | Art of Manliness","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age | The Art of Manliness","og_description":"As men, we all want to be physically capable. We want to be able to save our own life in two ways: in the more metaphorical sense of wanting to preserve it in healthy, fit form for as long as possible, and in the more literal sense of being able to make it through an [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/","og_site_name":"The Art of Manliness","article_publisher":"http:\/\/facebook.com\/artofmanliness","article_published_time":"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1280,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"AoM Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@artofmanliness","twitter_site":"@artofmanliness","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AoM Team","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/"},"author":{"name":"AoM Team","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4"},"headline":"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age","datePublished":"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/"},"wordCount":294,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png","articleSection":["Fitness","Podcast","Strength"],"inLanguage":"en-US","copyrightYear":"2022","copyrightHolder":{"@id":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/#organization"}},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/","name":"Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet | Art of Manliness","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png","datePublished":"2022-07-27T13:13:36+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-12T18:50:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/678.png","width":1280,"height":720},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/strength\/fitness\/physical-benchmarks-for-men\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Podcast #678: Physical Benchmarks Every Man Should Meet, At Every Age"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/","name":"The Art of Manliness","description":"Men&#039;s Interest and Lifestyle","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.artofmanliness.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28ff38880a7c6995e23ac063aaaa81d4","name":"AoM Team","url":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/author\/aom-team\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=133784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/133784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=133784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=133784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beta.artofmanliness.com\/app-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=133784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}