Nine fitness components everyone should assess annually

Full analysis

Exercise physiologist Andy Galpin outlines nine distinct components of physical fitness — movement skill, speed, power, strength, muscle mass, muscular endurance, anaerobic capacity, maximal aerobic capacity (VO2 max), and long-duration endurance — and argues that a gap or severe weakness in any one of them acts as a "performance anchor" that limits overall health and longevity. He recommends doing a full battery of assessments once a year, spread across roughly three days, with non-fatiguing tests (body composition, movement quality) first and maximum-effort tests (strength, VO2 max) scheduled separately so fatigue doesn't skew results. For readers over 50, this framework matters because different components decline at different rates with age, and identifying which one is weakest lets you target training precisely rather than guessing.