INTRODUCTION: Due to the spread of the health benefits of physical activity, many subjects began to exercise in public parks. This behavior promoted the creation of projects which stimulate and guide on physical activity practice. Nevertheless, for being considered effective, these projects need to evaluate the subjects' physical aptitude by applying easy tests, whose results are compared to classification tables. However, these tables are not adequate to the target population. OBJECTIVE: To design fitness classification tables based on simple fitness tests applied to adults and elderly subjects. METHODS: Data from 713 evaluations conducted with subjects of both genders older than 20 years were analyzed. Cardiorespiratory fitness (stationary gait and Cooper tests), muscle fitness (elbow flexion, vertical jump and abdominal resistance), and flexibility (sit and reach and shoulder flexibility) were evaluated. RESULTS: The 50 percentile for the tests were stationary gait = 105 steps; Cooper = 1200m; elbow flexion = 20 repetitions; abdominal resistance = 18 repetitions; legs strength =18 cm; shoulder flexibility = 1 cm; and lumbar flexibility = 23 cm. These results were higher than the original ones described for each test, which confirmed the need for specific classifications tables. CONCLUSION: Seven tables were designed with the results separated by gender and age group (20 to 80 year-olds divided in 10-year stages). Results were classified as: weak = < than 20 percentile; average= from 20 to 40 percentile; medium = from 40 to 60 percentile; good = from 60 to 80 percentile; and excellent = > than 80 percentile.
physical activity; fitness; adults
