Normative data for strength and flexibility of women throughout life

Previously established normative data for muscular strength, endurance and the flexibility of women have recently been criticized as being unreliable. Furthermore, no normative data for the muscular fitness of women over 70 years of age are established. The purpose of this study was to derive normative data for muscular fitness in women 20-70+ years old, and to compare these data to the most recently published norms of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). A total of 304 independent-living women were evaluated for maximal performance of bench press, leg press, modified push-ups, grip strength, and sit-and-reach. Tables of normative values for each measurement were generated along with percentile rankings. Large discrepancies were found between these new data and those of the ACSM norms. Bench press norms from ACSM are comparatively high so that the average woman in this current sample scored below the 10th percentile of the ACSM rankings. Similarly, the average woman in our sample ranked in either the poor or fair category of the ACSM norms for modified push-ups, and in the poor ACSM category for sit-and-reach. In contrast, leg press scores for the average woman in this study fell within the good or excellent category of the ACSM norms, suggesting that the ACSM norms are too low. Grip strength for the middle-aged women in this study was higher than that in previous norms. These newly established norms are better suited for interpreting women's fitness test results than previously published norms.