Because humans are complex beings, you probably won't be able to pick one answer to every question on the quiz. If that's the case, put your choices in order of preference -- with the best fit first, followed by the next choice and so on (your second choice can also be a useful tie-breaker, if needed).

Part 1
1. When planning your next vacation, you would love to be able to:
a) Head off alone to chill out and/or see some sights
b) Go visit a friend or take a romantic vacation with your mate
c) Get away with your family to a place that has something for everyone
d) Go on a cruise, take a group tour, share a ski cabin, or rent a villa with a bunch of friends

2. When coping with bad news such as a medical diagnosis, you are most likely to:
a) Keep it to yourself
b) Share your feelings with a trusted confidant
c) Tell your close friends and family so they can offer support
d) Spread the news so others will understand what you're going through or offer suggestions

3. If you were looking for a new job, you would like to be:
a) An entrepreneur with an innovative product who sinks or floats on your own merit
b) A partner in a top-notch company so you have some support but plenty of autonomy
c) Part of a hand-picked team that produces award-winning work
d) The head of a group in a large company with ample resources and prestigious projects

4. For New Year's Eve, if you could have any of these choices, you would love to:
a) Pretend it's not a holiday
b) Go out on a date with one special person
c) Celebrate with a small dinner party attended by your friends
d) Go to Times Square or a huge black-tie soiree

Part 2
1. For dinner with friends, you:
a) Cook one of your favourite recipes
b) Pick up a rotisserie chicken or takeout
c) Try a new cuisine

2. For your next vacation, you would love to go:
a) To a spa or beach resort, Disney, or the Grand Canyon
b) Gambling in Las Vegas or Monte Carlo
c) Rafting in Costa Rica or dogsledding in Alaska

3. When driving, you:
a) Tool along in the right lane going the speed limit
b) Shift into the left lane and flash your brights at slowpokes
c) Bail out on a traffic jam even if you don't know another route

4. Your favourite kind of leisure reading is:
a) The latest literary novel or a romance
b) A mystery or science fiction
c) Nonfiction such as travel, history or a biography

5. Picking out a video for Saturday night, you'd select:
a) When Harry met Sally, Shrek, Caddyshack, or anything starring Tom Hanks or Robin Williams
b) Speed, Matrix, Thelma and Louise, Miracle on Ice, or any movie starring Bruce Willis or about James Bond
c) Mr. & Mrs. Smith, What the Bleep Do We Know?, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, or any film with Star Wars or Indiana Jones in the title

Part 3
1. Your dream job would be one in which you were:
a) Left alone to get your work done so you can go home at the end of the day
b) The veteran in the group who can show others the ropes
c) Promoted into a position that stretches your abilities -- you can do it!

2. In high school, your main goal was to:
a) Learn, get decent grades, and graduate
b) Get into the college of your choice or land a good job
c) Secure a spot on the honour roll or become the valedictorian

3. If you had unlimited time and funds, you would:
a) Buy an island getaway
b) Visit one place on each continent
c) Climb Mount Everest

4. In games such as charades, checkers, Pictionary, Cranium or Scrabble, you most hope to:
a) Have fun
b) Make a few great moves
c) Win

Page 1 of 3 -- What's your fitness personality? Find out on page 2.

Scoring your quiz
Part 1
Which letter answer did you choose two or more times?
a) Solo
b) Partner
c) Group
d) Team

Sports fit into all these categories. You can do an individual activity such as swimming, pick a sport that includes someone else such as tennis, sign up for a small group activity such as golf, or join a team, as in hockey.

Many athletes love to feel like part of a team. They want the camaraderie on the field as well as going out for a beer after practice. A team is a ready-made group of new friends who share at least one interest. For others, the team dynamics are too political and complicated; they'd rather go at their own pace or compete against their own best records. Note, however, that a solo type who is also competitive may be happiest as the star player on a team. Keep this tip in mind when you use the sport selection chart.

Making the choice of solo versus group sports also may be a question of logistics. Are you better at self-motivation, getting into your shorts and shoes when it suits you and heading out on your bike? Or would it help you get going to know that a whole group of people are counting on you to show up to play soccer?

If your answers are spread between the choices, try a sport with options. For example, many individual sports such as cycling can be done alone, with a friend, or in a group.

Part 2
Which letter answer did you choose two or more times?
a) Revel in the experience of activities at which you excel
b) Go for speed, get out in front and feel exhilaration
c) Love adventure and learning new skills

Your answers to the questions in this section could vary a lot. But if one letter came up two or three times, that's a good start toward discovering the driving force behind how you like to spend your time.

The categories aren't mutually exclusive -- you can love both speed and adventure, for example. Perhaps one edges the other out just a bit in importance. Put that category first when picking your sports, but take a look at the other choices that made your list. For example, Lorie Parch, a 41-year-old writer in Scottsdale, Arizona, picked (a) three times and (c) twice. Lorie loves yoga, which she is adept at, but she stays engaged because there are always new poses to master, some of which are quite hard for her.

Part 3
Which letter answer did you choose two or more times?
a) Not competitive
b) Competitive with myself
c) Competitive with others

It may seem that all sports are competitive, but some are much more so than others. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a sport is "physical activity engaged in for pleasure" and the synonym is "fun." If scoring goals (or failing to score) is not your idea of fun, then a competitive sport is not for you. On the other hand, if you need a metric of success, then you can choose between sports that encourage you to beat your own personal best, such as trail running, or the ones in which you either win or lose based on the score, such as tennis.

Page 2 of 3 -- Based on your scores, find out which sports are best suited for you on page 3.

How your score adds up
Use the chart below to find sports that fit your personality. Many sports appear in multiple places on the chart because they can be played in different ways, such as downhill skiing on a pristine powder day with friends versus ski racing at a competition. Keep the variations in mind when heading out. For example, if you want to play noncompetitive volleyball, be sure your teammates aren't cut-throat about winning the game. In the chart below, the solo, partner and group activities are listed together because you can choose to do most of these sports in all three ways. Each box in the chart does not contain every possible sport that fits in the category but, rather, the best choices for the personality type from among the sports covered in this book.

Check out the following articles for more on different sports and activities:

• Yoga or Pilates?
• 5 team sports women love
• My healthy life: Judo mom
• Online family golf guide
• Fitness quiz: How does your family rate?

Page 3 of 3

Excerpted from The Chelsea Piers Fitness Solution by Elena Rover. Copyright 2007 ASAP Media LLC. Reprinted with permission of Black Dog and Leventhal Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced except with permission in writing from the publisher.