Fitness Testing for Program Development

In this topic, we focus on the rationale and procedures involved in fitness testing. You will learn:

• Fitness testing rationale
• Benefits of fitness testing
• Fitness testing preparation
• Different categories of fitness tests
• How to select appropriate fitness tests
• The sequence of fitness tests
• Determining and recording fitness test results
• Additional fitness test data Fitness test workbook resources.

Terminology and vocabulary reference guide

As an allied health professional, you need to be familiar with terms associated with basic exercise principles and use the terms correctly (and confidently) with clients, your colleagues, and other allied health professionals. You will be introduced to many terms and definitions. Add any unfamiliar terms to your own vocabulary reference guide.

Activities

There are several practical activities in the topic and an end of topic automated quiz. These are not part of your assessment but will provide practical experience that will help you in your work and help you prepare for your formal assessment.

After conducting the pre-screening process with your client, you will have all the information you require to design a safe and effective program. The next stage to this process would be to conduct a fitness test (or tests) to determine what your client’s “baseline” measurements are, i.e. their starting levels before any exercise has been undertaken. Fitness testing should be specific to their training and or health goals.

As a minimum, all clients must have their resting heart rate (RHR) and blood pressure (BP) measured. These are standardised tests which should be performed on all clients. Any further tests you decide to conduct for your client should be specific to their goals for example:

• Flexibility: sit and reach test
• Body composition: skinfold testing (three or seven sites), waist to hip ratio, individual limb measurement (thigh, bicep, chest)
• Cardiovascular endurance: beep test or a modified version to support clients who present with a health condition, 3 minutes step-up test
• Muscular endurance: 1-minute sit-up/push up test
• Balance: standing stork test – standing on one leg with the foot of the other resting on the inner thigh and measuring how long the individual can maintain their balance for
• Muscular strength: 1 rep max (1RM) test, sub max test (performing as many reps as they can with a lighter than maximum weight).

When to perform fitness testing?

Fitness testing is not a one-time event, during your training program these should be retested to evaluate both the effectiveness of the training and the improvements in your client’s baseline measurements.

In order to be accurate and also repeated effectively, it is important to conduct the standardised (typically the Gold Standard) method of the testing protocol, rather than amending and making tweaks where you see fit. This ensures that the results are accurate and also, should you work with another allied health professional or your client has come to you from another trainer or, begins to work with another trainer, the tests can be replicated in the same way achieving both consistency and validity of results.

Fitness testing does not have to be complicated, it should, however, be an accurate reflection of the clients' initial measurements, prior to undertaking any fitness training, and correlate to their goals, i.e. there is little point in measuring their cardiovascular fitness if their goal is to increase their muscular strength. For example, a previously inactive female client who presents with elevated cholesterol levels wishes to lose 15Kg and improve her muscle tone and strength, relevant fitness tests would be: girth measurements, weight (for her weight loss goal), 1-minute sit to stand chair test, and an elevated (incline) push up test to failure ( assessing muscular strength and endurance).

The following list highlights some of the benefits of conducting fitness tests for both the client and the efficacy of program design. Fitness testing enables the exercise professional to:

1. Identify strengths and weaknesses of the athlete.
2. Monitor progress by comparing results from previous tests or from other performers.
3. Enhance motivation – there is nothing more satisfying that seeing yourself improve.
4. Provide information for the design and modification of training programs- it can be used to measure the success of your current training program.
5. Talent identifications and prediction of physiological potential – it can be used to steer the performer into the most appropriate sport or activity.
6. Help performers set appropriate goals for fitness development.

Safety is still an essential consideration when conducting fitness testing, it is the responsibility of the exercise professional to ensure an adequate warm up is conducted prior to every fitness testing session. The warmup must be the same intensity and duration each time.

All participants must follow the same procedures of the designated fitness tests each time to increase the validity of the results. All external influences must be minimized and or kept the same each time, these can include, but not limited to;

• Surface (concrete, grass, astro turf, timber etc)
• Location - Indoor or outdoors
• Temperature, wind direction and speed
• Time of day
• Number of days recovery before session
• Amount of recovery between stations
• Nutritional state prior to testing.

Let us look at some of these in more detail.

Nutritional Preparation

In order to ensure the client is in the best possible nutritional conditioning prior to fitness testing, it is key to advise them of the following:

• Ensure they are well nourished on the day of testing.
• Where possible, consume a high carbohydrate diet in the 24 hours prior to the testing sessions (such as pasta, potatoes, cereals, toast, fruit etc.)
• Caffeine products (such as coffee, cola or tea) should be avoided on the day of testing
• Alcoholic beverages and tobacco products should be avoided 24 hours prior to testing
• Ensure they are fully hydrated, particularly in hot conditions. Drink regularly in the days leading up to the test, particularly in the 12 hours prior to testing
• Top up body fluids by drinking water regularly throughout the testing session. Continue to consume adequate fluids following exercise to replace any fluids lost during testing.

Physical Preparation

In order to ensure they are optimally physically prepared; it is important to discuss the following to ensure the client is fully aware of how to adequately physically prepare for their fitness test:

• Avoid heavy strenuous exercise for the 24 hours prior to testing. Do not exercise at all on the day of testing to ensure they are well rested
• Wear appropriate clothing for the conditions (e.g., shorts/track pants and t-shirt/singlet/sports top) and non-slip athletic footwear with laces securely fastened
• Remove restrictive jewellery, watches, bracelets or hanging earrings that may get caught in equipment
• Do not participate in the testing if you are suffering any injury or illness that is likely to worsen as a result of participation or if they are unwell/not in good general health
• Be sure to warm-up prior to the commencement of testing
• Cool down appropriately. Following completion of testing continue moderate-to light aerobic activity (jog or walk) for 10 minutes followed by some light stretching of both the upper and lower body.

The recovery see-saw

There are many fitness tests available to the exercise professional, it is important that those selected are purposeful and relate to the client’s goals. It is important to be able to select the correct test for the capabilities of the client. The tests chosen should also have the highest relevance to their goals possible, for example, if the client's goal is to run a half-marathon, then a running based endurance test should be used. If their goal is to cycle the Alps to Ocean trail, then a cycle based test should be used.

It is important to note that there are many tests available for each category, the following is a breakdown of a sample of fitness tests and the category each falls into in order to more clearly distinguish which test may be conducted in accordance with the goals of the client. Click on each of the categories below to learn which fitness test could be conducted.

An important role of the exercise professional is to accurately identify the components of fitness that are to be tested. These may depend on the phase of training or the phase of the season in which the testing is being done. Each sport requires certain attributes and relies on certain factors more than others for successful performance.

Standardized Protocols

The protocols of each text need to be standardized, i.e., performed at the “Gold Standard” so that comparisons can be made between your test scores performed at different times and comparisons between athletes tested at different places, and indeed between different trainers should another train continue fitness testing measures on the same client. If comparing test results to normative tables, the test must be conducted exactly the same as it was when the original test group was tested, for the comparison to be valid. The “Gold Standard” has been identified for all tests to ensure that, no matter who or where in the world, everyone conducts the same test in the same environment in the same fashion, this leads to reliability and validity.

Let us look into the mandatory principles of fitness testing.

Specificity

It is important to select sport specific tests which are relevant to outcomes the client is aiming to achieve. If the clients understands that the tests are relevant to the sport the play of the goals, they which to achieve, they will be more inclined to put a maximal effort into the testing. Always apply the principle of specificity!

Reliability

A test is considered reliable if the results are consistent and reproducible over time. It should be possible to obtain the same or similar result on two separate trials.

This is important as, when repeating testing, the key is to look for small changes in scores, with any difference in results to reflect the changes in fitness of the person and not an error in measurement.

Validity

Validity is whether the tests do indeed measure what they set out to. It is quite possible that a test can be very reliable but not valid. The validity of a test is usually better if the test is specific to the sport being tested.

There are different forms of validity - internal, external, and ecological validity. For an experiment to possess ecological validity, the methods, materials and setting of the experiment must approximate the real-life situation that is under study. A fitness test having external and ecological validity enables 'generalizations' to be made about their sports performance from specific tests.

When planning a fitness testing session, it is important to select the correct order in which the tests are performed as energy consumed in one fitness test can affect the performance in subsequent tests.

Additional important factors to consider before finalising the sequence of each fitness are, but not limited to;

• Time constraints
• Group size (goes hand in hand with time constraints)
• Amount of resources (staff and equipment)
• Transition time between tests and recovery time between tests
• Degree of difficulty and intensity/duration (inference factor on proceeding tests)
• The main components of fitness
• Number of tests versus the amount of time (the key is to always factor more time).

Important to note - The sequencing of fitness tests conducted in the session must stay the same from session to session in order to maintain a high level of validity and reliability. It is also important to plan these sessions accordingly, should you be conducting a range of fitness tests, these should not necessarily all be performed on the same day or in the same session.

Tests to be conduct prior to the warmup

1. Health Checks: Blood pressure and resting heart rate should always be tested first while the person is fully rested.
2. Anthropometry: Biometric tests should always take place first, and directly after any health checks. Note – height and weight must be taken at the same time of day.
3. Flexibility: Depending on whether the test protocol requires a warm up or not, the flexibility tests should be scheduled early in the session prior to any activity, after a thorough warm up or after the speed tests. These can be conducted during transitions from one test to another.

Tests to be conducted after the warmup

1. Speed/power tests: Power tests are usually performed first, followed by speed, agility, strength, muscle endurance and, finally, cardiorespiratory or repeat sprint tests. A thorough warm-up should precede any speed and power test. The vertical jump test may be performed prior to the sprint test.
2. Muscle strength: Muscle strength (1-10RM) tests should always be completed prior to muscle endurance tests, but after the speed and power tests.
3. Muscular endurance: A minimum break of 5 minutes is recommended between muscle strength and muscle endurance tests. If there are several muscular strength and endurance tests in one session, you must allow plenty of time for recovery between tests.
4. Aerobic fitness: Many of the submaximal aerobic tests are based on a heart rate response and may be affected by previous tests, including the mental state of the athlete. These tests should be scheduled accordingly. Fatiguing maximal exercise tests, such as a VO2max or beep test and repeat sprint tests, should always be scheduled at the end of a session. If the protocol included both a repeat sprint test and a maximal aerobic test, it is usually wise to have these in separate sessions.

When collating and analysing the data collected from fitness tests, all results should be collected and recorded via a simple to use data collecting tool (excel or apps) with results always being compared against normative data. There are many sites out there which provide access to normative data for all fitness tests, a particularly useful one, which also provides explanations of possible results as well as guides as to how to perform each test, is Topend Sports, click here to access their catalogue of over 300 tests. Pre and post test results should show the positive or negative improvements (i.e., max push ups = pre – 20 & post – 32 = difference - / + 12). It is advantageous to use colour coding to separate positive and negative results (POSITIVE VS NEGATIVE) along with illustrating results using graphs and tables to show the areas that saw improvements and those that didn’t.

The table below provides an example of how to display a clients test results.

Along with the information pertaining to the tests themselves, it is also important to ensure the following data is also captured, this can be considered additional data however, it is of equal importance. The following information should be captured alongside the clients results.

• Date and time of testing
• Personal details (name, age, contact details)
• Current state of the athlete (fitness level, any injuries, health status, fatigue level, sleep)
• Activity details (sport involved in, event)
• Basic physiological data (weight, resting heart rate)
• Current training phase (e.g., speed, speed endurance, strength, technique)
• Current training load (the number of miles run, the number of sets and repetitions, the number of attempts)
• Current training intensity (kilograms, percentage of maximum, percentage of VO2)
• Environmental and surface conditions (wet, slippery, wind, temperature, humidity, indoors?).

Now is an opportunity to put all you have learnt into practice; your lecturer will share the following documents which will provide you with a wealth of information on how to conduct each fitness test and provide opportunities to practice and record your results. You should use the following documents:

• Fitness testing workbook
• Fitness testing categories and recording template
• Percentage repetition max calculator
• Vo2max treadmill calculator.

In this topic, we focused on the rationale and procedures involved in fitness testing.

You learnt:

• Fitness testing rationale
• Benefits of fitness testing
• Fitness testing preparation
• Different categories of fitness tests
• How to select appropriate fitness tests
• The sequence of fitness tests
• Determining and recording fitness test results
• Additional fitness test data
• Fitness test workbook resources.