The problem with strength testing and ‘normative values’ is that studies can use very different protocols. The most common and accessible method is 1-repetition maximum testing, performed during compound lifts such as the squat, deadlift or bench press. Strength is the expression of task-specific maximal force in a muscle or group of muscles and can be measured in several ways. Types of fitness testing and data from athletic populations Measure and monitor progress as a response to our ‘interventions’. Measure determinants of performance and target specific areas for improvement. Understand the make-up of elite athletes and determinants of success. Rank athletes in that sport by traits that may determine sporting success. Identify if an athlete has enough general fitness to perform specific fitness. Understanding where the athlete is relative to these foundational ‘markers’ of performance is key.įitness testing is important for several reasons
However, in many sports there are likely to be more generic, baseline fitness requirements required to perform that activity, even if that requirement may not on the face of it be key to success in the sport itself.įor example, if an athlete in a heavily skill- dominant sport such as motor racing does not have at least a solid amount of strength and endurance, no matter how skilled they are, the demands of racing will mean they do not have a solid foundation to perform their ‘skill’. It is logical that the type of testing we use to inform our practice is related to the demand of the sport.
The purpose of testing - the why and the how And that led to the development of more sport-specific and sport-related testing that has evolved into what we know as modern athlete assessment, which includes everything from simple field tests (that inform us how the body performs as an entire system at a given task), to more detailed assessment (specific components of metabolism that allow us to target specific adaptations at a cellular level through our coaching). In the late 20th century, it was the creation of a new science ‘exercise physiology’ that started to document how humans responded to different types of physical stress in relation to sports performance. At least in the context of creating large scale, normative values anyway, with testing protocols and scoring developed and being introduced after the turn of the 20th century. However, when it comes to standardised fitness testing to rank a person's task-specific ability, this is a much more modern pursuit. Several militaries had loosely defined fitness requirements, which related to a person’s battle-ready capabilities, but it wasn’t really until after the Renaissance period and the development of more modern approaches to science that we started to understand the human body at a mechanistic level and notice that structured, progressive exercise could create documented adaptations. An acknowledgement of the importance of fitness dates back thousands of years, with training designed to improve performance in soldiers documented in many of the ancient civilizations. If we consider the definition of the word ‘fitness’ as being related to a person's capability in performing a task, it shouldn’t be a surprise to find that as long as humans have been engaged in tasks that require some amount of physical effort, there has been some form of testing to measure its effectiveness. A brief history of fitness testing - from battlefield to sport