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Testing is an
important evaluation tool for the sports performer as it gives them
an insight into their current physical condition and the effectiveness
of their training. Tests can be broken into two groups:
Physical fitness
tests examine the components of physical fitness such as endurance,
speed, strength, flexibility and body composition.
Motor fitness
tests look at the skill-related aspects of performance such as agility,
coordination, balance, power and reaction time.
What
is fitness?
Fitness is a
general term and has been defined in many ways as can be seen from
the following three definitions:
1. “Fitness
is the ability to perform muscular work satisfactorily”. W.H.O.
(1994)
2. “The ability
to carry out our daily tasks without undue fatigue”. Davis, Bull,
Roscoe & Roscoe (1994)
3. “Physical
fitness is the capacity to meet successfully the present and potential
physical challenges of life”. Lamb (1984)
As you can see,
the term fitness and its definitions are dependant upon how you
look at it. Therefore, to add clarity to this situation it is better
to define fitness as,
"The
ability to meet physical demands placed upon us, either generally
in the terms of everyday life or the specific demands of a sport
or physical activity". Rusby (2001)
Why
test fitness?
Testing
a persons fitness may be done for a number of reasons, such as:
1. To assess
the persons initial fitness level before beginning an exercise programme
and allow the exercise intensity and duration to be set at the correct
level.
2. To evaluate
the progress of their training after a period of time and predict
future performance.
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