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Fitness Testing Protocols (Why do we fitness test? (Improve motivation,…
Fitness Testing Protocols
Why do we fitness test?
Improve motivation
Determine positions
Establish a baseline to make comparisons to for future testing
Predict future potential
Strengths and weaknesses
Process of testing
During program testing
Motivate; evaluate the effectiveness of the program
Post-program testing
Evaluate the effectiveness of program; review benchmarks; motivate
Pre-program testing
To identify baseline/benchmarks; identify strengths and weaknesses; determine player suitability; motivate
How do you choose the correct test?
Sociocultural
Test is completed easily in relation to resources and facilities available to athletes/coaches (
Low socioeconomic status can restrict the number of tests available for use; when measuring body composition for example, DEXA and TOBEC scans are expensive, so waist circumference measurements may be used instead
)
Whether you are testing a group or an individual is also impact your choice of test (
e.g. the 30 second wingate test can only test one person at a time, whereas the phosphate recovery test can test large groups at once
)
Psychological
Support and motivation to complete the test; participants need to understand what the test is testing (
e.g. A participant who is undertaking testing and a training program to improve their overall health and well being is more likely to undergo the seven-stage abdominal strength test than a 1 RM bench press. A participant wanting to improve their athletic performance for rugby is more likely to undergo a 1 RM test
)
Physiological
Must replicate same movements of activity; must be recognised to test fitness component; norms that a coach can compare to (
e.g. YoYo intermittent test is suitable for AFL because there is running which is specific to AFL and also measures aerobic power therefore is suitable
)
Pre-activity screening
Pre-participation health screening is a vital components of fitness testing, particularly pre-training program testing; involves a series of questions about the participant's current health; information is used to determine the level of risk and choose appropriate tests (
e.g. PAR-Q questionnaire
)
Fitness Assessment Protocols
Accuracy
The correct protocols need to be followed and equipment needs to be checked regularly; when conducted in a lab, the accuracy is incresed due to the equipment being regularly checked; when conducted in the field, the accuracy is decreased if the testing protocols are not followed carefully
Reliability
Will the test produce consistent results?; tests should be run in the same conditions with minimal changes in time of day, venue, warm up, order of testing, environment, nutrition and equipment
Validity
Does the test measure what it says?; if you want to measure speed, you should not use the beep test; tests can receive the
Gold Standard
such as a lab VO2max test
Informed consent
Minimises harm for the participant/s and test administrator; important that the participant understands what the test involves, the potential risks and an opportunity to ask questions; if the participant is under 18, they need the form signed by a parent/guardian
Fitness assessments protocols are the rules that should be followed when testing. All fitness tests need to be: valid; accurate; reliable; informed consent
Lab and field testing
Laboratory testing
Extremely accurate however very expensive and not practical; usually one person can participate at once
Field testing
Very functional and can be accurate, however if the correct procedure isn't followed the accuracy level decreases; lots of people can be tested at once
Maximal and Submaximal testing
Maximal tests
Those that push the participant to exhaustion (aerobic athletes) (
e.g. VO2max test and Beep Test
)
Submaximal tests
Do not push the participant to exhaustion and looks at how the body responds to submax exercise (untrained athletes) (
e.g. PWC 170 on a stationary bike where VO2max is calulated by HR response
)
Absolute and Relative
Relative measurements
take other factors into consideration for example weight whereas
absolute measurements
do not (
e.g. VO2max test
)
The
relative
measurement is more useful as it is measured in ml/kg/min whereas the
absolute
measurement is measured in L/min therefore if there was a 50kg and 70kg athlete the relative data would take this into account
Direct and Indirect Testing
Direct testing
Directly measure the fitness component (lab) (
VO2max directly measures a person's VO2max in ml/kg/min
)
Indirect tests
Estimate a measurement of the fitness component by using norms and equations (field) (
e.g. Coopers 12 minute run
)