Many fitness assessments have been created as a unit of measure of various fitness categories, such as general fitness, aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, body composition etc.
Fitness tests are only as accurate as you make them, so reading instructions carefully, and performing them often, should bring more accurate results.
Although almost all of the fitness tests you undertake are only likely to highlight what you already suspect – a bodybuilder achieving “excellent” muscular strength test results, or a marathon runner displaying an “excellent” score for their aerobic fitness assessments – it can be used for trend analysis. Trend analysis can help identify progression or decline and might, in turn, alter the way you train your client – weak point training, periodisation etc. Also, it would be ignorant to assume you’ve taken all factors into account. Although unlikely, sometimes the test results can throw up a surprise, such as a powerlifter with poor grip strength or an outwardly healthy individual with high blood pressure.
If you’re performing these fitness assessments on a client for the first time, you should have their full approval and a completed PAR-Q (health questionnaire) that you’re happy with. If you’re working with a deconditioned individual, as a matter of course, they should see their Doctor beforehand and, thereafter, it would be prudent to perform the static fitness assessments (measuring general fitness) first.
Static fitness tests primarily measure general fitness, good health & well-being. Dynamic fitness assessments measure aerobic fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility etc.
Please visit the Gym Professor website for more information on fitness testing. A common selection of static fitness tests and dynamic fitness tests are provided alongside information on how to perform them correctly, relating reference charts & analysing the obtained data.
