U4AoS1 - Fitness Testing Flashcards
What is the purpose of fitness testing?
- After activity analysis
- Identification of fitness testing
When does fitness testing occur?
occurs pre, during and post training program
Pre-testing
Replicate physiological requirements identified in activity analysis
“batteries” of specific tests selected
Why pretest?
- assess strengths and weaknesses
- motivation
- determine positions
- set bench marks/baseline data
How are strengths and weaknesses determined?
Against norms and team results
How does pretesting help strength and weaknesses
design of specific training programs that maintains strengths and improves weaknesses
How can pretesting motivate?
- results of fitness testing motivates the athlete to improve
How can pretesting determine positions
test scores indicate where an athlete is best suited in team positions
How can pretesting set bench marks?
Data which future marks can be compared against
Testing during a training program should not occur earlier than
6 weeks into a training program in order to allow time from chronic adaptations
Testing during a training program should helps with
coach assessing program progression
Why should we test during a program
motivate
evaluate training program effectiveness
Why does testing during a program motivate?
set short term goals to achieve
Why does testing during a program evaluate training program effectiveness?
determine if training is meeting goals
if an athlete has worse results - training is not specific/causing fatigue
post testing
- occurs once training program is completed
- impact of training (success)
why post testing
evaluate effectiveness of training program
- improved results= successful program, correct application of training principles
- review benchmarks
- motivation
How to conduct fitness testing
- Informed consent
- choosing tests/ health screening
- valid tests
- reliable accurate tests
What is informed consent?
Aims to minimize risk of harm to participants and test administrators
Acknowledgement of the risks associated
What does informed consent protect?
interests of the organization and participants from legal/ethical implications
Choosing fitness tests
- physiological
- pyschological
- sociocultural
appropriate to the individual
Appropriate to the individual examples
elderly
people with health conditions, specials needs
Pre participation screening
identify level of risk to participant, choose appropriate fitness test
Physiological
- health/fitness levels
- past/current injuries
- chronic health conditions
- medical conditions
- pregnancy
- smoker
Psychological
- level of motivation
- fitness/health goals
- interests
- beginner?
- mental health conditions
Sociocultural
- religion
- SES
- field vs lab testing (affordability, group testing)
Reliability
ability of a test to produce consistent and repeatable results
Factors impacting reliability
- equipment
- similar diet/hydration
- similar conditions
- tests
- recovery between
- sleep
- time of day
- order of tests
- warmup
- equipment
Lab tests
gold standard, performed by sports scientist, directly measures component being tested
highly accurate
Field tests
predict results
Advantages of lab tests
- directly measure fitness components
- accurate
- good for elite athletes
- meet gold standards
Disadvantages of lab tests
- expensive
- not for groups
- time consuming
- need expertise
- interruption to training
Advantages of field tests
- good for large groups
- inexpensive
- expensive not necessary
Disadvantages of field tests
- not as accurate (prediction, not a test to exhaustion w/ exact measurements)
- not as many norms available
