Posted on November 01, 2018 by Jenny Cromack
We’re starting monthly fitness testing here at Motive8. But what is fitness testing? I thought it would be a good idea to go through this, why we do it, and what the process involves. I’ll also be giving you a few examples of some great fitness tests that we can use.
What is Fitness Testing?
Fitness Testing is exactly what it’s name suggests: the process of testing ‘fitness.’ Importantly though there are loads of different ways to define fitness, so there are a bunch of different tests we can use to assess different types of fitness.
Why do we do fitness testing?
There’s an old saying that goes something along the lines of “if you’re not measuring it you’re not managing it,” and it applies really well to your health and fitness. If you want to run faster, you need to know how fast you’re currently running. If you want to get stronger, you need to know how strong you are right now. Fitness testing is our way to help you set benchmarks that you can use to track your progress and make sure you’re moving in the right direction.
What does fitness testing involve?
This varies massively depending on the type of fitness test being conducted. Generally tests fall into a few broad categories:
- Power,
- Strength,
- Aerobic Capacity,
- Anaerobic Capacity,
- Agility,
- Flexibility.
Depending on the category and goal of the test, you could be running against the clock on the treadmill, lifting a weight for a certain number of repetitions or seeing how far you can reach in certain stretch positions.
How about a couple of examples…
A great example of an aerobic fitness test is the ‘Cooper Test’, which involves running as fast as possible on a treadmill for 12 minutes. Your score is the total distance you cover, which can be compared to normative data (a set of pre-existing standards) to see how you stack up. You can also use a simple formula to get an accurate estimate of your VO2 Max.
Another great fitness test geared towards testing strength endurance is the press-up test. It’s a super simple test in which you perform as many press ups as you can in 1 minute. The test is really quick, requires no fancy kit and gives a really accurate estimate of your upper body strength endurance.
Feeling intrigued? Pop down to Motive8 North HQ on the first Tuesday of every month at 1pm and we’ll take you through some fitness tests for yourself.