Fitness Assessment

The past week was a week of fitness testing for me. Fitness Testing is an important tool for my trade (exercise training) as it establishes a baseline fitness level for my client and we can work together to improve that fitness level and ultimately to achieve my client's objectives, such as losing weight, managing medical conditions or winning championships!

I started out with a fitness assessment for a personal training client on Sunday who is concerned about weight management. She isn't exactly overweight but just needs to start exercising to achieve her ideal weight of 60 kg. She is 1.71 metres tall.

On Tuesday, Jamo brought me to his football team for a fitness assessment. He wants his team to be fit so that they can challenge at least for the regional title for secondary school in 2007. Fitness assessment for footballer are different from the general population.

For the general pop, you do the 2.4 km run or 12 minute cooper run for cardiovascular fitness, and usually a 1 minute sit-up test for muscular endurance. While for footballers, the standard test for aerobic fitness is beep test (or 20 metres multi-stage shuttle run test). They would run 20 metres from one end to the other end on the sound of a 'beep'. On the second 'beep' they would run back. The intervals between the beeps would become shorter and shorter and thus the footballers would have to start sprinting at higher levels.

The minimum mark for S-League players is 12-8 for 2006 (12-6 for 2005). It is claimed that David Beckham achieved level 15 while Ronaldhinho level 16. Jamo's team, aged between 13-15, achieved an average for 8-6. I think there is much room for improvement as I conducted the beep test for a under 16 team of a S-League club in 2005 and the boys ran above level 11.

Other tests that I conducted for the boys are 1-minute push-up test and vertical jump. Upper body strength is usually neglected by footballers as they concentrated on their ball skills. It should be emphasised to them that upper body strength is important in fending off challenges by the opponent. A good example would be Ronaldinho's upper body strength to fend off John Terry's challenge to score his goal in a Champion's League game in 2006.

Vertical Jump is a test I like. Probably, because I used to play basketball until I discovered that I have slipped disc. It tests how high a footballer can jump as this is useful when he jumps for headers. The boys jumped an average of 48 cm. Not bad, but I would have like them to achieve 55 cm if they come under my training.

I conducted a 3rd fitness assessment for my NKF patients yesterday (Sunday). Fitness assessment for special population is entirely different from footballers or general population. For a start, you cannot get them to run. But it is important to get them to improve their cardiovascular fitness as it may reduce their high blood pressure condition.

Luckily sports scientists invented this test called 6-minute walk test. The test measures how far the patient can walk in 6 minutes. My patients are relatively healthier and cheerful and I am glad they did very well for the walk.

Also, you cannot ask the patient to do sit-ups or push-ups for muscular fitness. Again, scientists invented the 30s chair stand test and 30s arm curl tests for their lower and upper body strengths. The patients are tested how many times they can stand up from a chair without using hand support within 30 seconds or how many times they can do a biceps curl for 30 second using 5lbs dumbbell for ladies and 8 lbs dumbbell for men.

Oh, didn't realise I wrote so much.... my readers must be bored to death about my fitness testing week.

I will come back with more interesting stuff about exercise and fitness later this week.