There are many kinds of fitness – some can be measured quantitatively and some can be measure qualitatively. Some standards are simply an indicator of current health and/or performance levels. Ascertaining these indicates the starting point for the personal-training client or the athlete. Retesting at a later date indicates the success or failure of the undertaken programme. Herein lies the real value. The tests we normally run are:

Body Fat:

This measure is far more useful than simply “body weight” or BMI, because these latter measurements don’t take into account lean body composition such as bone or muscle. The danger of losing “weight” is that a person has no idea what kind of weight he/she is, in fact, losing. By testing body fat levels accurately, we can ascertain if a person is truly becoming leaner, and achieving a more favourable body composition.

Speed & Agility Tests:

The most common speed tests are the 1-10m acceleration test and the 1-40m max velocity test. These are typically measured done using timing gates (although can be done with a stopwatch). Agility (ability to decelerate, and then accelerate in another direction) may be measured using the 5-10-5 Pro Agility Test.

Functional Screening:

Functional screening involves the client performing 7 movement patterns (e.g. overhead squat), aimed at identifying the person’s quality of functional movement, mobility, and stability. This screening process will identify any movement dysfunctions which may expose players to a higher risk of injury, and allow corrective exercise protocols to be developed to reduce this risk of potential injury. See Functional Screening for more.

Maximum Strength: This test is usually done with older teenagers and adult athletes. The three most common tests are: Bench Press (pushing), Squat, and Chin-ups (pulling).  The Bench Press test will establish the 1-repetition maximum. The chin-up test will establish the maximum number of technically-correct chins that can be performed.  Lower body strength testing is usually done by using a 1-3 repetition maximum back squat, although front squat could also be used. For younger teenagers or beginner athletes, it is recommended to test the number of repetitions that can be performed in 30 seconds with 40% body weight.

Explosive Power:

This can be done by determining the 1-3 repetition maximum of the Olympic Lifts or measuring a vertical or horizontal jump. As the first option should only be used with experienced/advanced athletes, out test of preference is the vertical jump, measured with an electronic jump mat. Click here for more info.

Anaerobic Fitness:

This is measure of an athletes ability to produce effort repeatedly. It is very specific to field and court sports. There are a few options. One such test is the Yoyo test.Click here for more info.