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Fitness tests can be used to ascertain physical fitness levels

Innocent choga Fitness
It is prudent to know your physical fitness status. You would not want to exercise and diet aimlessly. This entails undergoing fitness tests and measurements before embarking on a fitness program and subsequently at regular intervals.

The information at the starting point will form the base of your plans. You have to be certain what you are doing conforms to your objectives.

Testing is done in order to monitor progress, and as a way of motivating yourself. You will also want to compare current information with the starting point information and evaluate. This will help to identify positive or negative changes. Are you are losing weight appropriately, are you losing too much too fast, or are you losing beyond the recommended levels. Has the level of conditions, if one has any, eased, aggravated or remained the same.

Tests and measurements done and evaluated at regular intervals can show the effectiveness of a fitness program. Problems cropping up or benefits accruing can be identified and recommendations can be made for you to either try another activity or continue.

Tests will help determine a new exerciser’s physical and mental capacity to endure training stress. When training sessions involve tests, measurements and evaluation one is most likely to get involved and stick to the program because this makes everything exciting. One will strive to fare better in the next testing session.

This helps even when dealing with children in exercise and sporting programs. The span of attention in children will be low and they get distracted easily if the sessions are mindless. They will not concentrate; perhaps, thinking of the interesting gadgets at home. They have to comprehend the activity if they are to get hooked to it.

It is interesting to know, how much did I weigh the last time, how much weight did I use, how long did it take me to cover such a distance the last time and so on. One will ponder why has the weight gone down, why am I lifting less, why am I taking longer?

When the evaluation reveals that things are going well we tend to get motivated to attain more. It is important to bear in mind that for some individuals who were born genetically predisposed to getting overweight, the scale, the mirror and other measuring devices that may show little improvement may be discouraging factors instead.

Physical fitness improvement levels in such cases are better ascertained with medical and field or gym tests. The body composition could be changing slowly and fitness components could have greatly improved. Such individuals can be fit and capable of performing physical activities just like lighter individuals.

Tests and measurements also help to identify weaknesses and strengths. Programs that prioritise on and address weak areas can be designed. Implements can be tailor made to address an athlete’s weaknesses. For example, tests can reveal overpronation as the source of problems affecting the performance of a runner. Experts can make shoes that will address the problems of each particular foot to enable the runner to perform maximally.

It is not a secret that Lionel Messi whose talent was discovered at the age of five, had to undergo therapy to overcome a growth hormone deficiency which was identified at the age of eleven. I am neither condemning Messi nor am I condoning the use of growth hormone by prospective athletes in similar circumstances, but I am just stating the fact that tests led to the identification and rectification of Messi’s stature problems.

I put two physical educationists to task over this issue. One, an expert in Sports Medicine was adamant “doping is doping no matter what the circumstances. I am sure there could be natural ways of tackling similar problems if they are identified earlier. What if one suffers from side effects in a matter which was decided in his youth,” he argued.

The other, a Test, Measurements and Evaluation expert reasoned it was imperative that the therapy took place as the benefits outweighed the possible side effects. After all this was a correction measure of a medical condition done by medical experts. Had this not been done, we would not be seeing the exciting and entertaining football that Messi is thrilling the world with today.

Fitness test are also used as a way of identifying sporting talent, for example, having superior cardiovascular endurance indicates that one can do well in marathon running. The Test, Measurements and Evaluation expert reckons that grooming athletes in a discipline in which they are not talented in is a waste of resources .Such activities can only be done for cross training purposes.

It is also important to note that, as a way of identifying talent, testing of physical attributes can be less reliable where there are varying growth patterns in a child. It is also necessary to consider the fact that some athletes can perform well despite the lack of required attributes. However, some coaches will not consider that fact and will thereby dismiss talent where the sporting discipline is very physical.

What tests can be done? Field or gym tests and laboratory tests can be done, but laboratory tests tend to be more accurate.

What can be measured? Medical conditions, cardiovascular endurance, body composition, reaction time and musculoskeletal fitness components like strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and so forth.

Who can conduct tests? Medical practitioners, coaches and fitness trainers.

• Email:[email protected] Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport