What makes a fitness test valid

Bureau of Publications, Teachers college, Columbia University , Download your free copy of the Topend Sports' Fitness Testing Guide — a guide for you to plan, conduct, analyze and interpret fitness testing of athletes. We have over fitness tests listed, so it's not easy to choose the best one to use. You should consider the validity, reliability, costs and ease of use for each test.

Use our testing guide to conducting, recording, and interpreting fitness tests. Any questions, please ask or search for your answer. To keep up with the latest in sport science and this website, subscribe to our newsletter. We are also on facebook and twitter. It should be a valid measure It should be reliable and objective. That is tests given at different times and by different testers should yield like results.

It should be interesting to the subjects - to ensure their cooperation. It should involve tests which are adapted to the subjects tested.

It should involve tests which are easily and accurately scored, in scores which are stated in mathematical terms. Using Standard Test Protocols There is often a standard set of tests that are performed for the fitness testing of any sport.

Any comments, suggestions or corrections? Please let us know. Search This Site. Testing Extra We have over fitness tests listed, so it's not easy to choose the best one to use. PAGES home search sitemap store. You set Sue up slightly differently than the first instructor who tested her — the bike seat is lower than the height used by the other trainer.

Practise your protocol and agree with all trainers how to gauge what height the seat on the bike should be at, plus record that each time you test. Also check other factors such as cell phones, and under wire bras which can give heart rate monitors trouble. The above scenario does happen, which is why, if you are going to test, you want to select good valid tests and do them well.

Again, you must remember the reason for testing is safety, training focus, and motivation. You lose all of these benefits if the testing is not completed well. And one last time for good luck…make sure that when you fitness test your personal training clients you only use tests that are valid and measure exactly what you want to measure, and you can trust the results by ensuring the test is as reliable as possible.

Addicting your Personal Training clients to training regularly is easy! Claim your copy of our Session Delivery Guide now and learn how it's done! Claim your copy here. Link to Client Nutrition and Lifestyle Logbook.

All rights reserved. Search Site only in current section. Advanced Search…. Personal trainers should only ever use tests that are valid and reliable. In this page we explain what these guiding principles mean and how to apply them.

What is validity? What is reliability? Random error Random error is an error that occurs sometimes. To minimize random error as a fitness professional you must: Learn the test protocols very well and stick to them — this means each time you test you do exactly the same thing, in the same way.

Make sure the environment and your client are in the same condition — this means recording information about the circumstances you test in each time and use preparation information with your client to ensure they are in the same state.

How often are you the same weight on two different sets of scales on the same day? How good are you at accurately finding and marking skinfold sites when you are going to complete skinfold testing? How well practiced are you at recording heart rates whilst increasing treadmill speed, whilst keeping an eye on the time? Standard error A standard error occurs every time. Reduce measurement error by increasing the sensitivity of the tool being used — an example would be using a tape measure that had millimetre divisions on it rather than just centimetres as this will allow more accurate measurement.

Similarly — stop watches that go to the thousandth of a second are better for measuring short sprint times. There are several different measures of reliability as follows Intra -reliability — This tells you how accurate you are at completing the test repeatedly on the same day. This means the results are below what they should be — for example the fitness component measured has improved by five percent when actually an accurate test, done well, would show a ten percent improvement.

This means the results are above what they should be — for example the fitness component measured has improved by fifteen percent when actually an accurate test, done well, would show a ten percent improvement. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

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