Evaluation and prediction of physical fitness, utilizing modified apparatus of the harvard step test

Abstract

1. 1. Maximal and submaximal tests of physical fitness are described. The apparatus utilized was the 20 inch step of the Harvard step test, modified by the addition of a horizontal bar for a handhold by the subject. Use of the bar increased the total muscle mass of the body employed in the exercise and decreased the skill required. The apparatus occupies little space, is simple and inexpensive, and can be adapted to a variety of purposes by varying the height of the step and the frequency of the step-up step-down cycle. 2. 2. Two maximal tests, termed the capacity step test and the capacity pack test, were similar in technic, except for the use in the pack test of a back pack loaded to one third of the subject's body weight. Cadence of the exercise was 2 sec., representing 30 steps/min. The end-point of the maximal tests was the inability of the subject to maintain exercise at the prescribed rate. This end-point, strictly enforced, was considerably short of exhaustion. 3. 3. The capacity step test was found suitable for evaluating the physical fitness of all subjects except the unusually fit, for whom the pack test was better suited. Performance on these two tests was studied on several hundred normal military and civilian personnel in the age range of 18 to 45 years, and in five categories of physical training. 4. 4. In submaximal step exercise of prescribed duration, the continuously recorded heart rate showed a high degree of consistency in the same subject on different days, provided the subject maintained a stable way of life. 5. 5. The three and a half to four minute pulse count during recovery from five minutes of submaximal step exercise had the greatest value for predicting duration in the capacity step test. From this pulse count, an equation was derived for predicting duration in the maximal test. 6. 6 Recovery heart rate following submaximal exercise of fixed duration was studied repeatedly in patients during convalescence from acute tonsillitis, alcoholism and infectious mononucleosis. As convalescence proceeded, both the exercise and recovery heart-rate curves tended to shift to progressively lower levels with the recovery heart rate showing the greater changes. This sensitivity of the heart rate to the effects of illness suggests useful application in the study of the process of convalescence, and possibly in the detection of mild exacerbation of disease.