Physical Fitness Test Battery Research Articles

Normative Study of Physical Fitness Test Battery in Secondary School: A Case Report

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in English; abstract also in Chinese.This paper presents a normative study of physical fitness test battery for a local secondary school in New Territories. Test items include hand grip; 30-sec flexed knee sit-ups; sit and reach; endurance run of 800m (girls) and 1000m (boys); and Bailey Bridge test. In order to test for the validity of the Bailey Bridge test, 30-sec straight leg push-ups for boys and knee pushups for girls were also conducted. Norms presented in this paper are categorized by age and gender so that other physical education teachers in secondary schools can use these results for comparison.這篇文章介紹新界區一所中學推行之體適能測試獎勵計劃，測試項目包括手握力、三十秒仰臥起坐、坐前伸、女子800公尺、男子1000公尺跑及拾放豆袋。另外，男子三十秒直腳掌上壓及女子曲腳掌上壓爲附加項目，作用是檢定拾放豆袋測試之有效度，文章提供的常模標準是按性別和年齡組合，其他中學體育老師可利用這些標準作爲比較依據。

IMPROVING UPPER BODY STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL

921 Law enforcement agencies are interested in the physical fitness of their officers primarily because of the physical demands that the job places on them. These demands can include running, pushing and pulling, jumping and climbing, bending and reaching, and subduing suspects. To assess physical fitness levels, many agencies use a physical fitness test battery. Closely associated with physical fitness testing is the use of physical fitness standards. A standard is a score that an agency validates as a performance criterion. Often, however, agencies express concerns that using upper body strength and endurance standards will adversely affect female and older members of the force. The goal of this study was to apply a structured push-up improvement program to successfully enhance the upper body strength and endurance for law enforcement personnel. Twenty-eight subjects completed a thrice weekly, six-week program. Training intensity and duration were progressively increased during the program. Subjects were tested on the number of correct push-ups they could perform before and following the program. Push-up performance improved significantly (p<0.001) for all subjects (19.4 to 34.6 reps), and for both males (33.8 to 49.7 reps) and females (10.1 to 24.8 reps). In addition, 16 of the 28 subjects were re-tested seven weeks later with a second posttest. No significant decrease in push-up performance was observed. These results indicate that significant strength and endurance gains can be obtained and maintained for law enforcement personnel with a structured push-up improvement program.

Physical activity and growth, maturation and performance

The effects of increased physical activity upon physical growth, maturation and performance were investigated in samples of 32 active and 32 nonactive Belgian boys followed longitudinally from 13 to 18 yr of age. Active boys participated in sports activities for more than 5 h.wk-1.yr-1 during each of the first 3 yr of the study, in addition to compulsory physical education. Nonactive boys participated in less than 1.5 h.wk-1.yr-1 during the first 3 yr of the study, but did participate in required school physical education. Anthropometric dimensions included lengths, breadths, circumferences, and skinfolds. A physical fitness test battery was administered at each observation including nine health- and performance-related tests. Skeletal maturation was assessed; sociocultural determinants and sports participation were obtained through written questionnaires verified by a control interview. No significant effects of increased physical activity were observed on growth in somatic dimensions, including skinfolds, age at peak height velocity, skeletal maturation, and most of the physical fitness components. More active boys obtained better results from 14 yr onward only for pulse recuperation and for bent arm hang. These results can be generalized to the average population but do not necessarily apply for highly trained and selected elite athletes.

Criterion Referenced Standards for Neurornuscular Physical Fitness Tests: An Analysis

This paper analyzes the determination of the criterion referenced standards for the neuromuscular physical fitness items (sit-ups, sit-and-reach, and pullups) typically included in health related physical fitness test batteries for children and adolescents. Criterion referenced standards should be linked to some specific status on a health criterion that represents an absolute desirable level of that characteristic. Three techniques used to determine and/or validate criterion referenced standards are discussed: the use of empirical data with an established criterion test, the use of empirical data with instructed versus uninstructed groups, and the use of normative data and expert judgment. It is concluded that the existing criterion referenced standards have been derived exclusively from normative data and expert opinion. It remains unknown as to the meaning of these standards in relation to desirable and absolute levels of health.

Reliability of Physical Fitness Tests Administered to Young Children

The purpose of this research was to establish the reliability of physical fitness tests for first- to third-grade children. The 26 subjects were randomly selected from a larger sample from urban public schools and tested individually on two days, one week apart. Tests included the Health-related Physical Fitness Test battery of AAHPERD and the modified pull-up of Baumgartner. Reliability estimates ranged from .83 to .99 for the former items so these items seem to be appropriate for assessing fitness of young children. The modified pull-up test was an unreliable item (r = .52). Two possible sources of variation in performance scores should be addressed, children's motivation and testing protocol.

RELIABILITY OF PHYSICAL FITNESS TESTS ADMINISTERED TO YOUNG CHILDREN

The purpose of this research was to establish the reliability of physical fitness tests for first- to third-grade children. The 26 subjects were randomly selected from a larger sample from urban public schools and tested individually on two days, one week apart. Tests included the Health-related Physical Fitness Test battery of AAHPERD and the modified pull-up of Baumgartner. Reliability estimates ranged from .83 to .99 for the former items so these items seem to be appropriate for assessing fitness of young children. The modified pull-up test was an unreliable item (r = .52). Two possible sources of variation in performance scores should be addressed, children's motivation and testing protocol.

Youth Physical Fitness Awards

For more than 20 years national awards have been given to youth who have met predetermined standards on physical fitness test batteries. These awards were established to motivate improvements in youth fitness, to motivate youth to want to take fimess tests, and to encourage active lifestyles. Recently questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of these award schemes. Theoretical and practical factors that support or question the effectiveness of various award schemes are discussed.

Physical Fitness and Chronic Low Back Pain

The purpose of this study was to describe the associations between physical fitness and important aspects of chronic low back pain problems, specifically, pain, depression, physical dysfunction, and psychologic dysfunction. Ninety-six persons with chronic low back pain were evaluated with a battery of physical and psychologic disability measures and basic physical fitness tests for aerobic capacity, strength, and flexibility. Greater overall physical fitness was significantly correlated with less physical dysfunction (R = -0.48) and fewer depressive symptoms (multiple R = -0.42), but not with psychologic dysfunction (R = -0.20) or pain (R = -0.20). Fitness accounted for 23% of the variance in physical dysfunction and 17% of the variance in depression in this mildly dysfunctional chronic back pain patient sample. Strength, as compared with aerobic capacity or flexibility, was the fitness variable contributing most to these observed associations.

Aptidão física: conceitos e avaliação

O objetivo deste trabalho foi conceituar a Aptidão Física, emitindo os pareceres de autoridades internacionais. Modernos conceitos diferenciam a Aptidão Física em duas correntes: uma relacionada à Saúde e outra relacionada às capacidades atléticas. É feita uma descrição dos testes de Aptidão Física relacionada à Saúde, e são dados exemplos das principais baterias de testes existentes

Effects of a YMCA Starter Fitness Program.

In brief This paper reports the findings of the effect of an eight-week starter fitness program on the first 1,362 people enrolled in it. The subjects were tested for cardiorespiratory fitness, body fat and weight, [Formula: see text]O2 max, muscular strength and endurance, and flexibility, using the YMCA physical fitness test battery before the program started and after eight weeks of training. The classes met for one hour, three times a week. Both men and women reduced body weight, body fat, and resting heart rate, and increased [Formula: see text]O2 max, flexibility, and muscular strength and endurance. Improved fitness was related to compliance and whether the subject or his company paid for the program.

Effects of Sports Fitness Camp Experience on Locus of Control Orientation in Children, Ages 6 to 14

Abstract The purpose of this study was to determine if children, ages 6 to 14, would experience greater internal locus of control as a result of participation in an eight-week sports fitness summer camp program. Locus of control is the belief in one's own capacity to control reinforcements. An internally controlled person perceives himself as being in control of what happens, while an externally controlled individual feels that luck, fate, chance, or powerful forces too complex to understand determine what happens to him. Subjects were 74 boys and 35 girls enrolled in the Emory University Sports Fitness Camp in the summer of 1975. During the first week of the camp, the Children's Nowicki-Strickland Internal-External Control Scale (CNS-IE) and a battery of physical fitness tests were administered to the campers. The procedure was repeated at the conclusion of the eight-week program. Results indicated that there were significant changes from an external to an internal locus of control as well as significant...

Effects of 5-Day-A-Week vs. 2− and 3-Day-A-Week Physical Education Class on Fitness, Skill, Adipose Tissue and Growth

Abstract The purpose of this study was to obtain evidence which might be used to support the desirability of teaching physical education by comparing the effects of daily physical education as opposed to two- or three-day-a-week physical education classes on physical fitness, activity skill, subcutaneous adipose tissue, and physical growth. Of the 743 eighth grade boys and girls included in this study, 284 (151 boys and 133 girls) had physical education daily and 459 (221 boys and 239 girls) had physical education two or three days per week over a period of two consecutive school years. The program followed was identical for both groups in terms of the number of weeks spent in each activity. Near the end of the second year a physical fitness test battery of six items for boys and four items for girls, a skill test battery of three items for boys and two for girls, and the triceps skinfold were given. Longitudinal growth curve data were taken from the individual health record cards. The results indicated t...

Development of a criterion for physical fitness tests from factor analysis results.

The purpose of the study is twofold: 1) to illustrate a method whereby it is possible to combine the various criteria for physical fitness to form one composite criterion and 2) to develop physical fitness test batteries. As a result, a method for combining the various criteria of physical fitness tests into one composite criterion was described. Furthermore, physical fitness test batteries were developed. work capacity—assessment from single criterion; exercise tolerance—factor analysis; composite fitness score Submitted on July 10, 1964

First Nationwide Tabulations from the AAHPER Physical Fitness Test Battery

First Nationwide Tabulations from the AAHPER Physical Fitness Test Battery

Uses of the Physical Fitness Test Battery in the Personnel Department of an Industrial Plant

Uses of the Physical Fitness Test Battery in the Personnel Department of an Industrial Plant