SPMD 4350 Notes

Health-Related Physical Fitness Testing and Interpretation

Learning Objectives

• Describe overall purposes, principles, and organization of fitness testing.
• Explain rationale, protocols, and administration of various resting measures such as blood pressure, body composition, and anthropometry.
• Explain rationale, protocols, and administration of various active assessments involving cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), muscular fitness, and flexibility.
• Practice proper interpretation of aforementioned assessment results.

Fitness Testing: Purpose

• Collecting baseline data.
• Comparing present health/fitness status relative to standards or benchmarks.
  • Serves as an "eye opener".
• Comparing to age- and sex-matched norms.
• Data for appropriate Exercise Prescription (Ex Rx).
• Developing an individualized program.
• Collecting follow-up data.
• Allows for evaluation of progress following Ex Rx.
• Long-term monitoring as participants age.
• Motivation.
• Establishing reasonable and attainable health/fitness goals.

Fitness Testing: Basic Principles & Guidelines

• Tests should be reliable.
  • Overall consistency or repeatability of a test.
  • Should display a high sense of test-retest reliability.
• Tests should be valid.
  • The degree to which a test measures what it is supposed to measure.
• Tests should yield results that are indicative of the current state of fitness.
  • Directly comparable to normative data.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF): Maximal Oxygen Uptake

• $VO_{2}max$ = maximal volume of oxygen consumed per unit of time.
  • Accepted as the criterion measure of CRF.
• Expressed:
  • Relative: mL/kg/min (most common).
  • Absolute: mL/min.
  • Relative expression allows for meaningful comparisons between/among individuals with differing body weights.
• $VO_{2}max$ is the product of maximal cardiac output (Q) and arterial-venous oxygen difference (aVo2 Diff).
• $VO<em>{2}max = Q \times aVO</em>{2}Diff$
• Cardiac Output:
  • The amount of blood the heart pumps through the circulatory system in one minute.
• Arterial-venous oxygen difference:
  • The difference between the oxygen content of the arterial blood and mixed venous blood.
  • Arterial: Oxygenated blood.
  • Venous: Deoxygenated blood.
  • Therefore, aVo2 Diff represents the extent to which oxygen is removed from the blood as it passes through the body.
• Open circuit spirometry:
  • Most commonly used to measure $VO_{2}max$.
  • Direct measurement.
  • Used during a graded incline incremental or ramp exercise test to exhaustion.
  • Procedure:
    • Participant breathes through low-resistance valve or mask with nose occluded.
    • Expired fractions of $O<em>{2}$ and $CO</em>{2}$ are measured.

Cardiorespiratory Fitness (CRF): Maximal vs. Submaximal Exercise Testing

• When direct measurement of $VO<em>{2}max$ is not feasible, a variety of maximal and submaximal exercise tests can be used to estimate $VO</em>{2}max$.
• The decision to use a maximal or submaximal exercise test depends largely on:
  • Reasons for the test.
  • Risk level of the participant.
  • Availability of appropriate equipment and personnel.
• Maximal exercise tests:
  • Require participants to exercise to the point of physiological fatigue (“volitional fatigue”).
  • May be inappropriate for some individuals.
  • May require the need for emergency equipment.
• Submaximal exercise tests:
  • May be more appropriate to assess CRF in a health/fitness setting.
  • Enhanced comfort levels.
• Estimates of $VO_{2}max$ from the HR response to submaximal exercise tests are based on a few assumptions:
  • A steady state HR is obtained for each exercise work rate.
    • steady state = HR