Fitness Testing

Mark Jackson

Content

Page

Title

Contents

2

Introduction

3

Lifestyle

3

500m

4

Test Components

5

Tests

5

Results

8

Analysis

9

Recommendations

0

References

1

Introduction

This report has been produced for a 40 year old male whose aim is to run in several 1500 metre races in the summer of 2007. The demands of the event, the age of the athlete, level of competition (if any) and the level of current fitness will be considered. Relevant fitness testing protocols will be used.

All athletes are different; therefore an appraisal is completed prior to testing. This will help the athlete and coach to determine appropriate achievable goals.

Athlete's Lifestyle and History

The athlete is a part time PE instructor and football coach who believes it is important to remain fit to promote good ethics to his pupils and players. Although he does not have a regular fitness programme, instead he exercises whilst working. Hoping is good fitness base will help maintain his healthy lifestyle.

The athlete has played sport since childhood, mainly football throughout his life and middle distance running and cross country at county and combined services level. He believes that this high level of fitness and strength at a young age has somehow stayed with him now he is 40 years old? The tests may prove this thought to be false.

It is proposed to screen the athlete prior to testing using recognized methods.

Resting Heart Rate

The athlete was asked to sit down and close their eyes for 2 minutes, their pulse was found in their wrist. The palpitations were counted for 15 seconds, this figure was multiplied by 4 to give a beats per minute BPM.

This method is open to human errors in counting and timing and an alternative is to use a heart rate monitor belt using the same pre test protocols.

Palpitations: 13 per 15 seconds = 52 per minute

Heart rate monitor: 55 BPM

Height

Shoes are removed, feet together with heels, buttocks and upper back in contact with the wall. The maximum distance from the floor to the highest point of the head is measured. This value can vary throughout the day so should be taken at a consistent time.

Height: 164cm

Body Mass Index

BMI = body mass / (height x height) = 61.8 kg / 2.6896 = 22.98

This figure can be used to compare large groups although it can score lean muscular athletes as obese. For this reason a very reliable hydrostatic weighing method is used. The Bod Pod uses air displacement to measure body volume to determine the percentage of body fat.
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Body Fat: 9%

500 metres

A 1500m race will require the use of two energy pathways simultaneously. Research shows that the aerobic pathway contributes approximately 75% and the anaerobic pathway approximately 25%, although approximately 2% of the energy needs will be met by creatine phosphate. (Greene & Pate 2004). This statement is backed up by Coe, P. (2004) who concurs that "endurance is the better base for middle distance running and as the good 1500m runners must be able to run a good 800m, the endurance and stamina training should cover both"

A 1500m race ...

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