FASTER

STRONGER
HIGHER
An Introduction to:
Fitness Principles and Testing
 You hear the words „fit‟ or „fitness‟ used
almost every day in conversation, on
television, on the radio, in newspapers or
in magazines, yet probably you are not
quite sure of:
◦ The actual meanings of the words
◦ How to get fit
◦ Whether you should bother to get fit
Does ‘fit’ or ‘fitness’ mean just one
thing?
 Physical Fitness is the body‟s ability to
function efficiently and effectively. It
consists of Health Related Fitness and
Skill Related Fitness, which have different
components, each of which contributes to
total quality of life.

What is Fitness??
 Body Composition
 Aerobic Endurance/Fitness
 Flexibility
 Muscular Strength
 Muscular Endurance

Health Related Fitness

 Speed
 Agility
 Balance
 Coordination
 Reaction Time

Skill Related Fitness

Physical Activity Pyramid
Physical Activity Pyramid
 FITT
◦ Frequency
 How often. 3 or 4 sessions per week.
◦ Intensity
 How hard. It is important to get the heart rate up (within a
safe range) for improvement to occur.
◦ Time
 How long. To get any real benefit you must exercise for at
least 20 minute and continuously.
◦ Type
 For aerobic fitness choose aerobic type training eg.
Running, swimming, cycling, etc.

How Much Is Enough?

 Only half (49.8%) of Australian adults
aged 25 years and over (55.6% males
and 44.3% females) were undertaking
“sufficient” physical activity to maintain
good health.
 “Sufficient” was defined as at least 150
minutes of physical activity time a week.
 Approximately 1 in 6 (15.6%)
 reported no participation at all.

The Stats
 If you are active and fit, you decrease
your risk of:
◦ dying of heart failure
◦ Adult onset diabetes
◦ Osteoporosis
◦ Other hypokinetic diseases
 Being overweight is largely determined by
your level of physical activity (as well as
your nutritional habits).

Why Bother?
FITNESS TESTING
 The 20m multistage fitness test is a commonly used maximal running
aerobic fitness test. It is also known as the 20 meter shuttle run test,
beep or bleep test among others
 procedure: This test involves continuous running between two lines 20m
apart in time to recorded beeps. For this reason the test if also often
called the 'beep' or 'bleep' test. The test subjects stand behind one of the
lines facing the second line, and begin running when instructed by the cd
or tape. The speed at the start is quite slow. The subject continues
running between the two lines, turning when signaled by the recorded
beeps. After about one minute, a sound indicates an increase in speed,
and the beeps will be closer together. This continues each minute (level).
If the line is not reached in time for each beep, the subject must run to
the line turn and try to catch up with the pace within 2 more „beeps‟. Also,
if the line is reached before the beep sounds, the subject must wait until
the beep sounds. The test is stopped if the subject fails to reach the line
(within 2 meters) for two consecutive ends

The Beep Test

The Beep Test
 Agility is an important component of many
team sports, though it is not always tested,
and is often difficult to interpret results. The
Illinois Agility Test is a commonly used test of
agility in sports, and as such there are norms
available.
 procedure: The length of the course is 10
meters and the width (distance between the
start and finish points) is 5 meters. Four cones
are used to mark the start, finish and the two
turning points. Another four cones are placed
down the center an equal distance apart. Each
cone in the center is spaced 3.3 meters apart.
Subjects should lie on their front (head to the
start line) and hands by their shoulders. On
the 'Go' command the stopwatch is started,
and the athlete gets up as quickly as possible
and runs around the course in the direction
indicated, without knocking the cones over, to
the finish line, at which the timing is stopped.

The Illinois Agility Test

Illinois Agility Test
 Set up the beep test and an Illinois agility
test (instructions in booklets).
 Split into groups and complete each
fitness test, recording your result.
 We will discuss individual results and work
out your approximate fitness level
◦ (required for assignment)

Activities