Practical Measures of Fitness and Conditioning Tests

Keywords: Fitness, BMI, body fat percentage, Cooper 12-minute run, hand dynamometer, conditioning tests

"That which we are, we are, and if we are to be any better, now is the time to begin." - Tennyson

How fit am I? Avoid expensive measurements and look at practical applications. 

The US obesity percentage is about 42 percent. The pandemic hasn't helped with consensus weight gain with less activity, more cooking, and stress eating. We speak of the "quarantine fifteen." 

The definition of overweight is having a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 29.9. A BMI of 30 or greater is classified as obese. 

Here's a BMI calculator. 

Even better is a body fat calculator. Body fat percentage is more accurate than BMI. 

Here's a body fat percentage calculator which uses height, weight, neck size, and waist circumference. 

If we're unhappy with our weight, BMI, or body fat, we have alternatives, including decreasing calorie intake and increasing calorie burn (exercise). Muscle consumes more calories than fat, so increasing muscle mass can help. 

"At a brisk walking pace, you would burn 100 to 300 calories in 30 minutes (depending on your weight) or 200 to 600 calories in an hour. By walking for 30 minutes or more at a time, some of those calories will be from stored fat."

It's obviously more efficient not to eat a brownie than to walk for forty minutes. 

Heart rate is another simple measure of fitness, although affected by other factors including medication, alcohol, and caffeine. At his peak fitness, Lance Armstrong had a resting heart rate of 34. Most of us would need a pacemaker if our heart rate were 34. 

With your palm facing up, we find our radial pulse on the outside of the wrist. Count your pulse during fifteen seconds and multiply by four. 

When we train, our hearts become more efficient, lowering our pulse. 

The Cooper 12-minute run test correlates well with maximal oxygen consumption, the most accurate metric of aerobic fitness. You run on a track or treadmill and apply the distance to the chart (below). Cooper studied air force officers so their fitness may not represent the general population.

Get medical authorization from your physician. Training for this half a dozen years ago didn't agree with my ankles and knees. 

A hand dynamometer measures grip strength. Effort dependence is critical, but some trainers feel it also measures mental fatigue. Normals are available here. 

I heard a strength and condition coach recommend longitudinal testing. If levels dropped, he would back off workouts for individuals and teams. 

Use a combination of objective body composition measurements, pulse, and reproducible measurements like 12-minute runs and grip strength to help us monitor fitness. 

Lagniappe. Zak Boisvert shares conditioning tests. The Celtics' "Boston Marathon" at the end of a workout is among the most famous, running as many lengths of the court as possible in three minutes. 

At Harvard, we had the annual "Pitcher's Mile," to be completed in under 6:30 at Briggs Cage. I think it was 18 laps per mile. Briggs had an elevated track with banked ends and naturally it turned into a competition among us lunatics. As a junior, I ran a 5:07. Being a better pitcher would have exceeded winning the mile. 

Lagniappe 2. Every day is player development day. "Hang, hesi, cross." Become more explosive and deceptive to attack the basket. Moves and reads...