fitness test = endurance test?

[njnets4life]

gym class for the past two weeks, we had to take a fitness test, same as last year, and i was wondering if the fitness test was really an endurance test.

we had a mile run, consecutive pushups, as many crunches in 2 min., shuttle run, and consecutive pull-ups. i was thinking that all this stuff only tested endurance, probably except pull-ups and shuttle run. i scored kinda bad, worse than some other kids who didn't work out like i did cuz they could run a lot longer, do more push-ups, etc. (i have horrible endurance) the only thing i did good at was pull-ups (11, not horrible), but i bet that i have a larger 1-rep max at a bench press, and other general stuff that has to do w/ power.

am i wrong, or am i just lying to myself?

[Atheimetal]

Those tests are iffy, particularly the scales they use to judge you. If I recall for a 16 or 17 year old male, to achieve an A in running the mile you had to run somewhere around 5:30 or under. A grade of C was around 7:30 - 8 minutes, which is really not average. Don't put much stock into it.

[njnets4life]

we kinda had a point system, and it is consistent for all four yrs in hs, ranging from 100 being the highest on each event and about 5 being the lowest. for example, if you got 60 consecutive pushups, you got 100 points. the highest point total possible is 500. i was just wondering cuz my friends were making fun of me, asking if i really worked out cuz they had a faster mile than me.

[Atheimetal]

I set my personal mile record at a time when I had not been working out at all for an extended period of time (6:30) and was unable to beat that mark at a time when I had been doing extensive cardio for rugby for a long period of time (7:15)

I also set my sit-up record at a time when I had also been doing absolutely nothing for months. (56 in a minute).. wasn't able to beat that at a time when I had been working out a lot. We didn't even test push-ups which sucks because I could nail a 100% easy on that.

Challenge your friends to some strength things, see how they fare.

[Shelbz]

Fitness = fit for work. If you were "more fit", you could do more work.

Maybe you could do more work in 5 seconds than most of your friends (can lift more weight with limited reps), but your "fitness" isn't great so over the course of an hour, or several hours, you would run out of energy.

As a landscaper, I'd rather have someone with well rounded cardio and strength working with me, rather than someone with excellent strength and terrible cardio - your ass is gonna be useless before lunch time.

At least thats how I see it - I'm probably wrong somewhere.

http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Fitness
"Fitness is the physical state of well-being."

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/fitness
"capability of the body of distributing inhaled oxygen to muscle tissue during increased physical effort. "
Shelbz

[sportyhp]

all we have are these stupid 12 min. runs (which i do this thursday), along with flex-arm hang/pull-up test, sit-ups, push-ups, and flexibility...really is useless for my class, especially when the girls just jump up on the chin up bar and then let go instead of trying to hold on for just one second haha

[Shelbz]

Originally Posted by sportyhp

all we have are these stupid 12 min. runs (which i do this thursday), along with flex-arm hang/pull-up test, sit-ups, push-ups, and flexibility...really is useless for my class, especially when the girls just jump up on the chin up bar and then let go instead of trying to hold on for just one second haha

I can run 4k in 12 minutes. Although in highschool my best was only 8.5 or 9 laps... Agreed, stupid test. Physical education shouldn't be about being competative - the bloody teachers should log your progress throughout the year and put emphasis on challanging your personal limits - not achiving standardized results.

Shelbz

[ksc]

I did a mile in about 5:40ish and I'm out of shape as heck

[Retardo-pex]

Having actually taught a gym class for part of an internship, and administering these tests, it really boils down to, are you in better shape then last year/ or you above the horrible category. They are not tests of maximal strength because maximal strength does not relate to overall health as much as say basic muscular endurance, flexability, and cardiovascular health. Its not an idication of how much time you spend in the gym, but more on how much time you spend being active. Anyone can go to the gym and lift heavy weight for an hour a day, they aren't gonna be in very good shape just doing that.

The standardized testing is justa comparison to national data of what the testers ( dunno if they were exercise scientists or what) believe is a healthy range and an unhealthy range and thats really all the schools need to show, so for when the next national cenus rolls around, they can say "hey look, our students improved their total fitness by 12% " or whatever. Telly uo freinds to enter a powerlifting competition with you if you have something to prove to them :P

In case you're wondering yeah I did the tests with the students
Pushups to fail- 72
Crunches in 1 min- 63
Sit and reach- 23 inches
Mile run- 8:12

It was after this Id ecided I needed to incorporate some cardio into my workouts asap

[Shelbz]

Originally Posted by Retardo-pex

Having actually taught a gym class for part of an internship, and administering these tests, it really boils down to, are you in better shape then last year/ or you above the horrible category. They are not tests of maximal strength because maximal strength does not relate to overall health as much as say basic muscular endurance, flexability, and cardiovascular health. Its not an idication of how much time you spend in the gym, but more on how much time you spend being active. Anyone can go to the gym and lift heavy weight for an hour a day, they aren't gonna be in very good shape just doing that.

The standardized testing is justa comparison to national data of what the testers ( dunno if they were exercise scientists or what) believe is a healthy range and an unhealthy range and thats really all the schools need to show, so for when the next national cenus rolls around, they can say "hey look, our students improved their total fitness by 12% " or whatever. Telly uo freinds to enter a powerlifting competition with you if you have something to prove to them :P

In case you're wondering yeah I did the tests with the students
Pushups to fail- 72
Crunches in 1 min- 63
Sit and reach- 23 inches
Mile run- 8:12

It was after this Id ecided I needed to incorporate some cardio into my workouts asap

Makes sense. Although I doubt teenagers care about improveing the national average. PE teachers arn't personal trainers, but they should still encourage and grade towards progression rather than standarized results.

Shelbz

[Retardo-pex]

Most teenagers don't care about improving thier own elath which is the main problem and why easy to teach/follow tests like this are needed. Childhood obesity is a tough thing to break.