In our studies we use the Fitnessgram, I suggest you to do a quick online research about the uses of this program to evaluate physical fitness

Dear Mariam,

There are various types of fitness batteries available in the literature but all of them may not be applicable to every population. These test batteries are categorized according to different target population. You may have to first specified about your target population before selecting the test batteries. And you also should be specified which component of fitness you want to test for. Following are the test batteries recommended by ACSM:

Recommended Order for Fitness-Evaluation Tests

    1. YMCA - physical fitness testing battery for adults as well as youth 

    2. AAHPERD: for College Students

    3. Canadian Physical Activity, Fitness & Lifestyle Appraisal - for fitness survey

    4. FITNESSGRAM - for youth fitness testing

    5. The President’s Challenge  - for school children ages 6–17

Thanks a lot Pablo and Ratan.

My study will be on university students "19_25years" and to measure the health components of physical fitness. Which is best recommended??

Hi Marian,

Ratan give you a good answer to your question!

If you are testing a large population, I suggest you take a look at the Manual for Exercise Testing and Prescription from the ACSM. They will present you with a wide reach of protocols for field-testing of cardiovascular condition as well as other components of Fitness.

Hi,

If you are testing older people, the Senior Fitness Test battery is a good choice. Otherwise, for adults you could check the Alpha fit battery.

Dear Mariam,

you can choose some of world famous test batteries (AAHPERD, FITNESSGRAM, EUROFIT, ALPHA-FIT ...) based on yours field conditions.

We tried to compare some test batteries we are using in the Czech Republic for children:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282322428_Test_batteries_assessing_physical_fitness_in_school-aged_children_in_the_Czech_Republic_A_brief_review

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282291553_Aktuln_monosti_hodnocen_tlesn_zdatnosti_u_jedinc_kolnho_vku (english abstract only)

Or you can try Indares online system as well (http://indares.com/public). There are two health-related fitness batteries - one for adults and one for children. Big advantage is that Indares is for free. You can create your own group and insert results. This system provides immediate feedback (graphs and charts). Very easy to use.

Have a nice day...

Article Test batteries assessing physical fitness in school-aged chi...

Article Aktuální možnosti hodnocení tělesné zdatnosti u jedinců školního věku

Hi Marian,

I suggest the two way.

You can use the Fitness Field Test, as a muscle muscle endurance, cardiovascular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. because field test is too easy, but you must have a big subjects. I used the field test on near 2,000 subjects in article.

You can use the Fitness Test EQUIPMENT. Also, you remember of the 5(five) factor of fitness test. This way you must have the test's EQUIPMENT or MACHINE and you need enough time. Also this way have the upgrade reliability.

Last, could you check about your subjects?

age, gender, race. Usually divided into adolescents, general, and elderly.

If your subjects are elderly, could you check about new physical fitness test from Japan on 2004 or 2005.

If you have more quwstion, send me E-mail. [email protected]

Have a great day. 

From North Carolina

This a very good debate. Take a look at Taylor Stratton et al, 2004, Stratton et al MSSE 2007 and Boddy et al 2012. We used  a mixture of Eurofit tests which would be valid for the age range that you intend to recruit. You should also design your study to include a sub sample that will repeat the tests on the same day and same tie of day to give your larger study confidence in the results. There are also key pre-test instruction and during test issues that you need to consider.

Dear Marian,

The Veterans Specific Activity Questionnaire is an interesting instrument. We validated it in the older population, but there are works with younger people.

Best Regards,

Thanks a lot for all of you. You offered a great help :)

Hello Mariam,

Further to the comments above, my advice would also be to consider the FITNESSGRAM tool for youth physical fitness assessment. Last year, a Masters Student of mine used this feasible instrument effectively in a Physical Education setting with older adolescents (15-17 years of age).

According to Plowman et al., (2013), the Fitnessgram:

“helps teachers track health-related fitness and physical activity information over time and produce personalized reports for children, parents, and school administrators”.

In summary, the Fitnessgram provides a battery of tests to measure the components of health related fitness (Aerobic Capacity, Body Composition, Muscular Strength and Endurance and Flexibility) amongst school aged populations. It is widely considered as an established instrument.

All the best,

Wesley