Muscle Fitness

Strength, Endurance, & Flexibility

 Resistance Training
• Integral component of exercise programs
• Health related component of fitness
– Prevent or rehabilitate injuries
– Control of body weight
– Prevent or treat osteoporosis
– Enhance athletic performance
– Manage stress
• Implications no longer just for athletes
– Children, older adults, cardiac patients can all benefit
 Muscular Strength
• Refers to the ability to generate force at a given
speed (velocity) of movement
• Is developed by placing an overload on the
targeted muscle of group of muscles
• Strength assessed for following reasons
– To assess muscular fitness
– To identify weakness
– To monitor progress of rehabilitation program
– To measure the effectiveness of resistance training
program
Muscular Strength Measurements
• Variety of devises
– Cable tensiometer
– Dynamometer
– Strain gauge device
– 1-RM test
• Conditions to consider in assessment
– Isolation of muscle group to be tested
– Force production varies through ROM
– Mass of body part involved
 1-RM
• “Gold Standard” of dynamic strength testing
• Procedure
– Warm up: 5-10 reps of 40-60% perceived max
– Rest with light stretching for 1 min
– 3-5 reps at 60-80% perceived max
– Add small amount of weight
– Weight attempted: if lift is successful, repeat previous
step and try again after 3-5 min rest
– Goal is to find 1 RM within 3-5 trials
– 1 RM is reported as the weight of last successfully
completed lift
 Muscle endurance
• Ability of a muscle group to execute
repeated contractions over a period of
time sufficient to cause muscular fatigue or
to maintain a specific percentage of the
maximum voluntary contraction for a
prolonged period of time
• Measured by simple field tests
– Curl up test
– Max push up test
 Curl-up Test Procedures
• Subject is supine on mat, with knees bent
at 90 degrees. Fingers touching masking
tape. Arms are at the side. Place a
second piece of tape 10cm apart
• Set a metronome is set to 50 beats/min
• Lift shoulder blades off the mat
• Shoulder blades should be flattened
before you curl back up
• Measure curl ups for 1 minute
 Push up Procedures
• Standard “up” position for males is hands
shoulder with apart, back straight, head
up, and toes acting as a pivot. For
females the modified position is used (legs
together, lower leg in contact with mat with
ankles plantar flexed, back straight, hands
shoulder widith apart
 Push up Procedures
• Subject must lower the body until chin touches
mat, stomache should not touch mat
• Back must be straight at all times, and subject
must push up to full arm extension
• The consecutive number of correctly performed
push ups without rest is counted as the score
• Score interpreted from Table 4-11 in ACSM
Guidelines
 Flexibility
• Ability to move a joint through its complete
range of motion (ROM)
• Important for athletic performance and
daily living skills
• Variables affecting flexibility
– Distensibility of the joint capsule, adequate
warm up and muscle viscosity, compliance of
ligaments and tendons
• Flexibility is joint specific
– No joint flexibility test can evaluate total body flexibility
• Flexibility is expressed in degrees of motion
• Common devises for measuring flexibility
– Goniometers
– Electrogoniometers
– Flexometers
– Inclinometers
– Tape measures
 Sit and Reach Test
• Assesses lower back and hip flexibility
• Procedures
– See page 84, Box 4-6 for Trunk Flexion Test
Procedures, ACSM Guidelines
– Interpretation of sit and reach scores can be
made using Table 4-14 and Table 4-15 in
ACSM Guidelines