5.

Physical Fitness & Wellness

(i) Physique, Physical Fitness and Wellness.

Understanding of the term ‘Physique’; A basic understanding of the three body types (a) Endomorph
(b) Mesomorph (c) Ectomorph.

Meaning and importance of Physical Fitness and Wellness.

(ii) Components of physical fitness and wellness.
Components of physical fitness: Health related fitness such as Cardiovascular endurance, muscular
endurance, strength; flexibility; body composition.

Skill related fitness: such as Cardiovascular endurance, muscular endurance, strength; flexibility;
body composition, balance; coordination; agility; power, reaction time and speed (Candidates should
be made to understand that skill related fitness includes all health-related fitness components).

Components of Wellness: social, spiritual, physical, mental, emotional, and intellectual (a basic
understanding of each).

(iii) Factors affecting physical fitness and wellness.

Factors affecting physical fitness and wellness: Heredity, exercise (physical, mental and social
benefits), illness, physical deformity, age and gender, diet, stress, living style, substance use
(smoking, drugs, alcohol) and environment.

(iv) Tests and Measurements in Sports.

Basic understanding, importance and calculation of the following: Kraus Weber Test; Body Mass
Index (BMI); Waist Hip Ratio; Measurement of Heart Rate; Rockport one mile.

Physique, Physical Fitness and Wellness.

 Understanding of the term ‘Physique’.

 A basic understanding of the three body types
o Endomorph
o Mesomorph
o Ectomorph.

PHYSIQUE / BODY TYPES (SOMATO TYPES)

One of the natural assets of some people is their body build or physique. This can be measured, and the
result is known as your SOMATOTYPE.

The term somato type is used in the system of classification of human physical types developed by American
psychologist W.H. Sheldon. In Sheldon’s system, human beings can be classified as to body build in terms of
three extreme body types:

 Endomorphic, or round, fat type;

 Mesomorphic, or muscular type; and
 Ectomorphic, or slim, linear type.

These different body types have their advantages and disadvantages, depending on what the person would
like to be able to do and how they would like to look.

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Would you be a good volleyball player or good wrestler? The top level of success in a sport depends to a
large extent on build. We inherit our body shape from our parents, but we can train to get stronger and
muscle and reduce fat.

Having or favoring one of these body-types simply means that we must be aware of our tendencies, our
inherent strengths and weaknesses, and plan our goals and lifestyle accordingly to maximize our potential.

Endomorphic, or round, fat type (Bulky Individuals)

The endomorph body type is solid and generally soft. Endomorphs gain fat very easily. Endomorphs are
usually of a shorter build with thick arms and legs. Muscles are strong, especially the upper legs.
Endomorphs find they are naturally strong in leg exercises like squats.

Characteristics Related Sports

 A pear shape body.  Wrestling

 Wide hips and wide shoulders.
 A rounded head.
 Lot of fat on the body, upper arms and thighs.
 Wider front to back rather than side to side.

When it comes to training endomorphs find it very easy to gain weight. Unfortunately, a large portion of this
weight is fat not muscle. To keep fat gain to a minimum, endomorphs must always train cardio as well as
weights.

Mesomorphic, or muscular type (Muscular Individuals): A mesomorph has a large

bone structure, large muscles and a naturally athletic physique. Mesomorphs are the best

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body type for bodybuilding. They find it quite easy to gain and lose weight. They are naturally strong, which is
the perfect platform for building muscle.

Characteristics Related Sports

 A wedge shape body.  Contact Sports like

football, basketball,
 Wide shoulders and narrow hips. etc. The mesomorph
 Massive cubical head. body type
 Broad shoulders and heavily muscled legs and responds the
arms.
best to weight
 Minimal fat.
training. Gains
 Narrow front to back. are usually seen
very quickly,
especially for beginners. The downside to mesomorphs is they gain fat more easily than ectomorphs. This
means they must watch their calorie intake. Usually, a combination of weight training and cardio works best
for mesomorphs.

Ectomorphic, or slim, linear type (Slim Individuals)

An ectomorph is a typical skinny guy. Ectomorphs have a light build with small joints and lean muscle.
Usually, ectomorph’s have long thin limbs with stringy muscles. Shoulders tend to be thin with little width.

Characteristics Related Sports

 Narrow shoulders and hips.  High jump

 Narrow chest and abdomen.  Distance events such as cross
country, etc.
 Thin arms and legs.
 High forehead and receding chin.
 Little muscle and little fat.

Ectomorphs find it very hard to gain weight. They have a fast metabolism which burns up calories very
quickly. Ectomorphs need a huge number of calories to gain weight. Workouts should be short and intense,
focusing on big muscle groups. Ectomorphs should eat before bed to prevent muscle catabolism during the
night. Generally, ectomorphs can lose fat very easily which makes cutting back to lean muscle easier for
them.

Meaning and importance of Physical Fitness and Wellness.

Meaning of physical fitness

 According to Webster Encyclopaedia, “it is the ability of a person to do a daily routine work without
fatigue; moreover, to participate in Playful activities and still reserve enough capacity to meet any
emergency."

 It can be said that physical fitness is an ability to function effectively and efficiently, enjoy leisure, be
healthy, resist diseases and cope up with the emergency situations.

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 For physical fitness we require an efficient motor mechanism efficient organic mechanism and efficient
mental functioning.

 A physically fit individual should possess a sufficient Reserve of energy to meet the demands of
emergencies in which a person is unexpectedly called upon to perform activities demanding annual
expenditure of strength energy and adaptive ability under unfavourable environment.

 The level of fitness varies from person to person. It depends on:

 Nature of  Size of  Shape  Age  Gender

work individual

Meaning of Wellness

 Wellness is defined as the optimal functioning of body and creative adapting environment that involves
the whole person.

 Wellness can be defined as a pursuit of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.

 It is the capacity of an individual to lead a well-balanced life.
 It is made up of multiple dimensions such as physical wellness, emotional wellness, mental wellness,
social wellness, spiritual wellness, occupational wellness, and environmental wellness.

Importance of Physical fitness and Wellness

 They are significant for leading a happy and well-balanced life

 They are necessary for reducing the risk of heart and lung diseases
 Physically fit individuals tend to have lower resting blood pressure
 Everyone wants to maintain physical fitness to perform the routine work easily why it is said that physical
fitness and wellness add years to life and life to years.
 Physical fitness changes our lifestyle or way of life
 Physical fitness is important for daily activities like walking, running, lifting, and carrying weights
 It also improves posture, body image and appearance
 Decreases the risk of injury and reduces lower back pain
 They play a key role in improving mental ability of an individual.
 It tends to enhance productivity and quality at work.
 Physically fit persons can combat stress due to a better healthy life
 Conditions the heart and lungs by increasing the oxygen available to the body therefore enabling the
heart to use oxygen more efficiently.
 Development of physical fitness components such as strength, endurance, agility, flexibility, etc. and
improvement of muscle tone.
 Proper functioning of glands.
 Postpones fatigue and reduced recovery time after vigorous activity.
 Quick recovery after injury and illness.
 Reduces and controls body fat, exercise combined with a proper diet will reduce body fat and also fulfils
proper nutritional requirements.
 Postpones ageing process.

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 Increases energy level of a person.
 Improves cognitive (knowledge) aspects of an individual and helps them in tackling complicated
situations.
 Helps to maintain ideal body weight.
 Causes good digestion, removes constipation, increases appetite.
 Better personality development.
 Through participating in physical fitness program, leisure (free) time is properly utilized.
 Increases general stamina.
 Improves mood and reduces depression and anxiety.
 Efficient elimination of toxins and waste products.

Components of physical fitness and wellness

HEALTH RELATED
FITNESS OR GENERAL FITNESS

Health-related physical fitness consists of those components of physical fitness that have a relationship with
good health. Possessing good health-related fitness is related to lower risk of illness and improved quality of
life.

This is the ability of your body to carry out everyday activities without excessive tiredness and still have
enough energy to cope with emergencies.

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Cardio-respiratory Endurance: The ability of the heart and lungs to maintain prolonged exercise.

 The heart is a muscle that benefits from exercise, as do other muscles.

 Moderate to vigorous physical activity performed every day or at least most days of the week for 20 to 30
minutes increases cardio-respiratory endurance.

 Cardio-respiratory endurance contributes to feeling good and being healthy.

 Some exercises and activities that raise our heart rate and increase our lung capacity include jumping
rope, jogging, swimming, power walking and biking.

Immediate body changes or reactions associated with Cardiovascular endurance (how the body reacts
just after completion of exercise): sweat, tired, fast heartbeat, heavy breathing, thirsty, and increased body
temperature.

Muscular Endurance: The muscle’s ability to produce power for a long duration. The ability to repeat a
movement at low intensity (light workload) & high repetition (large # of repeated movements).

 The moderate to vigorous physical activities that develop cardio-respiratory endurance may also develop
muscular strength and endurance in the legs.

 Upper body strength and endurance (including abdominal muscles) is enhanced through activities that
focus on supporting weight on hands, transferring weight involving hands, balances requiring muscular
tension, and challenging activities on gymnastics and playground equipment.

 Some activities that increase muscular endurance include curl-ups/seat balances, flexed arm hang.
Lifting light weights for many repetitions

How to Test Your Muscular Endurance:

 Push-up Test.

Exercise to Improve Muscular Endurance

 Push-ups 
 Planks 
 Squats
 Sit-ups
 Lunges

Muscular Strength: The amount of power a muscle can produce. The maximum amount of force a muscle
or muscle group can produce during high intensity (heavy workload) & short repetition activities (short/small
# of repeated movements).

 Muscular strength is specific. Different muscles require different exercises. For instance, the
standing long jump is a measure of leg
strength/power.

 Some activities that increase muscular strength

include pull-ups, push-ups, and weightlifting.

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How to Test Your Muscular Strength:

 Testing your muscular strength is a little more complicated than testing the components of fitness.
Select the muscles/muscle group that you wish to test the strength of. Use the results to estimate
your 1RM (one repetition maximum)

Flexibility: The ability of muscles to stretch at a joint through a potential range of motion. The ability to bend,
stretch, and twist.

 Stretching should be performed by breathing out and holding the position for 20 to 30 seconds to allow
the muscles to relax and lengthen. Stretching should be performed without bouncing. When stretching,
mild discomfort is normal.

 Warm-up activities warm the body to help prepare the needed muscles to stretch more effectively. Both
static (without movement) & dynamic (with movement) warm up activities should be included.

 Exercises (done as part of a warm-up and cool down routine) that stretch large muscles of the upper and
lower body increase flexibility, help reduce the chance of injury to muscles, and prepare the body for
physical activity.

How to Test Your Flexibility: Sit and reach test

Exercise to Improve Flexibility: The best

exercises to improve your flexibility are as
follows.

 Static stretching
 Dynamic stretching
 Ballistic stretching
 Yoga 
 Dancing 

Body composition: The relationship between

fat mass and fat-free mass in the body (muscle compared to fat). Fat-free mass is made up of all the
body’s non-fat tissue, including bone, muscle, and vital organs.

 Body composition is affected by nutrition, level of physical activity, and heredity (family
characteristics or traits from our parents and grandparents).

 A certain amount of body fat is needed for protecting bones, organs, and proper functioning of the
body.

 Good nutrition is necessary for good health and total fitness.

 Moderate to vigorous physical activity can help decrease the percentage of body fat. The activities
that help reduce body fat are the same as those that increase cardio-respiratory endurance. Being
physically active is very important for improving this part of health-related physical fitness.

How to Test Your Body Composition: Skin-fold caliber

Methods of training body composition

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As most exercises aim to improve body composition in some way, it’s difficult to pinpoint exercises that
specifically target this component of fitness.

HIIT training: High-intensity interval training (HIIT), or sprint interval training (SIT), is a form of

interval training, a cardiovascular exercise strategy alternating short periods of intense anaerobic exercise
with less intense recovery periods.

Circuit Training: If HIIT is a little too intense for you (going all out for 20-40 seconds is harder than it looks),
you can always try circuit training. Circuit training is like HIIT on the surface, but you usually complete the
circuits back-to-back rather than having a rest period.

Strength training: You can’t go wrong with strength training when looking for methods of training body
composition. It’s arguably the best, as lifting weights is great for torching fat and building muscle and can get
you the fastest results.

SPECIFIC FITNESS OR SKILL RELATED FITNESS

Skill-related Physical Fitness consists of those

components of physical fitness that have a relationship
with enhanced performance in sports and motor skills.

The components are commonly defined as agility, balance,

coordination, power, speed and reaction time. Fitness tests
that are not directly related to improved health were
designated as skill-related physical fitness components.
Possession of skill-related fitness abilities enhances ability
to perform in sports and games. It is assumed that people
who possess skill-related fitness will be more likely to
engage in regular activity and for this reason will have
enhanced health- related fitness and a lower risk of
diseases.

Power: A skill-related component of physical fitness that

relates ability to the rate at which one can perform work. The
is an ability to combine strength and speed.

 Power is a combination of strength and speed (strength +

speed = power). It has also been defined as the ability to
exert muscle force quickly. For this reason, some consider
it to be a combination of skill and health-related physical
fitness. Examples of power include putting the shot and
vertical jumping. There are, however, many different types
of power.

 Examples: sprinting, high-jumping, distance

throwing/jumping, lifting heavy weights quickly

How to test your power

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 Standing broad jump

 Vertical jump

How to train for explosive power

 Kettle bell swings

 Squat jumps
 Box jumps
 Medicine ball

Speed: A skill-related component of

physical fitness that relates to the ability to perform a movement
within a short period of time. The time it takes you to move a
certain distance.

 There are many different types of speed such as running

speed, swimming speed, speed of hand or foot
movement to name but a few. Among athletes a 40-yard
dash is often used to measure speed.

 Examples: running sprints, football receiver, shuttle run, track races

How to test your speed

 40-meter dash sprint

How to train for speed

 Weight training (strength)

 Plyometric training (jumps)
 Flexibility training (stretching)
 Resistance training (sled running)

Agility: A skill-related component of physical fitness that relates to the ability to

rapidly change the position of the entire body in space with speed and
accuracy.

 Agility is typically measured using a shuttle or zigzag run. Tests of

agility are common as screening tests among sports teams.

 Examples: Shuttle run, dodging & tagging, dance, quickly changing

directions

How to test your agility

 T test

How to train for agility

 Cone drills
 Ladder drills

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  Agility runs
 Micro hurdles

Coordination: A skill-related component of physical fitness that relates to the ability to use the senses, such
as sight and hearing, together with body parts in performing motor tasks smoothly and accurately.

 Coordination is typically assessed using measures of hand-eye or foot-eye coordination such as

juggling, dribbling a ball, or hitting an object. There are, however, many different types of
coordination.

 Examples: striking a ball, swimming, dance, gymnastics skills, skipping, catching

How to test your coordination

 Hand-eye coordination with tennis ball against wall

Method

 Make a mark on a wall with some tape, as well as a mark on

the floor (around 2-3 meters away)

 Grab a tennis ball and stand behind the line

 Throw the ball from an underarm position against the wall,

aiming for the marker, and catch it in the opposite
hand 

 Alternate between the hands, always aiming for the mark 

 Test yourself for around 30 seconds, measuring the number of successful catches.

How to train for hand-eye coordination

 Juggling
 Tennis ball dribbling
 Skipping

Reaction Time: A skill-related component of physical fitness that relates to the time elapsed between one of
your senses recognizing a stimulus (body’s senses influencing reaction or movement) and the beginning of
the body moving in response.

 An example of reaction time is when you first begin to move once you hear “go” to begin the shuttle
run.

 Another example is moving your fingers to squeeze your brakes on your bike when you need to stop.
This example illustrates the fact that in many cases, the total response time is more important. Total
response time includes stimulus to beginning of movement (reaction time) to end of movement
(movement time). Like other measures of skill-related fitness there are many different types of
reaction time.

 Examples: how long it takes to begin movement during shuttle run, catching striking. The time it
takes the hand to move away from something hot.

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How to test your reaction time

 Although it’s not the most accurate method and can depend on the device that you are using,
reaction times are usually tested via online tests/games.

 The button pushes reaction time test measures how quickly a participant may click (push) a button.

How to improve your reaction time

 Reaction drills

 Starts from variety of starting positions

COMPONENTS OF WELLNESS

Physical activity help:

Physical Wellness: The ability to carry out daily tasks, develop cardiovascular fitness, muscular fitness,
maintain adequate nutrition and proper body fat level, and avoid abusing drugs and alcohol or using tobacco
products. In general, physical wellness is an investment in positive lifestyle habits. It concentrates on getting
in shape, shedding extra pounds, rejuvenating (to make young) body with healthy eating, restful sleep,
vigorous exercise and a new look. To attain physical wellness, person must:

a) jog, swim, bike, roller-skate, play games and sports and go hiking.
b) spend time daily outdoors breathing in fresh air.
c) do yard work (gardening), walk the dog and take time to relax.
d) retire to bed early for restful sleep and wake up early refreshed and energized.
Your physical well –being

• Your heart, lungs and other body system grew strong, and health and lack of illness
contribute to enjoyment of life.

• Your body shape improves.

Physical wellness is critical for overall well-being, and can be affected by:

• Lifestyle: diet, level of physical activity, and behavior (for instance, smoking).

• Human biology: a person’s genetics and physiology may make it easier or harder to achieve good
physical health.

• Environment: our surroundings and exposure to factors such as sunlight or toxic substances.

• Healthcare service: good healthcare can help prevent illness, as well as detect and treat illness.

Mental Wellness:

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You learn to cope up with stress and difficult situation in sports and can then use them in real life e.g., coping
with stress of exams

An intellectually well person uses the resources available to expand

one’s knowledge, improve one’s skills, and create potential for sharing
with others. They are also organized and structured in their toward
creative intellectual pursuits.

To broaden mental/intellectual health, a person must:

• read books and magazines, write a book or short story,

memorize a lengthy poem.
• invent something that can be used at work, school or at home.
• keep a diary of innovative ideas.
• paint, draw, color, and create.

Social wellness

It is defined as the ability to form meaningful relationships with

other people and interact in healthy, positive ways. The way you
connect to the people around you, adapt to different social
situations, and experience a sense of belonging all contribute to
your social health.

Your social well-being

• Humans live in groups, and we must learn social or

group behavior to fit in. Sports help us with this by
teaching us confidence, co-operation, communication, &
teamwork.

• You meet people and learn friendship and support.

• You get a feeling of worth, e.g., that you are some value in society

Emotional wellness

Emotional wellness is a person’s ability to accept and manage feelings through challenge and change.
Someone who is emotionally healthy can allow their emotions to be digestible.

The routine hassles of daily life offer opportunities to practice responses, rather than reactions to allow
emotional health to flourish.

Your emotional well-being:

― You learn to control emotions, as in sports there is an immediate penalty for breaking rules. It then
helps in real life, e.g., even if you feel angry you still do not become violent.

― You get the chance to feel emotions and experiences that you might not get elsewhere e.g.,
success, skillfulness, and the feeling of being important and worthwhile. Sports help to give self-
esteem

In order to foster emotional wellness, a person must:

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 ― balance his/her activities to support his/her emotional state, avoid overload.
― take anger and stress management activities and learn to control explosive tempers.
― distance oneself from drama and chaos (disorder).
― watch comedy and humorous films and learn to laugh

Spiritual wellness

It is achieved when you feel at peace with life. It

is when you can find hope and comfort in even
the hardest of times. It can help to support you
as you experience life completely.

Spirituality is different for everyone. The belief in

some force that unites human beings, and this
force can be nature, science, religion, or a
higher power. It also includes your morals,
values, and ethics. It emphasizes spiritual renewal and inner peace.

To promote spiritual wellness, a person must:

• focus on telling the truth, being honest in all endeavors (attempts) and be true to himself/herself.
• build his/her character, virtues and values and work towards incorporating them in life.
• create a life of order and do meditation; perform prayers and give respect to religion.
• volunteer in the community, help others, do random acts of kindness, and motivate somebody.

Factors affecting physical fitness and wellness.

Following factors affect physical fitness and wellness:

1. Irregularity: Regular physical activity is required for an individual to develop and maintain fitness.
When the training is stopped for some period or there are too long intervals between physical activity
sessions, the fitness starts decreasing.

2. Heredity (Nature): Heredity means transmission of genes or characteristics to descendants from

ancestors. Certain motor abilities such as speed, strength, endurance is somewhat depends on
heredity or muscles fibres which an individual inherit from his parents and which cannot be modified or
changed to large extent. For example, a person who gets fast twitch fibres from his forefathers is liable
to be physically fit for sprints and a person who inherits slow twitch fibres from his parents is liable to fit
for long distance running. Similarly certain diseases which affect the wellness of an individual are
carried over by genes e.g., sugar problems, tuberculosis, AIDS, etc.

3. Environment (Nurture): Environment means surroundings that are associated with individual, and it
stands for all circumstances which ascertain their influence on an individual. Climate, home or school
building conditions, weather, temperature, pollution, society, etc. greatly affect the physical fitness and
wellness. For example, Kenyans due to their climatic conditions proved to be more successful in
distance running.

4. Occupation: Persons working in dangerous and hazardous occupations are likely to be affected in
their physical fitness and wellness e.g., persons working in cement factories due to their occupational

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 environment are likely to be suffer from various types of cancers.

5. Age and sex differences: A fully matured person is more fit than a kid. Similarly, as we get older our
physical fitness standard goes on diminishing. Similarly, men are more fit in strength and speed
dominating events (due to masculine bodies) than women and on contrary women are more fit in
events requiring balance (due to their lower center of gravity) as compared to men.

6. Improper diet: Due to lack of diet, a person may fall prey to certain malnutrition problems that further
affect the physical fitness level of an individual and he may also suffer from certain diseases that affect
his well-being. A healthy, balanced diet is essential to maintain fitness

7. Insufficient rest and sleep: Adequate amount of rest and sleep are vital for regular participation in a
fitness program. Insufficient rest and sleep result in fatigue and adversely affect regularity and
progression of physical fitness and wellness.

8. Individual differences: Individual differences also affect physical fitness and wellness. For example, tall
persons are physically fit for the games like volleyball and basketball whereas short persons are
physically fit for gymnastics or games like football.

9. Stress and tension: A person who remains in stress and tension should likely be affected in physical
fitness and wellness. Stress and tension have relation with diseases like blood pressure, heart
diseases, etc.

10. Posture: Body alignment in various situations also affects physical fitness and wellness e.g. a person
who has flat foot deformity should likely to have knees problems as his shock should not be absorbed.

1. Heredity. 4. Physical deformity. 8. Living style.

2. Exercise (physical, 5. Age and gender. 9. Substance use
mental and social (smoking, drugs,
6. Diet.
benefits). alcohol).
7. Stress.
3. Illness. 10. Environment

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WHY TESTING IN SPORTS?

Success in sports is usually measured by changes in distance or height, weight, or time, and improvements
in performance during competitions. But even just a few assessments in training can easily evaluate the
progress of the athletes. Testing of athletes is a critical component of sports training.

Coaches and fitness professionals are focused on improving health, physical fitness, and athletic
performance. Assessments provide a clearer view of:

― The status of athlete or team (strengths and weaknesses).

― Evaluation of progress.

― Guide to improving training programs.

― Provide baseline for return to sports/event after injury.

― Assessments for the selection of talent and its development.

TYPES OF TESTING

Basic assessment or field tests (Anthropometric; Speed; Power; Endurance, Flexibility, Agility, etc.)

― Easy to administer
― Fairly reliable
― Cheap, fast and can be done regularly or repeatedly
― Conducted in sporting environment (courts, play fields, etc.)
― Sports specificity test can be conducted

Lab tests

― Blood tests
― Exercise physiology tests like VO2 Maximum, lactate test, etc.
― Biomechanical analysis, pressure plate, video analysis, etc.
― Expensive equipment is required (treadmills, cycle ergometers, rowing machines, etc.)

Other professional assessments

― Psychological tests
― Nutritional assessment

Specialized strength assessment using isokinetic devices or gym equipment

Importance and calculation of the following:

 Kraus Weber Test

 Body Mass Index (BMI)
 Waist Hip Ratio
 Measurement of Heart Rate
 Rockport one mile

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Kraus Weber Test

Dr. Hans Kraus and Dr. Sonja Weber developed the Kraus-Weber Minimum Test in the 1950's.

a. The six-item medical fitness test measures the strength and flexibility of key postural (core)
muscles.

b. The test consists of five strength challenges and one general flexibility procedure.

c. The Kraus-Weber Tests do not require sophisticated equipment and are easy to administer.

Scoring

These tests are graded on a pass-fail basis. Being unable to perform even one of the six exercises qualifies
as failing the test. A variation of the scoring method enables partial movements on each test scored from 0 to
10.

Kraus Weber Test No. 1 With his feet held on the ground by the
examiner, the subject lies flat on his back with
his hands behind the neck. Perform one sit-up.

Kraus Weber Test No. 2 The subject is in the same position except that
his knees are bent with his ankles close to the
buttocks. Perform one sit-up.

Kraus Weber Test No.3 The subject lies flat on his back with his hands
behind his neck. The legs straight are lifted 10
inches off the floor. Hold this position for 10
seconds.

Kraus Weber Test No. 4 The subject lies on his stomach with a pillow
under his lower abdomen and groin. The
examiner holds his feet down. Lift head,
shoulders, and chest off the floor and hold for 10
seconds.

Kraus Weber Test No. 5 The subject’s position is the same, but the
examiner holds the chest down. With knees
straight, lift legs off floor and hold for 10
seconds.

Kraus Weber Test No. 6 The subject stands erect, barefooted, and with
feet together. The examiner holds the knees
straight. Bend over slowly and touch the floor
with the fingertips. Hold this position for 3
seconds.

Body Mass Index (BMI)

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  Body Mass Index (BMI) is a measurement of a person’s weight with respect to his or her height. It is
more of an indicator than a direct measurement of a person’s total body fat.

 BMI, more often than not, correlates with total body fat. This means that as the BMI score increases,
so does a person’s total body fat.

BMI calculation

 BMI in an individual is calculated by the use of a mathematical formula. It can also be estimated
using tables in which one can match height in inches to weight in pounds to estimate BMI. There are
convenient calculators available on internet sites that help calculate BMI as well.

 The formula is - BMI = (Weight in kilograms) divided by (Height in metres squared)

Waist Hip Ratio

 The waist to hip ratio is the ratio of waist circumference to the hip circumference, a simple calculation
of the measurements of the waist girth divided by the hip girth. This test has been shown to be
related to the risk of coronary heart disease. The basis of this measure as a coronary disease risk
factor is the assumption is that fat stored around the waist poses a greater risk to health than fat
stored elsewhere in the body.

Purpose: 

 To determine the ratio of waist circumference to the hip circumference, as this has been shown to be
related to the risk of coronary heart disease.

Procedure: 

 A simple calculation of the measurements of the waist girth divided by the hip girth. Waist to Hip
Ratio (WHR) = Gw / Gh, where Gw = waist girth, Gh = hip girth. Units of measurement should be
same for each measure.

Scoring: 

 The table below gives general guidelines for acceptable levels for hip to waist ratio. Acceptable
values are excellent and good. You can use any units for the measurements (e.g., cm or inches), as
it is only the ratio that is important.

 Advantages: the WHR is a simple measure that can be taken at home by anyone to monitor their
own body composition levels.

Male Female

extreme > 1.00 > 0.90

high 0.95 - 1.00 0.85 - 0.90

average 0.90 - 0.95 0.80 - 0.85

good 0.85 - 0.90 0.75 - 0.80

excellent < 0.85 < 0.75

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Rockport one-mile test

 The Rockport one-mile test, which was created by researchers in the 1980s, helps you determine
your VO2 max, which is the technical term for the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use
while you’re doing intense aerobic exercise.

 One benefit of the Rockport test is people in good health may take it on their own, without seeing a
doctor or a personal trainer. If you’ve been inactive and are just starting a walking regimen, check
with a health professional before doing the Rockport test.

HOW TO TAKE THE TEST

To take the Rockport test

 Wear appropriate walking gear.

 Bring a stopwatch and heart rate monitor and visit a track.

 Once you’ve warmed up and are ready to go.

 start your stopwatch and begin walking as quickly as you can without going faster than a walk (don’t
jog or race-walk).

 Continue walking as fast as you can for the entire mile, then note how long it took you to walk that
distance.

 As soon as you’re done, measure your heart rate.

 Alternatively, measure your pulse for 15 seconds, then multiply that number by 4, so you’ll have your
heart rate — the total number of beats per minute.

You need these numbers, because the Rockport test uses your walking time and your heart rate, along with
your weight, age, and gender to calculate your VO2 max. You can then use an online calculator to plug in
all your numbers and determine your score.

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