The process of defining physical fitness test batteries typically relies on qualitative evaluations of individual tests. Starting from the existing consensus regarding the mapping of physical fitness tests onto physical ability constructs, analyses were carried out to develop quantitative test validity indices for use in test battery design. The validity indices were averaged factor loadings from confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) of the inter-test correlation matrices from 85 independent samples. The CFA included latent traits representing muscular strength, muscular power, muscular endurance, and cardiorespiratory endurance. The averaged factor loadings came from random effects analysis of the factor loadings from the 85 measurement models. The results confirmed the accepted assignment of fitness tests to categories representing the four physical ability constructs. The average factor loading varied from test to test within each category, but the inter-test variation generally was small relative to the standard errors of the individual loading estimates. The modest validity differences leave considerable freedom to use additional criteria, such as ease of administration, time requirements, and face validity from the perspective of the test population, when designing physical fitness test batteries. Physical Fitness Test Validity 3 Construct Validity of Physical Fitness Tests Physical fitness tests measure physical abilities. Fitness test batteries frequently are used to assess the ability to meet occupational performance requirements. Valid tests must be selected for a battery to derive valid inferences about performance potential. Occupational requirements and time and equipment requirements influence test battery designs for specific applications. Expert judgment is the primary basis for choosing tests. The experts select tests that are believed to measure relevant physical abilities and that can be administered within the time and equipment constraints for testing. Expert judgment is largely qualitative. For example, judgments must be made regarding what can be measured. Judgment is needed because factor analyses have identified between 3 (Hogan, 1991) and 14 (Nicks & Fleishman, 1962) physical abilities or physical proficiency factors that can be measured by physical fitness tests. Judgments must be made about how many factors there really are and, of those, which ones are relevant to the current testing objectives. The factor analytic research also classifies fitness tests into groups representing different physical abilities. For example, push-ups and pull-ups are accepted muscular endurance (ME) measures, while a distance run is an accepted measure of Physical Fitness Test Validity 18 *Burke, E. J. (1976). Validity of selected laboratory and field tests of physical working capacity.
Summary BackgroundPhysical training is essential for military personnel. Training enhances physical readiness, the physical capacity to perform essential military tasks. However, training can cause injuries that impair performance. Recent advances in training methods may provide better control over the tradeoff between fitness gains and injury. The U.S. Army has developed physical readiness training (PRT) as a conceptual approach to this problem. PRT-based training programs have been evaluated in three studies to date.
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