School fitness tests as predictors of adult health‐related fitness

Abstract

Relationships between adolescent physical fitness and adult health-related fitness were investigated. Forty-five subjects (20 males, 25 females) participated in physical fitness tests in 1976 and again in 2001. The adolescent physical fitness tests were distance running (2,000 m for boys or 1,500 m for girls), 50 m run, pull-ups (boys) or flexed arm hangs (girls), shuttle run, a 30-sec sit-up test, standing broad jump, hand grip-test, and sit-and-reach test. The adult health-related physical fitness index (APFI), stratified by sex, was formed by summing the z-scores of a bicycle ergometer test, sit-up test, hand-grip test, and sit-and-reach test. Height- and weight-adjusted correlations between adolescence and adulthood for exactly similar tests for men and women were, respectively, 0.74 (95% CI, 0.44-0.89) and 0.53 (95% CI, 0.17-0.76) in sit-and-reach tests, 0.41 (95% CI, -0.04 to 0.72) and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.20-0.78) in sit-up tests, and 0.53 (95% CI, 0.11-0.44) and 0.44 (95% CI, 0.05-0.71) in hand-grip tests. When all adolescent tests were put in regression analysis together with BMI in 2001, the significant explanatory factors for APFI were distance running ability and the sit-and-reach test for men and sit-up test, flexed arm hang, and BMI in 2001 for women.

A systematic review to determine reliability and usefulness of the field-based test batteries for the assessment of physical fitness in adolescents – The ASSO Project

“…Other authors support the idea that increasing range of motions (flexibility) beyond function through stretching is not beneficial and can actually cause injury and decrease performance [175]. Additionally, results from a recent longitudinal Finnish study suggest that hamstring flexibility (measured by the sit-and-reach test) was one of the best explanatory factors for adult health-related fitness for men [176], while several authors stated that "strong evidence exists that stretching has no beneficial effect on injury prevention" [177,178]. The only clear information that is coming out from the studies previously mentioned is that there is an ideal flexibility range (U-shaped curve) able to predict a good health status.…”

Effect of Differences in the Exercise Frequency of Young People on Abdominal Strength and Muscle Thickness

“…The rectus abdominis, external oblique, and internal oblique muscles are surface layer muscle groups associated with large force exertion among the abdominal muscle groups [3]. Hypo functionality of abdominal muscle groups is linked to a decrease in physical activities and posture changes and is a cause of lumbar pain [12,13]. Therefore, there is a high probability that having inferior strength as a young person can largely affect activities of daily living in the future.…”

Effect of Sports Club Activities on the Physique and Physical Fitness of Young Japanese Males

“…Therefore, it is important to sufficiently develop physical fitness during this period as improvements generally contribute to overall fitness throughout youth (Mikkelsson, Kaprio, Kautiainen, Kujala, Mikkelsson, & Nupponen, 2006;Beets, Beighle, Erwin, & Huberty, 2009, Barnekow-Bergkvist, Hedberg, Janlert, & Jansson, 1998. Furthermore, to increase or maintain physical fitness, it is necessary to perform moderate exercise (Huang & Malina, 2002).…”