V. A Simple Method of Evaluating Fitness in Boys: The Step Test *

The desirability of testing the efficiency of any type of "bodybuilding" program has been commented upon and a method of determining the effect of such a program upon an individual's fitness has been described.5 However, such programs usually include large numbers of individuals, and the separate testing of each one at relatively frequent intervals is so time-consuming as to be impractical; in addition, the method we used requires special equipment which may be difficult to obtain. Recently, a simple method of testing dynamic fitness which requires only such equipment as can easily be obtained has been described.2 In this paper a modification of that test, making it suitable for adolescents, and various aspects of our experience with that test are reported. This method was devised for the rapid testing of large groups but it can of course be used for determining the status of any individual at any time as a means of estimating his progress after convalescence or an athlete's variation in fitness from time to time. The test is concerned only with the individual's dynamic physical fitness: his ability to perform and to recover from brief, strenuous work, as measured by the rate at which his heart decelerates after exercise; it has nothing to do with his strength or skill or his static fitness as determined by a medical examination. It should be emphasized that this test does not pretend accurately to measure all aspects of dynamic fitness. It does provide a reasonably accurate measurement of fitness which is of practical value in comparing successive scores made by the same individual and in dividing groups into sections on the basis of their fitness.