Foundations Of Kinesiology And Health Terms

Strength is “the force that a muscle can exert in one maximal effort”, which can be tested by using varies different tests (Very Well Health). One of the most popular strength test among physical therapists is the Manual Muscle-Testing test, which is when a physical therapist applies force in “specific directions while you resist the pressure. A score or grade is then assigned, depending on how much” resistance you used against the physical therapist’s force (Very Well Health). Physical therapists will grade patients with a five-point scale.

Muscular Endurance is the “number of repetitions of a single exercise you can do without needing to stop and rest. ” (Very Well Fit). It is preferred to use a test called “the push-up test” which is commonly used to “measure [the] upper body muscular endurance. ”. This is where you “do as many pushups as you can before you break form” (Very Well Fit).

Flexibility is actually “defined as the range of motion of a given joint or group of joints or the level of tissue extensibility that a muscle group possesses” (Very Well Fit). Flexibility can be tested by the “Baseline Body Flexibility Test” which is used to find the flexibility in the “hamstring and lower back” by requiring patients to sit down and place their feet on a box (Very Well Fit). Once the patient is sitting on the floor with their feet on the box, they will then be asked to stretch forward. The box will have a ruler to measure how far the patient’s hands will be able to go.

Cardiovascular Endurance is “the ability to perform large-muscle dynamic, moderate to high intensity exercise for prolonged periods” (Livestrong). One way to test it is by doing things like the beloved Pacer tests, where you run “20-meter distances for as many repetitions as you can” (Livestrong).

Body Composition is the amount of each part of the body including water, muscle mass, fat, etc. There are plenty of ways to measure body composition. One way is to do Hydrostatic Weighing, which requires a lot of math. This way of testing has the patient breathing all the air inside the lungs out. Afterwards, the patient is then placed “inside a giant tank of water” for 10 seconds and is asked to stay very still (Active). Once the 10 seconds are up, the math (volume) is calculated.

Agility is “the ability to move and change direction and position of the body quickly and effectively while under control. ” (very well fit). It is the ability to have very rapid “reflexes, coordination, balance, speed, and correct response to the changing” environment (Very Well Fit). One way to test an athlete’s agility, coordination, balance, and speed is by doing things like “shuttle runs”, which requires the athlete to “sprint from marker to marker with frequent changes in direction” (Very Well fit).

Coordination and Balance can be tested in gait training. There’s multiple ways to help a patient strengthen their balance and coordination at the same time. During my shadowing hours at a nursing home, I saw physical therapists asking their patients to stand on a foam mat. After the patient got on the foam mat, the physical therapist asked the patient to balance on one leg for intervals of time. Another fun way to test and measure coordination and balance is by playing a balloon game. A patient who was getting gait training was asked to stand in front of their walker. Depending on their ability to balance, some patients were asked to leave one hand onto the walker, while others were asked to keep both hands off the walker. Once the patient was securely spotted by the physical therapist, the physical therapist then asked me to throw the balloon to the patient. The patients and I would keep pushing the balloon to each other until the patients became tired. Coordination is a “complex skill that requires not only good balance, but levels of other fitness components such as strength and agility” (top end sports). Balance has two definitions “static and dynamics. Static balance is maintaining equilibrium when stationary, while dynamic balance is maintaining equilibrium when moving” (Top End Sports).

Power “is the ability to move weight with speed…Power is explosiveness” (Livestrong). Power can be test by doing things like seeing how much weight can be lifted in a certain amount of time.

Speed “is the ability to move quickly across the ground or move limbs rapidly to grab or throw” (Top End Sports). There is a lot of ways to test speed. Some basic ways to test speed is by asking the patient to sprint a 200 meter and timing them or it could be a 1-mile run.