Measurement of Health Related fitness and physical education

 A well designed fitness assessment provides student teacher with the necessary information to design a proper programmed of fitness for each student. There are five components of health related fitness. Health related fitness in important component of physical education.  before learning the method of measuring of various components of health it would be better to know about these components in brief. 

1. Cardiovascular Endurance: It requires a strong heart healthy lungs and clear blood vessels to supply the body with oxygen. It is the ability to exercise the entire body for long period of time. This is an important component of fitness. There are various test to measure the cardiovascular endurance such as. 

2. Muscular Strength: There are various test to measure muscular strength. It is the amount of force a muscle or muscle groups can exert.  as partial push up, weight lifting with heavy,  weight with few repetition, pull ups, partial curl up, etc. 

3. Muscular Endurance: It can be said that it is the ability of muscles to perform repeated exercise for long duration without fatigue. There are various test to measure muscular endurance such as push ups, sit ups, pullups, running on a treadmill.

4. Flexibility: There are various test for flexibility. As Sit and Reach test, Modified sit and reach test, floor touch test, Back Stretch test and Modified Thomas test. It is the range of motion of joint. Individual with good flexibility have fewer sore and injured muscles.

5. Body composition: Body composition  is the percentage of lean body mass, tendons, water, organs, in comparison to body fat. It is one of the major components of health related fitness. Body composition can be measured by using an instrument called calipers, a specialized scale or it can be calculated by using body mass index.
                                             

                                                         
Hard Work Step Text
    Is a cardiovascular fitness text. It is also called Aerobic fitness text. It was developed by Boruah. It is used to measure the cardiovascular fitness or aerobic fitness by checking the recovery rate. 
Equipment Required: A gym bench or box of 21 inches high for men and 15 inches for women, a stopwatch and cadence tape.

Procedure
            On the command go the athlete step up and down on the bench or box at a rate of 35 step per minute for 6 minute.  The athlete in front of the bench or box. Stopwatch is switched on simultaneously at the start of the stepping. After that the athlete sits down immediately after completion of the test. The total number of heartbeats are counted between 1 to 2 minute after completion of the last step. The heartbeats are counted for 28 seconds period. Again the heartbeats are noted for 25 second after the finishing of the test. for the third time, the heartbeats are noted after 3 minute of completion of the test for 30 seconds period. The same foot must start the step up each time and an erect posture must be assumed on the bench.
                                       

                                                                 Harvard step test
 

Push Ups 
              Equipment Requirement: A floor mat and a paper to record basic information such as age, gender and total number of push ups performed. 

Procedure: After proper warming up ask the subject to take position. In a push up position hands and toes should touch the mat and floor. Hand should be shoulder width apart. The upper body and legs should be in a straight line. Elbows should be fully extended keeping the back and the knees straight the subject lower the upper body so that elbows may bend to 90 degree or chest may touch the mat and floor, then return back to the starting position with the arms extended. This is one repetition. The same action is repeated and the test continues until exhaustion or until the subject can do more in rhythm. Count total the number of push ups performed.
                                                 

                                                                           Push ups

Sit and Reach 
              Sit and reach test was developed first time by Walls and Dillon in 1952.

Purpose: The sit and reach test is a significant test to measure the flexibility of hip region including the lower back and hamstring muscles. it is noted that owing to the lack of flexibility in this region there is a greater risk of injury. It is also entangled with lumbar lordosis and lower back pain. 

Equipment Required: Sit and reach box or a makeshift ruler and a box may be used in which the zero mark can be adjusted for each individual according to their sitting reach level because there is a variation of lengths of individual arms and legs. 

Procedure: 
                 Shoes and socks should be removed. Then sit down on the floor with legs stretched out straight ahead. The shoes of the feet should be kept flat against the box. Both the knees should be locked and pressed flat to the floor. An assistant may hold the knees down. Palms should be facing downwards. Hands should be on top of each other or side by side. whose flexibility is to be measured tries to extend his both hands forwards along the measuring line on the box as far as he can extend. His fingertips of both hands should remain equal and at the same level.