Chapter 14 – Fitness and Stress Assessments
Muscular Strength and Endurance Assessment
Muscular Strength is typically defined as the maximum amount of force a muscle (or muscles) can generate in a single contraction (i.e., 1 Repetition Maximum or 1-RM), while Muscular Endurance tends to reflect a muscle’s (or muscles’) ability to provide multiple repetitions or remain contracted for an extended period of time. Our muscles’ ability to generate force or endure repeated strain extends beyond their size and is in fact, a reflection of a combination of factors. As is discussed in Chapter 6 of this textbook, our muscles are composed of various muscle fiber types that differ in their characteristics and capacities, which will impact how much force or endurance they provide. Other factors, such as the nervous systems’ ability to recruit large amounts of muscle fibers, synchronize their firing, or the resistance of connective tissues to the strain they are placed under, all play important roles in determining an individual’s muscular strength and endurance. The following activities will help you assess your current level of muscular strength and endurance, as well as track your improvements as you progress through the program.
Activity 2.1 – Dynamic Muscular Strength Battery
The following six exercises are often used as a test battery (i.e., a series of tests/exercises) to determine someone’s overall dynamic muscular strength (i.e., strength through a range of motion where changes in muscle fibre length takes place). Note – the Grip Strength test described further in this unit is an example of isometric muscular strength since there is no range of motion or change in muscle fibre length. Given that attempting actual 1-RMs poses a significant injury risk, particularly when proper form is not adhered to, this activity requires predicting your 1-RM for the six exercises provided by producing a larger number of reps. It stands to reason that larger individuals tend to generate more strength (absolute strength), which is why strength is often expressed in relative terms (weight lifted by body weight) in order to compare your performance to established norms. For example, rather than stating “the average college-age male can bench press 200lbs” norms have been established that determine “the average college-age mal can bench press their body weight. If you happen to weigh more, it is expected you would be able to bench press more weight as well. This allows us to compare individuals of various sizes against established norms, as you will be expected to do for this lab activity.
Procedure
After completing a thorough warm-up, including lifting light to moderate weights of the exercises in question, choose a weight with which you believe you can only achieve five to ten repetitions. If you cannot do five, the prediction equation will still work. However, if you complete more than ten repetitions, give yourself several minutes of recovery and try again with a heavi