Physical testing....do you do it?

I just finished testing a young Junior A hockey player, so I can  better develop his off season training program. The testing for him is a little more involved than for regular non-athlete individuals, who aren't training in a particular sport. The tests involve a movement screen to test asymmetries and imbalances, power tests, strength tests, speed tests and endurance tests. But the same value comes from tests as the tests from non-athletes. 

There are many different tests, from the bench press test, which tests for upper body strength and is popular in different combines such as the NFL to the good ol' step test, which tests the cardiovascular system. To me (other than the tests which screen for health concerns) there are two main reasons why testing is important for both the trainer and the client. 

The first main reason is that testing gives a good and measurable baseline. It gives you something to go by so you can see either improvement or regression. How important is it to see the two months of training you've out in has made a difference? Very important to both the trainer and the athlete. To see that you are stronger, faster, have lost weight or dropped body fat. Or maybe you've been tested at the beginning if the season and at the end of the season, at which point you notice that you have developed many imbalances that need to be fixed.   


The second important reason is so that a proper training program can be developed to suit you. Whether you are an athlete looking to gain strength or a non-athlete looking to lose weight, you need to develop the proper program. An athlete who had great vertical jump testing, but less than adequate scores on the endurance test, might focus on conditioning and cardiovascular activity.  And as mentioned above, you might have developed certain imbalances and getting the proper program will fix those imbalances, whether you just finished tennis season and have a much stronger dominant arm, or finished golf season and have developed poor rotary stability in one direction.


I will close by saying that as important as it is to test, it is equally important to use the tests effectively. Whether it's developing programs or studying the improvements, tests are done for a reason. Just like in school, tests are a measure of what you learned, you need physical tests for any of the reasons mentioned above. Too many times testing  is done just to test.  You are testing or getting tested for a reason.  The results  from your test need to be used and should be used in ways to benefit both the trainer and client!!