VIII.3.2. Motor capability test

Motor skills are the ability to perform complex muscle-and nerve- acts that produce movements. Trainings can be developed by these skills.

Physical fitness can be examined with both simple and complex motor tests that measure the maximal force of muscle, force-endurance capabilities or the flexibility of joints. There are tests that can measure all the coordinating and conditional capabilities.

Cooper test (12 minute run/ walk) is the most well known one to measure endurance. Beep test, a multi-stage fitness test, is a well known 20 m shuttle run test. There are often used endurance tests such as 1 mile (1609, 3 m) and 2000 meter run, swimming and biking tests. For children and elderly people we can choose less strenuous tests, for example, 6 min. run or 2000 meter walk. Step tests are also popular, such as the Harvard Step test.

• When measuring force/ strength we should differentiate between static and dynamic force measurement tests. There is also a great difference between tests carried out with barbells or jut using our own body weight. Generally the physical fitness tests contain dynamic tests that measure the force of the arm, the trunk and the foot muscle against the body weight, for example, arm bending-stretching or rope climbing and hovering and thick ball pushing/ rolling, and the dynamometer strength test assesses our hand-grip strength.

• One of the best known method for measuring speed and velocity is 60 m flat race or 100 m flat race. We should not be thinking of measuring only locomotor velocity, but also, for example, assessing movement speed by using computer tests that can also measure reaction speed.
• Coordinating capabilities are very complex and it is almost impossible to measure them independently from each other. Kinesthetic, for example, is measured along several movements and motions. Spatial orientation is measured with target-shooting. For measuring scene recognition capability several sports specific softwares were developed. Eye tracking technology is applied to measure speed /velocity coordination. Flexibility is tested with leaning forward positions. Static balance is evaluated with flamingo test while dynamic balance is measured with equipment doing circular motions.