CARDIOVASCULAR TEST-HARVARD STEP TEST
The Harvard Step test
is a test of aerobic fitness, developed by Brouha et al. (1943) in the Harvard
Fatigue Laboratories during WWII. The feature of this test is that it is simple
to conduct and requires minimal equipment. There are many other variations of
step tests too.
Purpose: To measure the
ability of cardiac endurance
Equipment required: Step or platform 20
inches / 50.8 cm high, stopwatch, metronome or cadence tape.
Procedure:
The athlete steps up
and down on the platform at a rate of 30 steps per minute (every two seconds)
for 5 minutes or until exhaustion. Exhaustion is defined as when the athlete
cannot maintain the stepping rate for 15 seconds. The athlete immediately sits
down on completion of the test, and the total numbers of
heart beats are
counted between 1 to 1.5 minutes after finishing (see measuring heart rate).
This is the only measure required if using the short form of the test. If the
long form of the test is being conducted, there is an additional heart rate
measures at between 2 to 2.5 minutes, and between 3 to 3.5 minutes.
Scoring:
The Fitness Index
score is determined by the following equations. For example, if the total test
time was 300 seconds (if completed the whole 5 minutes), and the number of
heart beats between 1-1.5 minutes was 90, between 2-2.5 it was 80 and
between3-3.5 it was 70, then the long form Fitness Index score would be: (100 x
300) / (240 x2) = 62.5. Note: you are using the total number of heart beats in
the 30 second period, not the rate (beats per minute) during that time.
Fitness Index (short form) = (100 x
test duration in seconds) divided by (5.5 x pulse count between 1 and 1.5
minutes).
Fitness Index (long form) = (100 x
test duration in seconds) divided by (2 x sum of heart beats in the recovery
periods).
|
Rating |
Fitness index (long form) |
|
Excellent |
>96 |
|
Good |
83 - 96 |
|
Average |
68 - 82 |
|
Low Average |
54 - 67 |
|
Poor |
<54 |
|
(norms from: Fox et al. 1973) |
|
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