“If you wait to do everything until

you're sure it's right, you'll probably

never do much of anything.” (Win
Borden)

PED4470
ASSESSING SPECIAL
POPULATIONS - AGING
Ovande Furtado, M.S.
Kinesiology and Sports Studies
Department
Chapter 11 Outline
 Aging and Fitness
 Effect of Aging on
Fitness
 Aerobic Fitness
 Body Composition
 Strength
 Evaluation of Adult
Fitness
 Evaluation of
Functional Fitness
Aging and Fitness
 U.S. population is aging
 Median age (1990) = 32.9 years
 Median age (2000) = 35.3 years

 1990-2000 saw increase in older adults

(65+ years) from 32 million to 35
million
 Baby boomers will start retiring from
Need to promote physical activity in
order to improve quality of life and
Aerobic Fitness
 Declines with age during adulthood
 Decline in maximal heart rate is major
contributing factor
 Other factors: decline in physical
activity, reduction in muscle mass,
increase in fat mass
 Cross-sectional data: decline is 0.4-.05
ml/kg/year
 Longitudinal data: decline is 0.04 to 1.43
Body Composition
 Body weight and body fatness increase
during adulthood
 BMI levels off around 45 years in men, and
55 years in women
 Percent fat levels off during 50s
 Increase in percent fat:
 combination of fat mass increase
 fat-free mass decrease (especially muscle
mass)
Strength
 Maximal strength attained between 20
and 30 years of age
 Gradual decline thereafter (WHY?)
 Decline in activity appears to be major
factor
 Manual workers appear to maintain
strength during middle and later adult
years
 Sedentary older adults can gain
strength from training (Tai Chi)
Evaluating Adult Fitness
 YMCA test battery (all adults)
 Army Physical Fitness Test (military
personnel)
 AAHPERD Test (older adults)
 Senior Fitness Test (older adults)
 Groningen Test (older adults)
Y’s Way to Physical Fitness
 Fitness test battery
 Comprehensive fitness training program
 Normative database from over 20,000 adults
 Aerobic fitness
• 3-minute step test
• submaximal cycle ergometer test (multistage)
 Body composition
• sum of 3 skinfolds (converted to percent fat)
• sum of 4 skinfolds (converted to percent fat)
Y’s Way to Physical Fitness
 Muscular strength
• submaximal bench press test to fatigue
 Muscular endurance
• 1-minute timed sit-up
 Flexibility
• trunk flexion test
U.S. Army Physical Fitness
Test (APFT)
 Maintenance of fitness a requirement of
military personnel
 APFT consists of three tests
 Criterion-referenced standards, provided for
age and gender groups
 Alternative tests are available for medically
excused personnel
 Personnel over 40 years require
cardiovascular screening prior to testing
Army Physical Fitness Test
 Push-up test
• self-determined cadence
• maximum in 2 minutes
 Sit-up test
• self-determined cadence
• maximum in 2 minutes
 2-Mile Run test
• walking permitted, but discouraged
Army Physical Fitness Test
 Alternate tests:
• 800-yard swim test
• 6.2-mile cycle ergometer test, 2 kilopond
resistance
• 6.2-mile bicycle test
• 2.5-mile walk test
 Body composition
• not part of APFT, but must meet percent fat
standards, or go on weight-loss program
Functional Fitness
 Important for older adults
 Capacity to meet demands of everyday
functional activities
 Activities of daily living (ADLs)
 Dressing, bathing, cooking, mobility
 Important to independent living,
reduction in health care costs
Functional Fitness
 Functional capacity categories:
• Physically dependent
• Physically frail
• Physically independent
• Physically fit
• Physically elite
AAHPERD Test
 Developed by committee appointed by
AAHPERD Council on Aging and Adult
Development
 Body composition
• Ponderal index
 Lower body flexibility
• Trunk/Leg flexibility test
 Agility
• Agility/Dynamic balance test
AAHPERD Test
 Fine motor abilities
• “Soda Pop” Coordination test
 Upper body strength
• Seated Biceps Curl test
 Aerobic fitness
• 880-yard walk
Senior Fitness Test
 Developed over several years, as part of
LifeSpan Project
 Extensive data collected to evaluate reliability
and validity, and provide norms
 Detailed description given of test development,
reliability and validity procedures, and
theoretical rationale
 Thorough consideration given to 11 important
test development criteria
Senior Fitness Test
 Lower body strength
• Chair Stand test
 Upper body strength
• Arm Curl test
 Lower body flexibility
• Chair Sit-and-Reach test
 Upper body flexibility
• Scratch test
Senior Fitness Test
 Aerobic fitness
• 6-Minute Walk test
• 2-Minute Step-in-Place test
 Agility, dynamic balance
• 8-Foot Up-and-Go test
 Body composition
• Body Mass Index
Groningen Fitness Test for the
Elderly
 Used in longitudinal study of age-related
fitness changes in older adults
(Netherlands)
 Concurrent validity data obtained by
correlating with laboratory tests
 Aerobic fitness
• Walking Endurance test
 Upper body strength
• Grip Strength test
Groningen Fitness Test for the
Elderly
 Lower body flexibility
• Hip Flexibility test
 Upper body flexibility
• Shoulder Flexibility test
 Agility and/or Balance
• Balance Platform test
 Fine motor abilities
• Manual Dexterity test
• Reaction Time test
 Test Battery Comparison
Fitness Component  AAHPERD Test  Senior Fitness Test  Groningen Test 
Aerobic fitness  880­yard walk  6­minute walk  walking endurance 
2­min step­in­place 
Upper body  Arm curl  Arm curl  Grip strength 
strength 
Lower body  None  Chair stand  None 
strength 
Upper body  None  Scratch test  Shoulder flexibility 
flexibility 
Lower body  Sit­and­reach  Chair sit­and­reach  Sit­and­reach 
flexibility 
Agility/balance  Agility/dynamic  8­foot up­and­go  Balance platform 
balance 
Body composition  Ponderal index  Body mass index  None 
Fine motor  “Soda pop”  None  Manual dexterity 
abilities 
 
 
Computer Applications
 Important for adult fitness settings
 Database management
 Recording workouts
 Monitoring progress
 Providing feedback (norm- or criterion-
referenced)
 Exercise prescription
Biological Decline
(Regression)
 Chronological vs. Biological aging
 Body is aging continuously (conception
 death)
 After about age 30
 Regression in some form develops
 Many theories attempting to explain
 Gerontology
 Biological Theories of Advanced
Aging
 Def.: is the diminished capacity to
regulate the internal environment, which
results in a reduced probability of
survival

Gabbard (2004)
1
Biological Regression and Motor
Performance
Biological Regression and Motor
Performance
 Motor Behavior
 Peak Performance (25-30)
 Maximum motor performance in several
activities
 Regression
 Usuallydevelops after the age of 30
 Most physiological functions begins to show
decrements
 General rate at of 0.75 to 1 percent a year.
Fighting aging
 Reasons of this loss physiological
function:
 Inactivity

 Poor health habits

 Late adulthood
 Deterioration in movement patterns
 Walk, run, jump
 How can it be delayed ? (Video Japan)