Question

Ryan is working on a project to collect data for assessing cardio-vascular fitness amongst people at his residential complex using Harvard Step test. List the purpose, equipment required, procedure of the test and also explain advantages and disadvantages along with scoring system.

Answer 1

Purpose: To measure aerobic fitness/cardiovascular endurance and the ability to recover from exercise.

Equipment Required:

• Step/platform: 20 inches (50.8 cm) high for men; 16 inches high for women
• Stopwatch
• Metronome or cadence tape (30 beats per minute)
• Record/score sheet

Procedure:

1. The subject warms up for 10 minutes.
2. Place the step on a flat, stable surface. The tester gives the command “GO” and starts the stopwatch.
3. The subject steps up and down at the rate of 30 steps per minute (every 2 seconds) for 5 minutes (150 steps) or until exhaustion.
4. Exhaustion is defined as the inability to maintain the stepping rate for 15 seconds.
5. After 5 minutes, the subject immediately sits down for 1 minute.
6. Count the pulse:
   • Pulse 1 between 1 and 1.5 minutes after exercise (short form).
   • Pulse 2 between 2 and 2.5 minutes after exercise (long form).
   • Pulse 3 between 3 and 3.5 minutes after exercise (long form).
7. Record the duration in seconds and the pulse counts.
8. Compute the Fitness Index.

Scoring System: \[\text{Fitness Index (short form)} = \frac{100 \times \text{Duration of exercise in seconds}}{5.5 \times \text{Pulse count 1–1.5 min after exercise}}\] \[\text{Fitness Index (long form)} = \frac{100 \times \text{Duration of exercise in seconds}}{2 \times \text{Sum of recovery pulse counts}}\]

Ratings (Male/Female):

• Excellent: >90.0 / >86.0
• Good/Above average: 80.0–90.0 / 76.0–85.9
• Average: 65.0–79.9 / 61.0–75.9
• Below average: 55.0–64.9 / 50.0–60.9
• Poor: <55 / <50

Advantages

1. Easy to conduct.
2. Requires minimal equipment and is inexpensive.
3. Can be self-administered.

Disadvantages

1. Taller people have an advantage because less energy is needed to step onto the platform.
2. Heavy people cannot perform well.
3. Testing large groups is time consuming.